As Democrats clinched a Senate majority Saturday night, Republicans hope to save the U.S. House in an election that was expected to favor the GOP heavily.
Predictions of a “red wave” largely haven’t metastasized as Democrats have hung on in many competitive seats. As of Monday morning, Republicans have been projected to win 212 seats compared to 204 for Democrats. There are 19 seats that have not been called as of late Saturday. Of those, Republicans lead in 10 while Democrats lead in nine.
To garner a majority, a party needs to win 218 seats. If all of the results held, Republicans would hold a 221-214 lead in the House.
Democrats trimmed Republicans’ lead in several districts thanks to Democratic voters being more apt to use mail-in balloting. Meanwhile, Republican David Schweikert took the lead over Democrat Jevin Hodge in the Arizona 1 District. Schweikert finished the weekend with a nearly 900-vote lead.
While Republicans remain the favorite to win the House majority, there is still a narrow path for Democrats to hang onto the majority, a proposition that seemed unthinkable going into Tuesday’s Election Day.
In one district, California No. 13, Republican John Duarte led Democrat Adam Gray by 84 votes out of 79,000 counted. It’s seats like the California 13th Democrats have to flip in order to have any hope of winning a House majority.
With such a narrow margin, there are questions on whether current House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy can ascend to be speaker.
