Latest on the House: Here Are the Democrats’ Remaining Best Shots
Republicans have a narrow majority in the House, but there are still a few races left in this election.
Republicans finally clinched control of the House of Representatives, more than a week after Election Day, but it does not necessarily signal the end for Democrats.
The GOP reached the 218-seat threshold for a majority Wednesday night, but it is still a fight to the finish for the remaining six seats. Democrats hold 211 seats, and The New York Times predicts they will easily take two more with Mary Peltola in Alaska and Katie Porter in California.
Republicans are likely to get two more seats in California, and the last two seats are still too close to call, even with more than 90 percent of the votes counted. One of those races is Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert, a Trump-backed election denier who was initially expected to easily win her race.
Either way, the GOP’s majority will be only a handful of seats—a far cry from the overwhelming “red wave” they had predicted before the midterms.
The question for Republicans now is whether they can stay unified in order to advance their agenda, namely blocking President Joe Biden’s agenda and launching a slew of rather petty investigations into policies they don’t like.
But it’s unclear if Representative Kevin McCarthy, who was nominated the party’s House leader, will be able to pull that off. He faced multiple opponents to his nomination and did not have a unanimous vote in his favor.
Democrats, meanwhile, have kept control of the Senate, and they might still have a chance of passing measures in the House if they are willing to deal with more moderate Republicans.
Nebraska Republican Representative Don Bacon warned CNN, “I perceive that there’s a small group that is trying to put us in gridlock.” He has already said he is willing to work with Democrats to avoid a deadlocked House and even find someone more centrist (than McCarthy) for speaker.