U.S. House competitiveness by challenger fundraising, 2020-2022

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Every cycle, some U.S. House incumbents who run for re-election face no competition at all in the primaries or the general election, while others do. Whether an incumbent faces a contested primary or general election can give us some indication of how competitive an election is, but it doesn’t account for other factors affecting competitiveness, like candidate fundraising, for example. Some incumbents face competitive races against well-funded opponents, while others face opponents with little to no resources.

In this report, we used finance data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to analyze how many incumbents faced what we define as competitive races in 2020 and 2022 based on this approach.

First, we looked at whether an incumbent had opponent(s) in the primary, the general election, or both. For incumbents who had opposition in at least one election stage, we looked at whether those challengers raised more than $10,000, $100,000, $500,000, $1 million, or $5 million in the course of the election cycle, to get a better idea of the level of opposition those incumbents faced.

We also analyzed how many incumbents faced challengers who raised more than the incumbents did in 2020 and 2022.

Key findings from the report include:

In 2022, 160 incumbents, or 41.6% of all incumbents who ran for re-election, faced no opponents in at least one election stage. In 2020, 191 incumbents, or 48.11% of all who ran, faced no opponents in at least one stage.

Seven incumbents (1.76%) ran unopposed in 2022, meaning they faced no primary or general election opponents. Seven incumbents (1.86%) also ran unopposed in 2020.

In 2022, 317 incumbents faced opponents who raised more than $10,000 in at least one election stage. Seventy-five of those faced opponents who raised more than $1M. In 2020, 335 incumbents faced opponents who raised more than $10,000. Of those, 107 faced opponents who raised more than $1M.

This report is organized by year:

2022
2020

2022

See also: United States House of Representatives elections, 2022

Three-hundred eighty-four U.S. House incumbents—191 Democrats and 193 Republicans—ran for re-election in 2022.

U.S. House incumbents who ran unopposed

Of the 384 incumbents who ran for re-election, 160 incumbents—86 Democrats and 74 Republicans—faced no opponents in at least one election stage:

Eight U.S. House incumbents who ran for re-election—two Democrats and six Republicans—faced opponents in the primaries but no opponents in the general election. These incumbents represented 2% of all incumbents who ran.

145 U.S. House incumbents who ran for re-election—83 Democrats and 62 Republicans—faced opponents in the general election but no opponents in the primaries. These incumbents represented 37.76% of all incumbents who ran.

Seven U.S. House incumbents who ran for re-election—one Democrat and six Republicans—were unopposed in both the primaries and the general election. These incumbents represented 1.82%% of all incumbents who ran.

U.S. House incumbents who ran unopposed in at least one election stage in 2022
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Unopposed only in primary		Unopposed only in general		Unopposed in both		Total (no opponents in at least one stage)
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	191	83	43.46%	2	1.05%	1	0.52%	86	45.03%
Republican	193	62	32.12%	6	3.11%	6	3.11%	74	38.34%
Total	384	145	37.76%	8	2.08%	7	1.82%	160	41.67%

U.S. House incumbents who faced primary or general election opponents, by opponents' contributions

The section shows the total number of incumbents who faced opponents who raised more than $5M, $1M, $500,000, $100,000, and $10,000 in 2022.

In 2022:

Five incumbents (1.3% of incumbents who ran) faced opponents who raised more than $5M in contributions, the highest tier we analyzed. Four incumbents did so in the primaries, and one did so in the general election.

75 incumbents (19.53% of incumbents who ran) faced opponents who raised more than $1M in contributions. Twenty did so in the primaries, 41 in the general election, and 14 did so in both the primary and the general election.

114 incumbents (29.69% of incumbents who ran) faced opponents who raised more than $500,000 in contributions. Thirty did so in the primaries, 58 in the general election, and 26 did so in both the primary and the general election.

196 incumbents (51.04%% of incumbents who ran) faced opponents who raised more than $100,000 in contributions. Forty-three did so in the primaries, 99 in the general election, and 54 did so in both the primary and the general election.

