Control of the U.S. House of Representatives was at stake as vote counting entered a fourth day on Friday, with more than two dozen House races still uncalled and Republicans increasingly confident they were on track to win the gavel.
Success in the House would pave the way for a new era of unified Republican governance in Washington after the party stormed the Senate majority and Americans voted decisively to return Donald Trump to power.
The Democrats still hope that they can win a razor-thin majority, as the only brake on Trump’s extensive second-term agenda.
As of Friday morning, Republicans led the House of Representatives, 211-199, according to the Associated Press, with 25 races remaining. Many are in California and other western states, where counting can take many days, especially in tight races. It took more than a week to make the call for the 2022 midterm elections for Congress.
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On Thursday evening, Republican Congressman Young Kim was declared the winner in a competitive district in California. Earlier in the day, Republicans lost two seats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives after Ryan Mackenzie defeated incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Susan Wild and Robert Bresnahan unseated Democratic Congressman Matt Cartwright.
Meanwhile, Republican David McCormick of Pennsylvania ousted three-term Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in the Senate, according to an Associated Press call Thursday. The victory brings the Republican majority in the House to 53, with two races remaining.
All 435 members of the House of Representatives were up for re-election, with Republicans looking to expand their slim majority after two chaotic years in power.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson was re-elected to a fifth term and announced in a letter Wednesday afternoon that he would run for re-election as speaker. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is also running for re-election to his position.
Elise Stefanik, another loyal Trump ally and the highest-ranking woman among Republicans in the House of Representatives, won a sixth term in New York, where Democrats flipped three Republican seats.
Scalise outlined the priorities of the Trump administration’s first 100 days, including measures to “secure the border” and ending the pause on LNG exports. “[Trump] We can start to get our economy back on track by removing certain regulations and making the administrative state more efficient,” he said in a separate letter asking for support.
Scalise said Republicans in the House of Representatives would “stick” tax cuts, “unleash American energy,” increase energy exploration and production and repeal unspecified Democratic policies introduced through the Inflation Reduction Act. The new administration would also “mobilize resources to the southern border” to build the “Trump Border Wall,” he added, while increasing border patrols to “stop the flow of illegal immigration.”
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, meanwhile, argued that the “House remains very much in the game.” The path to victory for Democrats lay in seats in Arizona, Oregon, Iowa and California, he said.
“Which party will have the majority in the House of Representatives in January 2025 has yet to be determined. We have to count every vote,” Jeffries said.
In an election marked by Republicans’ intense anti-transgender rhetoric, Delaware voters elected the first transgender member of Congress, Democrat Sarah McBride, 34.
So far, both Democrats and Republicans have gained seats as a result of redistricting, the process of adjusting district lines to keep pace with population changes, with the Alabama Democrat Shomari Figures winning a district that had been changed to become a to ensure fair representation for black voters, while Republicans in North Carolina flipped three districts that were redrawn by the Republican-controlled state legislature.
Democrats also flipped two seats in New York state, with Democrat Josh Riley, an attorney, defeating Republican incumbent Marc Molinaro, and John Mannion, a Democratic senator, defeating Republican incumbent Brandon Williams in New York state.
Ten of the most contentious elections for the House of Representatives are in California, where Democrats must flip at least one Republican seat to gain a majority, according to the Associated Press.
Without control of the House of Representatives, Trump, the winner of the presidential race, will face significant hurdles in implementing his legislative agenda. Election forecasts suggest that both parties could win a majority of just a few seats, which could recreate some of the problems of the 118th Congress.
Read more about the Guardian’s 2024 US election coverage
