Congress

Approval of the Congress is up roughly 5 points from where it was a year ago and disapproval is down 2 points.

Approve Disapprove
Real Clear Pol. 10/13/22 25.3% 65.8%
Real Clear Pol. 8/30/22 20.6% 67.4%
Real Clear Pol. 8/2/22 19.6% 71.0%
Real Clear Pol. 6/15/22 21.2% 69.0%
Real Clear Pol. 5/17/22 22.4% 68.0%
Real Clear Pol. 4/16/22 22.2% 67.5%
Real Clear Pol. 3/15/22 21.8% 67.8%
Real Clear Pol. 2/18/22 20.8% 68.3%
Real Clear Pol. 1/17/22 22.4% 66.4%
Real Clear Pol. 12/21/21 23.0% 65.8%
Real Clear Pol. 11/30/21 22.2% 68.6%
Real Clear Pol. 10/12/21 25.0% 65.8%
Real Clear Pol. 9/1/21 28.5% 60.3%

The House of Representatives

Washington Watch uses the Cook Political Report for its report on elections in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Currently:

  • Democrats – 220 seats
  • Republicans – 212 seats
  • Vacancies – 3 seats

A total of 15 House members, 9 Republicans and 6 Democrats, have lost renomination in 2022. In 2020 a total of 21 House members lost, 5 Republicans and 16 Democrats, and in 2018 a total of 34 House members, 32 Republicans and 2 Democrats, lost renomination.

As of 10/4/22, 49 House incumbents have announced they are not running for re-election.


The following are the current House race ratings for the coming election.

  • Solid – Not competitive
  • Likely – These seats are not considered competitive at this point but have potential
  • Lean – These seats are considered competitive races, but one party has advantage
  • Toss Up – The most competitive either party has a good chance of winning
Democrat Republican
Solid Democrat 162 Solid Republican 188
Likely Dem 14 Likely GOP 12
Lean Dem 17 Lean GOP 11
Dem Toss up 21 GOP Toss up 10
Total 214 Total 221

The Senate

WW uses Jessica Taylor of the Cook Political Report and Inside Elections, for the Senate chart below. When those two organizations do not agree, WW uses Sabato as a tie breaker.

  • Republicans – 50
  • Democrats – 48
  • Independents – 2

Six U.S. Senators are retiring from public office, 1 Democrat and 5 Republicans. None are running for other office.

Democrats Republicans Independent
Seats not up in 2022 34 30 2
Safe in 2022 9 15  
  Padilla Murkowski  
  Murray AL – open  
  Blumenthal Boozman  
  Schatz Grassley  
  Duckworth Crapo  
  Van Hollen Young  
  Schumer Moran  
  Wyden Paul  
  VT – open Kennedy  
  Hoeven  
    OK – open  
    MO – open  
    Scott  
    Thune  
Likely 0 3  
  Rubio  
    OH  
    Lee  
     
Lean 3 1  
  Hassan NC – open  
  Bennet    
  Kelly    
Toss Up 2 2  
  Cortez Masto Johnson  
Warnock PA – open