From 'blue wave' heroes to early exits: What happened to the 2018 House Democrats

Eight years ago, a blue wave swept dozens of Democrats into Congress, making them heroes of the resistance to President Donald Trump.

But as quickly as tides roll in, they roll back out.

It's been a decidedly mixed bag since then for the 42 Democrats who flipped Republican-held seats in 2018 to reclaim control of the U.S. House.

Their fate is a lesson in the ephemeral nature of politics as Democrats hope for a repeat performance in this year’s midterms. With an ever-changing electorate, the skills and ideas that rise to the top in one cycle can quickly become a liability in another.

Of the 42, a few have moved on to higher offices. Others who tried to climb the ladder found themselves out of step with a Democratic base uninterested in the compromises once viewed as necessary to win in conservative-leaning areas. Many were defeated by Republicans who rallied to reclaim the seats as the political landscape shifted. Only 14 remain in the House, and at least three of them will leave in January.

In 2018, Democrats focused on recruiting political newcomers with backgrounds in public service like veterans, national security officials and doctors. To appeal to independents, the party sought House candidates who “look, feel and sound like a different kind of Democrat,” said Dan Sena, who was executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that year.

Voters were drawn to their aura of nonpartisan competence to be a buffer against Trump. But that's not the priority anymore.

“In 2018, the Democratic base wanted an adult in the room,” Sena said. “In 2026 they want a fighter in the ring.”

The lawmakers newly elected in 2018 brought the largest influx of first-year House Democrats in at least four decades. It was the chamber’s youngest and most diverse freshman class in history.

Angie Craig won a Republican-held Minnesota district in the suburbs of Minneapolis-St. Paul in 2018. She was repeatedly targeted by Republicans, who poured millions of dollars into trying to defeat her, but managed to win reelection three times.

The first openly gay mother in congressional history, Craig helped break barriers. However, her instinct for moderation became a liability when she tried to win the Democratic nomination to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith.

Craig overwhelmingly lost the Democratic primary to Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan , who relentlessly hammered Craig over her relationships with deep-pocketed donors and her votes for tougher immigration enforcement.

“That was a tough seat to flip, and she did it, and that is commendable, and that has been to everyone’s advantage in Minnesota since then,” Justin Ropella, a 43-year-old Flanagan supporter, said days before last month’s primary. “But I think she has failed to meet the moment time and time again since then, and she is stuck in a moderate environment when the world is progressing past her.”

Haley Stevens faced a similar fate in Michigan. She flipped and held a Republican-seat in 2018, and defeated a fellow Democrat after they were put in the same district in 2022, but she narrowly lost this year’s Senate primary to progressive Abdul El-Sayed.

Jared Golden won an overwhelmingly Republican district in Maine and fended off perennial Republican attacks to keep the seat. But his mix of progressive economic views and cultural conservatism often put him at odds with Democratic leaders and the party’s base.

In the face of a primary challenge from his left, Golden decided not to seek reelection this year. Strategists in both parties widely expect the seat to flip back to Republicans in November.

The latest example of him clashing with party leadership came this week when he was one of just two Democrats to join Republicans on a procedural vote, an apostasy in Capitol Hill's unwritten rules. The vote enraged his colleagues, who then had to cast votes on a conservative resolution on socialism and elections designed to put Democrats in a bind during election season.

A majority of the 2018 Democratic frontliners didn’t last long in Congress. The Republican-leaning districts they flipped proved tough to hold when the political winds weren’t blowing overwhelmingly in their favor.

The party lost ground in the House in 2020 but retained a small majority. Then it lost that in 2022, when Republicans took control of the chamber midway through Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency.

Today, just 14 remain, and their ranks will shrink in January when Craig, Stevens and Golden leave office.

The 2026 battle for the House is playing out on similar turf. Most of the battleground districts voted for Trump, who expanded his coalition to return to the White House but has seen his popularity plummet.

It hasn't been all bad news for the class of 2018.

Mikie Sherill and Abigail Spanberger were elected governor of New Jersey and Virginia, respectively, last year. Both of their campaigns focused heavily on the cost of living, a formula Democrats around the country are now trying to replicate.

Andy Kim of New Jersey and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan won Senate seats in 2024.

Slotkin may try to take another political leap soon — she could run for president in 2028.