Congress: Competitive Elections for the SBS Community to Watch

As November 5 rapidly approaches, Congress is likely to see some leadership changes in both the House and the Senate. With a current slim majority in both chambers, competitive races have Democrats and Republicans battling for control. The 2024 CPR Senate Race Ratings from the Cook Political Report details the Senate races that are competitive, including Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Significantly more Democrat-held seats are in competitive races than Republican-held seats in the Senate. Similarly, the 2024 CPR House Race Ratings from the Cook Political Report details the House races that are competitive, including races in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington that may impact House leadership.

For the social and behavioral science (SBS) community, there are key committees important to research that COSSA will be watching, including the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, as well as their respective subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS)—which funds the National Science Foundation, Department of Justice, and Census Bureau, among other agencies—and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (LHHS)—the sub-committee that funds the National Institutes of Health, Department of Education, and several other agencies of interest to the science community. In particular, COSSA will be following these competitive races closely:

• Representative Matt Cartwright (D-PA), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations CJS Subcommittee, is in a competitive race with Rob Bresnahan (R) that is considered a toss-up.
• Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chair of the Senate Appropriations LHHS Subcommittee, is in a competitive race with Eric Hovde (R) that is considered a toss-up.
• Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, is in a competitive race with Colin Allred (D) that is leaning Republican.
• Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), is in a competitive race with Dave McCormick (R) that is considered a toss-up.

Regardless of the outcome of the elections, some key committees will see a shake-up in leadership, including the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (SST) with Frank Lucas (R-OK) reaching the end of his term as Chair. As a reminder, House Republicans limit committee leadership to six years. Join COSSA on December 5 at 2:00pm EST for our Post-Election Headlines to discuss the election results and their effect on the social and behavioral science community.

Stay tuned to COSSA’s continued coverage of Congressional news.