317 incumbents (82.55%% of incumbents who ran) faced opponents who raised more than $10,000 in contributions, the lowest tier we analyzed. Forty-four did so in the primaries, 152 in the general election, and 121 did so in both the primary and the general election.

The tables below show the number of incumbents who faced opponents who raised more than the set amount, separated by whether they faced such opponents only in the primary, only in the general election, or both. The "%" column represents those incumbents as a percentage of all incumbents who ran.

The tables also show the total number of incumbents who faced such opponents at any election stage.^[1]

Note: Each of the tables below show all incumbents with opponents who raised more than that set tier, even if those incumbents also fall in a different tier. If an incumbent faced an opponent who raised more than $5M in contributions, for example, that incumbent is also included in the group of incumbents with opponents who raised more than $1M, 500,000, 100,000, and 10,000.

Tier 1 - Total incumbents with opponents who raised > $5M
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in primary		Only in general		Both primary and general election		Total (opponents who raised >$5M in at least one stage)
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	191	4	2.09%	0	0.00%	0	0%	4	2.09%
Republican	193	0	0.00%	1	0.52%	0	0%	1	0.52%
Total	384	4	1.04%	1	0.26%	0	0%	5	1.30%

Tier 2 - Total incumbents with opponents who raised > $1M
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in primary		Only in general		Both primary and general election		Total (opponents who raised >$1M in at least one stage)
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	191	13	6.81%	23	12.04%	9	4.71%	45	23.56%
Republican	193	7	3.63%	18	9.33%	5	2.59%	30	15.54%
Total	384	20	5.21%	41	10.68%	14	3.65%	75	19.53%

Tier 3 - Total incumbents with opponents who raised > $500,000
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in primary		Only in general		Both primary and general election		Total (opponents who raised >$500,000 in at least one stage)
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	191	17	8.90%	32	16.75%	15	7.85%	64	33.51%
Republican	193	13	6.74%	26	13.47%	11	5.70%	50	25.91%
Total	384	30	7.81%	58	15.10%	26	6.77%	114	29.69%

Tier 4 - Total incumbents with opponents who raised > $100,000
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in primary		Only in general		Both primary and general election		Total (opponents who raised >$100,000 in at least one stage)
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	191	16	8.38%	62	32.46%	35	18.32%	113	59.16%
Republican	193	27	13.99%	37	19.17%	19	9.84%	83	43.01%
Total	384	43	11.20%	99	25.78%	54	14.06%	196	51.04%

Tier 5 - Total incumbents with opponents who raised > $10,000
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in primary		Only in general		Both primary and general election		Total (opponents who raised >$10,000 in at least one stage)
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	191	14	7.33%	83	43.46%	59	30.89%	156	81.68%
Republican	193	30	15.54%	69	35.75%	62	32.12%	161	83.42%
Total	384	44	11.46%	152	39.58%	121	31.51%	317	82.55%

Amounts raised by challengers as a percentage of contributions raised by incumbents

The tables below show the number of incumbents with opponents who raised more than 30%, 50%, or 100% of the amounts the incumbents raised. In each table, incumbents are separated by whether they faced such opponents only in the primary, only in the general election, or both. The "%" column represents those incumbents as a percentage of all incumbents who ran.

Note: Each of the tables below show all incumbents with opponents who raised more than that set percentage, even if those incumbents also fall in a different tier. If an incumbent faced an opponent who raised more than 50% the amount in contributions as they did, for example, that incumbent is also included in the table showing incumbents with opponents who raised more than 30% the amounts they raised.

Incumbents who faced challengers who raised >30% the contributions raised by incumbents, 2022
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in the primary		Only in the general election		Both primary and general election		Total
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	191	9	4.71%	27	14.59%	18	9.42%	54	28.27%
Republican	193	6	3.11%	12	6.49%	22	11.40%	40	20.73%
Total	384	15	3.91%	39	10.54%	40	10.42%	94	24.48%

Incumbents who faced challengers who raised >50% the contributions raised by incumbents, 2022
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in the primary		Only in the general election		Both primary and general election		Total
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	191	8	4.19%	9	4.86%	10	5.24%	27	14.14%
Republican	193	5	2.59%	9	4.86%	16	8.29%	30	15.54%
Total	384	13	3.39%	18	4.86%	26	6.77%	57	14.84%

