It ain’t over yet, but GOP in a third’s seat for control of House
“… The current balance of power in the House is 214 Republicans and 203 Democrats, with 19 races remaining uncalled by the AP. Republicans need to win four of them to secure a majority; Democrats need to win 15. …
Though Republicans are inching closer to keeping their majority for a second term, it is probably with a narrower margin.
… House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), who is expected to be reelected speaker in leadership elections this week, will
have an ally in Trump to ensure House Republicans fall in line on policies certain wings of the conference could find controversial.
… It’s still possible that Democrats flip the House majority to become a major check on Republican power. But their pathway is incredibly narrow and barely leaves room for error.
If Peltola [Alaska] loses, Democrats believe that they can only afford to lose one more district and then flip seven of the remaining eight competitive districts between California and Arizona to clinch the majority.
Democrats have successfully flipped three seats from Republicans in New York and appear poised to regain one in
Oregon — all districts in liberal states that helped Republicans gain the House majority during the 2022 midterms.
Republicans surprisingly held on to seats in
Iowaand
Nebraska that appeared in play weeks before Election Day and will keep a district in Washington where GOP Rep. Dan Newhouse appears to be fending off a Republican challenge from Jerrod Sessler. The AP has yet to call the race.
Meanwhile, Trump’s voter turnout prowess helped Republicans unseat two Democrats in Pennsylvania and flip an open seat in
Michiganthat Democrats held since 2018. …”
