4 battleground members of Congress will face voter questions Thursday

By Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN

(CNN) — Four House lawmakers from battleground districts will field questions from American voters Thursday.

Republicans Mike Lawler and Ryan Mackenzie and Democrats Jahana Hayes and Derek Tran will address a live studio audience made up of Republicans, Democrats and independents that includes constituents from each member’s district.

Lawler and Mackenzie are part of a Republican majority in the House that is attempting to pass President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, which includes new money for immigration enforcement, a sweeping overhaul of the tax code, steep spending cuts and more energy drilling. Both voted in favor of adopting a budget blueprint earlier Thursday – a critical first step toward advancing the president’s legislative priorities.

Hayes, a former educator, and Tran, a military veteran, are among Democrats opposed to Trump’s cuts to government agencies and the federal workforce.

Here’s a look at the lawmakers and the districts they represent:

Mike Lawler

Lawler is a two-term Republican congressman representing New York’s Hudson Valley, one of just three across the country that backed former Vice President Kamala Harris for president and sent a Republican to the US House.

He served in New York local politics for years before he was elected in 2022 to Congress and was reelected in 2024, despite facing some controversy.

Lawler, who portrays himself as a moderate, is part of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus and the bipartisan caucus that advocates for the State and Local Tax (SALT) Deduction.

He is weighing a run for New York governor.

He has called for no cuts to Medicaid and Medicare and has said he will opposed a national abortion ban.

Ryan Mackenzie

Mackenzie, a Pennsylvania Republican, flipped a key congressional seat in a swing state, narrowly beating Democrat Susan Wild by half a percentage point in the 2024 election.

He served in the Pennsylvania state House before he ran for Congress.

The Lehigh Valley congressman has introduced a bill package that aims to expand paid family and medical leave, double the child tax credit and expands the adoption tax credit and creates a matching credit for in vitro fertilization.

He has joined a bipartisan bill aimed at helping families access affordable childcare and bipartisan legislation to tackle maternal deaths

Jahana Hayes

A Democrat from Connecticut, Hayes was a public school history teacher for 15 years, winning the distinction of 2016 National Teacher of the Year, before she joined Congress in 2019.

Hayes, a Democrat now in her fourth term in Congress, has been critical of the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education.

Hayes is the first Black congresswoman elected to represent the state of Connecticut.

Derek Tran

Tran, a California Democrat, is also new to Washington. He’s a freshman congressman who flipped a key seat in California to narrow the party’s margins within House Republicans’ majority.

Having never held political office before, Tran defeated GOP incumbent Rep. Michelle Steel in the 2024 race for California’s 45th District by 653 votes.

Tran, who is Vietnamese American, represents a predominantly Asian American district in Orange County that includes Little Saigon.

An Army veteran, Tran’s first piece of legislation introduced was a bill that aimed to reinstate veterans who were dismissed from federal employment without cause.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the final margin by which Tran won his seat.

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