Incumbents who faced challengers who raised >100% the contributions raised by incumbents, 2022
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in the primary		Only in the general election		Both primary and general election		Total
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	191	4	2.09%	4	2.09%	4	2.09%	12	6.28%
Republican	193	2	1.04%	2	1.08%	5	2.59%	9	4.66%
Total	384	6	1.56%	6	1.62%	9	2.34%	21	5.47%

2020

See also: United States House of Representatives elections, 2020

Three-hundred ninety-seven U.S. House incumbents ran for re-election—219 Democrats and 172 Republicans.

U.S. House incumbents who ran unopposed

Of the 397 incumbents who ran for re-election, 191 incumbents faced no opponents in at least one election stage:

Six U.S. House incumbents who ran for re-election—four Democrats and two Republicans—faced opponents in the primaries but no opponents in the general election. These incumbents represented 1.5% of all incumbents who ran.

178 U.S. House incumbents who ran for re-election—92 Democrats and 86 Republicans—faced opponents in the general election but no opponents in the primaries. These incumbents represented 44.84% of all incumbents who ran.

Seven U.S. House incumbents who ran for re-election—two Democrats and five Republicans—were unopposed in both the primaries and the general election. These incumbents represented 1.8%% of all incumbents who ran.

U.S. House incumbents who ran unopposed in at least one election stage in 2020
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Unopposed only in primary		Unopposed only in general		Unopposed in both		Total (no opponents in at least one stage)
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	225	92	40.89%	4	1.78%	2	0.89%	98	43.56%
Republican	172	86	50.00%	2	1.16%	5	2.91%	93	54.07%
Total	397	178	44.84%	6	'1.51%	7	'1.76%	191	48.11%

U.S. House incumbents who faced primary or general election opponents, by opponents' contributions

The section shows the total number of incumbents who faced opponents who raised more than $5M, $1M, $500,000, $100,000, and $10,000 in 2020.

In 2020:

Sixteen incumbents (4.03% of incumbents who ran) faced opponents who raised more than $5M in contributions, the highest tier we analyzed. Eleven incumbents did so only in the general election, and five did so in both the primaries and the general election.

107 incumbents (26.95% of incumbents who ran) faced opponents who raised more than $1M in contributions. Nine did so in the primaries, 79 in the general election, and 19 did so in both the primaries and the general election.

134 incumbents (33,75% of incumbents who ran) faced opponents who raised more than $500,000 in contributions. Fourteen did so in the primaries, 97 in the general election, and 23 did so in both the primary and the general election.

219 incumbents (55.16%% of incumbents who ran) faced opponents who raised more than $100,000 in contributions. Twenty-seven did so in the primaries, 148 in the general election, and 44 did so in both the primary and the general election.

335 incumbents (85.38%% of incumbents who ran) faced opponents who raised more than $10,000 in contributions, the lowest tier we analyzed. Thirty-five did so in the primaries, 197 in the general election, and 103 did so in both the primary and the general election.

The tables below show the number of incumbents who faced opponents who raised more than the set amount, separated by whether they faced such opponents only in the primary, only in the general election, or both. The "%" column represents those incumbents as a percentage of all incumbents who ran.

The tables also show the total number of incumbents who faced such opponents at any election stage.

Note: Each of the tables below show all incumbents with opponents who raised more than that set tier, even if those incumbents also fall in a different tier. If an incumbent faced an opponent who raised more than $5M in contributions, for example, that incumbent is also included in the group of incumbents with opponents who raised more than $1M, 500,000, 100,000, and 10,000.

