As the House of Representatives stares down a surge of exits in 2026, some Republican ex-lawmakers who resigned or were booted from office are looking to return to the nation’s capital.
A mass exodus from Congress, fueled by both outright retirements and aspirations for higher office, are creating opportunities for former members to make a comeback — all while over 80% of Americans currently disapprove of Congress’s current performance. From scandal-plagued Madison Cawthorn and Chris Collins to history-making Mayra Flores, here are five Republicans looking to return to the nation’s capital in 2026.
Madison Cawthorn
Cawthorn, 30, has been dogged by a series of controversies since his 2020 election to Congress at age of 25, including unproven claims his colleagues in the lower chamber invited him to an orgy and did cocaine in front of him. He lost his reelection bid in the 2022 GOP primary after just one term representing North Carolina’s 11th congressional district.
The defeated ex-lawmaker in early October announced his decision to dive back into politics, citing in part Charlie Kirk’s Sept. 10 assassination, but this time in a brand new state — Florida.
“I’m running for Congress again because I’ve seen firsthand how permanent Washington punishes anyone who refuses to be controlled, and I’m not willing to sit quietly while the swamp continues to betray the American people,” Cawthorn told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement. “Florida became my home when I lost everything, and after rebuilding alongside my neighbors and serving my community, I know I have a responsibility to fight for the issues that matter most here, from affordable insurance and environmental restoration to secure borders and American jobs.”
Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds announced his bid for governor in February, leaving the Sunshine State’s 19th congressional district open for the midterms. Still, Cawthorn is not the only former member of Congress who represented another state eyeing the seat Donalds is vacating.
Chris Collins
Chris Collins, the former representative of New York’s 27th Congressional District, has also had his fair share of scandaland even served time in prison. President Donald Trump pardoned the ex-Congressman – the first member of either house to endorse his 2016 presidential campaign – after only serving two months of his 26-month sentence in Florida for insider trading. Collins, 75, has been open about potentially running for office in Florida since Donalds first floated a gubernatorial run in 2023.
Collins could not be reached for comment.
In addition to Cawthorn and Collins, three other candidates who previously ran for the House in other states are running in the 19th district’s GOP primary — Ola Hawatmeh, who ran in New York in 2020, and Catalina Lauf and Jim Oberweis who both ran for the same Illinois seat that year.
John Sununu
John Sununu, a one-term U.S. senator from New Hampshire, is seeking another term to represent the Granite State in the upper chamber. He lost his reelection bid to Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in 2008, and is now vying for the same seat which Shaheen is retiring from in the 2026 midterms.
In his launch video, Sununu portrayed himself as one who can “lower the temperature” and “calm the waters” in a politically turbulent Congress as well as bring focus back to the economy, jobs and affordability.
However, Shaheen’s decision to leave D.C. is also sparking interest for another former GOP senator who previously ran against her.
Scott Brown
Scott Brown, a former U.S. senator from Massachusetts and Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa during Trump’s first term, announced his bid to replace Shaheen in the U.S. Senate in July, marking his second attempt to secure the seat.
Brown praised Trump in his launch video — although the president lost the Granite State by nearly three points in 2024 — and portrayed himself in direct opposition to the policies of Democratic frontrunner, New Hampshire Rep. Chris Pappas, who is likely to face either Brown or Sununu in the general election. Sununu, meanwhile, made no mention of any opponents or the incumbent in his announcement video. Â
“For four years, Chris Pappas has stood by Joe Biden as he opened the border, drove up the cost of everything and made life just simply unaffordable. The extreme left wanted the police defunded, Hamas to win and men in women’s sports,” Brown said in his announcement video. “If we sent Chris Pappas to the Senate, we’ll get more of the same.”
Brown served part of one term in the Senate representing deep blue Massachusetts after winning a 2010 special election to the seat formerly held by the late longtime Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy in a major upset. He notably lost his 2012 re-election bid to left-wing  titan Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Mayra Flores
Also eyeing a return to the nation’s capital is former Rep. Mayra Flores – the first Mexican-born woman to be elected to the House of Representatives in history. Flores won a special election in June 2022 to replace former Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela after he stepped down from his seat representing Texas’s 34th congressional district. Five months later she lost reelection to Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez — after redistricting had merged their seats — and again in 2024.
Flores is seeking a third straight general election matchup with Gonzalez, but first must get past Army veteran and former federal prosecutor Eric Flores — to whom she is not related — in the GOP primary. Trump notably endorsed Mr. Flores over the former congresswoman on Dec. 19.
Texas’ mid-decade redistricting made the 34th district more Republican — moving it from a seat Trump carried by four percentage points to one he won by double digits.
“This campaign is driven by a love for our country and a commitment to fight for justice, opportunity, and unity for all,” Mayra Flores wrote in an April announcement on social media. “Together, let’s stand strong and work tirelessly to build a brighter tomorrow for every American.”
The campaign offices for Flores, Sununu and Brown did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
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