House Control Hangs In The Balance: Several Races Remain Too Close To Call

Following a victory for President-elect Donald Trump, eyes are now on lingering Congress election results, Politico reported. It has been projected that it may be a few days after the 2024 Election Day to declare winners in some battleground state House races. For several months, both the Democratic and the Republican party have held a close edge as the parties predict some humble gains — if they get control of the House. Races in states like California and Arizona are still too close to call, as well as key states such as New York, has the GOP up in arms as two Republican incumbents — Reps. Marc Molinaro and Brandon Williams — may lose reelection bids. 

Some Republican legislators have already secured a seat in the House including Reps. Zach Nunn in Iowa, Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey, Nick LaLota in New York, and Monica De La Cruz in Texas. Democratic legislators such as Reps. Pat Ryan (NY) and Gabe Vasquez (NM) also prevailed.

Lawmakers who are already comfortable in the House declared they are prepared to follow Trump’s lead. In a statement, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), vowed that “House Republicans stand ready and prepared to immediately act on Trump’s America First agenda,” which he claims is “to improve the lives of every family, regardless of race, religion, color, or creed, and make America great again” if the GOP keeps the majority. 

According to Newsweek, 435 voting members hold weight in the House, with 218 party leaders needed for a party to hold a majority. After election night, 198 seats for the Republican Party and 180 for the Democratic Party have been called, leaving 57 races still up in the air. Some of the most competitive undeclared races show the GOP taking the lead. In California, the 47th District shows Republican Scott Baugh leading Democrat Dave Min by just 1% or 3,010 votes and 70% of votes already counted for. 

In District 27, Mike Garcia leads George Whitesides on the Republican ticket by 5,362 votes and the 13th district shows 52% of the votes being counted as GOP Rep. John Duarte has a 3% lead. 

Iowa’s 2nd District race is close to being called as Mariannette Miller-Meeks leads Democrat Christina Bohannan on the Republican ticket by 413 votes with 97% of votes counted. GOP candidate Ryan Mackenzie leads Democrat Susan Wild by 5,540 votes with 99% votes counted in Pennsylvania’s 7th District.

Both sides pushed narratives of redistricting in hopes of gaining significant advantages, with newly created districts in the South giving more voting power to Black voters. However, aggressive GOP gerrymander in the Tar Heel state and less aggressive movement in New York proved otherwise.

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