Tier 1 - Total incumbents with opponents who raised > $5M
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in primary		Only in general		Both primary and general election		Total (opponents who raised >$5M in at least one stage)
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	225	0	0%	6	2.67%	3	1.33%	9	4.00%
Republican	172	0	0%	5	2.91%	2	1.16%	7	4.07%
Total	397	0	0%	11	2.77%	'5	1.26%	16	4.03%

Tier 2 - Total incumbents with opponents who raised > $1M
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in primary		Only in general		Both primary and general election		Total (opponents who raised >$1M in at least one stage)
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	225	5	2.22%	43	19.11%	13	5.78%	61	27.11%
Republican	172	4	2.33%	36	20.93%	6	3.49%	46	26.74%
Total	397	9	2.27%	79	19.90%	19	4.79%	107	26.95%

Tier 3 - Total incumbents with opponents who raised > $500,000
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in primary		Only in general		Both primary and general election		Total (opponents who raised >$500,000 in at least one stage)
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	225	9	4.00%	50	22.22%	17	7.56%	76	33.78%
Republican	172	5	2.91%	47	27.33%	6	3.49%	58	33.72%
Total	397	14	3.53%	97	24.43%	23	5.79%	134	33.75%

Tier 4 - Total incumbents with opponents who raised > $100,000
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in primary		Only in general		Both primary and general election		Total (opponents who raised >$100,000 in at least one stage)
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	225	19	8.44%	71	31.56%	32	14.22%	122	54.22%
Republican	172	8	4.65%	77	44.77%	12	6.98%	97	56.40%
Total	397	27	6.80%	148	37.28%	44	11.08%	219	55.16%

Tier 5 - Total incumbents with opponents who raised > $10,000
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in primary		Only in general		Both primary and general election		Total (opponents who raised >$10,000 in at least one stage)
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	225	20	8.89%	92	40.89%	76	33.78%	188	83.56%
Republican	172	15	8.72%	105	61.05%	27	15.70%	147	85.47%
Total	397	35	8.82%	197	'49.62%	103	25.94%	335	84.38%

Amounts raised by challengers as a percentage of contributions raised by incumbents

The tables below show the number of incumbents with opponents who raised more than 30%, 50%, or 100% of the amounts the incumbents raised. In each table, incumbents are separated by whether they faced such opponents only in the primary, only in the general election, or both. The "%" column represents those incumbents as a percentage of all incumbents who ran.

Note: Each of the tables below show all incumbents with opponents who raised more than that set percentage, even if those incumbents also fall in a different tier. If an incumbent faced an opponent who raised more than 50% the amount in contributions as they did, for example, that incumbent is also included in the table showing incumbents with opponents who raised more than 30% the amounts they raised.

Incumbents who faced challengers who raised >30% the contributions raised by incumbents, 2020
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in the primary		Only in the general election		Both primary and general election		Total
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	225	8	3.56%	35	15.98%	17	7.56%	60	26.67%
Republican	172	4	2.33%	42	25.15%	9	5.23%	55	31.98%
Total	397	12	3.02%	77	19.95%	26	6.55%	115	28.97%

Incumbents who faced challengers who raised >50% the contributions raised by incumbents, 2020
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in the primary		Only in the general election		Both primary and general election		Total
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	225	5	2.22%	20	8.89%	10	4.44%	35	15.56%
Republican	172	5	2.91%	29	16.86%	9	5.23%	43	25.00%
Total	397	10	2.52%	49	12.69%	19	4.79%	78	19.65%

Incumbents who faced challengers who raised >100% the contributions raised by incumbents, 2020
Party	Total # of incs. who ran for re-election
		Only in the primary		Only in the general election		Both primary and general election		Total
		#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Democratic	225	3	1.33%	4	1.78%	4	1.78%	11	4.89%
Republican	172	4	2.33%	13	7.56%	5	2.91%	22	12.79%
Total	397	7	1.76%	17	4.28%	9	2.27%	33	8.31%

Footnotes

↑ These numbers include incumbents who had other incumbents as opponents because of redistricting. In these cases, both incumbents are counted as having had opponents who raised more than the set tier.

U.S. House competitiveness by challenger fundraising, 2020-2022

Contents

2022

U.S. House incumbents who ran unopposed

U.S. House incumbents who faced primary or general election opponents, by opponents' contributions

Amounts raised by challengers as a percentage of contributions raised by incumbents

2020

U.S. House incumbents who ran unopposed

U.S. House incumbents who faced primary or general election opponents, by opponents' contributions

Amounts raised by challengers as a percentage of contributions raised by incumbents

Footnotes

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