(TNND) — Six House Democrats broke party ranks in voting for the bill that ended the government shutdown.

They come from states big and small, from one coast to the other. But Mark Jones, a political science fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute, said all six Democrats have something in common.

They all represent “red, light pink, or purple districts,” Jones said.

“None of them represents a district where they are a lock to win in November,” Jones said. “Quite the contrary.”

Jones said the six Democrats made political calculations in casting votes alongside Republicans to reopen the government.

One of them isn’t running for reelection in next year’s midterms. The other five are.

The Cook Political Report has three of them in “toss-up” districts for next year’s election.

One is in a “likely” Republican district, and the other is in a “lean” Democratic district.

Jones said the votes to end the shutdown should play well in those swing districts and help those Democrats make the case to their voters that they’re not beholden to the left wing of the Democratic Party.

And the Democratic House votes didn't make a difference in the outcome, as the GOP had the majority vote needed anyway.

Republicans wanted Democrats to agree to a so-called clean continuing resolution to extend government funding after it lapsed at the beginning of October.

Democrats were seeking the reversal of Medicaid changes that were part of the GOP “One Big Beautiful Bill” and an extension of the Affordable Care Act enhanced tax credits.

In the end, Democrats got just a promise of a vote on the ACA, or Obamacare, subsidies.

SEE ALSO: The shutdown is over: Will Congress still act to lower healthcare costs?

Congress passed full-year appropriations bills covering the legislative branch, military construction, Veterans Affairs, agriculture, rural development, and the Food and Drug Administration.

And the rest of the government is funded through the end of January.

One of the Democratic House members who sided with Republicans on the reopening vote was Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, of Washington, who called the shutdown a “partisan car crash.”

Gluesenkamp Perez is a former small business owner who is seeking reelection next year in a toss-up district.

“Americans can’t afford for their Representatives to get so caught up in landing a partisan win that they abandon their obligation to come together to solve the urgent problems that our nation faces,” she said in a statement after the vote. “The last several weeks have been a case study in why most Americans can’t stand Congress. None of my friends who rely on SNAP would want to trade their dinner for an ambiguous D.C. beltway ‘messaging victory’ and I’m glad this ugly scene is in the rearview mirror.”

Another, Jared Golden, of Maine, isn’t running again next year.

He called for his fellow lawmakers to extend the Obamacare subsidies to “keep health insurance plans affordable for millions of Americans. We still have a window to pass bipartisan legislation to extend these credits."

Adam Gray, a California Democrat in a toss-up district, said food stamps were being held “hostage” by President Donald Trump during the shutdown.

“That’s why I voted for a bipartisan agreement that takes food assistance off the table for an entire year,” Gray said in an op-ed. “So when the next shutdown happens (and in this divided Washington, there is always a next shutdown) the president cannot use hungry kids as bargaining chips again. This agreement also protects veterans, small business owners, and federal workers from being turned into political weapons."

Another of the six Democrats, Don Davis, is a former Air Force officer, educator, mayor and state lawmaker from North Carolina.

Davis represents a likely Republican district, according to the Cook Political Report.

He said he initially voted against the continuing resolution because he wanted “sincere discussions” on extending the Obamacare subsidies.

“An increasing number of families have shared with me that they have been suffering daily over the past 49 days and 15 rounds of votes in the Senate, as many families in North Carolina’s First Congressional District are dealing with high costs and limited resources,” he said in a statement about his vote.

Texas’ Henry Cuellar and New York’s Tom Suozzi are the final two Democrats who voted in favor of the bill.

Cuellar is a centrist who has been in Congress for 20 years and represents a district that covers part of San Antonio down to the Mexico border.

He’s in a toss-up district and said ending the shutdown will “get critical programs back on track.”

Suozzi is an attorney and accountant who represents a district that leans Democratic. He’s also the co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.

“If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are willing to work together to address this health insurance affordability crisis by extending the premium tax credits, then we will have accomplished something meaningful,” Suozzi said in a statement. “If we are not successful, it will deal yet another blow to the already eroding trust in Washington, DC, and it will be clear who failed to deliver."

Retaining these five or six seats might prove critical for Democrats if they hope to recapture the House next year.

The Cook Political Report has just 16 of 435 House seats marked as toss-ups for next year’s midterms.

Another 18 seats lean right or left.

The rest are likely going for one side or the other or are considered solidly blue or red.

Jones said these six Democrats probably won’t face consequences for running afoul of their party, because they can defend their votes as necessary to bolster their reelection chances.

“They can make the case to their colleagues, and it's a quite credible case, is you need to keep your eyes on the prize. And the prize is a Democratic majority in 2027,” Jones said.

History suggests Democrats might pull off their goal.

The sitting president’s party has lost seats in the House in eight of 10 midterm elections going back 40 years. Trump’s Republicans lost 40 House seats in the 2018 midterms.

“There's a certain sentiment among many Democrats that they may have lost the battle on the ACA subsidies, but they'll win the war by forcing Republicans to vote against it and then pivoting to use that (GOP) vote against the ACA subsidies against the more vulnerable Republicans in the 2026 elections,” Jones said.