Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is eyeing 21 seats that will determine the House majority in the November midterm elections, including Colorado’s Congressional District 8.

Johnson pointed to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report’s 21 toss-up seats, before rattling off a list of the races he is watching particularly closely.

“Those 21 or so seats that are going to decide the fate of the republic,” the speaker said at a Tuesday press conference. “That’s the seats that are going to decide the majority. I’m absolutely convinced that we can win those. We have better candidates. We have a common-sense message. What we have done with our record resonates with the people, and our candidates are pointing out the absolute madness that is ensuing.”

The fate of Johnson’s political career could hinge on the outcome of these nearly two dozen seats, some of which he specifically highlighted during a call to the Republican Jewish Coalition’s leadership summit Monday, pointing to seven Republican-held seats and six held by Democrats.

The Louisiana Republican cited seven GOP toss-up races where Republicans must play defense: Reps. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., Tom Barrett, R-Mich., Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., Derrick Van Orden, R-Wisc., Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., Jen Kiggans, R-Va. and David Valadao, R-Calif.

Both Evans and Barrett caught a break after progressives defeated more moderate candidates in the Democratic primaries, but both races are still expected to be competitive.

Evans is facing Democratic nominee Manny Rutinel.

Lawler is the only one of the seven tossups that represents a district won by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in 2024, while Ciscomani and Kiggans’s districts voted for Trump by less than 1 percentage point. Valadao’s district in California’s Central Valley voted for the president by just over 5 points, but it was redrawn as part of California’s mid-decade redistricting process, making it more favorable to Democrats.

The speaker’s 21 districts to determine the majority included two toss-up Democrats: Reps. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash. Moskowitz’s seat is in jeopardy after the Florida Republicans redrew his district this year to go from a relatively comfortable Democratic seat to a possible GOP pickup. Gluesenkamp Perez’s district voted for Trump by nearly 3 points in 2024, but it trended left compared to Trump’s 2020 margin in the southwest Washington seat.

Johnson also touched on the seats of Reps. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., Laura Gillen, D-N.Y., Susie Lee, D-Nev. and Dina Titus, D-Nev., whom Republicans see as competitive, though they could be difficult lifts in the current political environment. Gillen and Suozzi both represent Long Island districts. Titus and Lee represent the Las Vegas area.

While Democrats have historically had the advantage of the House flipping to the party out of power in the White House in midterm elections, Republicans gained a narrow advantage through their redistricting efforts, which could help the party stave off losses expected in a midterm cycle.