As of Feb. 2, five U.S. House races have two incumbents running for the same congressional district in the 2022 elections. All five districts are in states that have enacted new congressional district boundaries after the 2020 census, and all feature two candidates from the same party running against each in the primary.
The candidates and districts are:
- Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D) and Rep. Lucy McBath (D) for Georgia’s 7th
- Rep. Sean Casten (D) and Rep. Marie Newman (D) for Illinois’ 6th
- Rep. Rodney Davis (R) and Rep. Mary Miller (R) for Illinois’ 15th
- Rep. Andy Levin (D) and Rep. Haley Stevens (D) for Michigan’s 11th
- Rep. David McKinley (R) and Rep. Alex Mooney (R) for West Virginia’s 2nd
Illinois, Michigan, and West Virginia all lost one seat each as a result of apportionment after the 2020 census.
After the 2010 census, there were 13 districts where multiple incumbents ran against each other in the 2012 elections. Eleven of those races featured candidates from the same party, and two had a Democrat and a Republican run for the same district in the general election. The Republican candidate won both of the districts with one incumbent from each party.
Multiple candidates might run in the same district if after redistricting, their home addresses or political bases of support are drawn into the same district, or if they determine that the characteristics of a particular district are more favorable for re-election.
The U.S. Constitution requires that members of the U.S. House of Representatives are residents of the state from which he or she is elected. However, it does not require them to live in the district that they represent.
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