Here’s Where the Race for Control of the House Stands

Democrats have retained control of the Senate, but power over the House still remains undecided. As of Sunday morning, 20 races for the U.S. House of Representatives were uncalled, with either political party within the means to take control of the 435-member House.

The current tally has Republicans leading with 211 seats. Democrats are lagging behind at 204 of the 218 needed to gain control of the House, but ballots are still being counted in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine, Oregon and New York.

“I’m incredibly pleased by the [voter] turnout. And I think it’s a reflection of the quality of our candidates,” Biden said when asked about the election during a press gaggle on Nov. 13. “[I’m] confident [Democrats] could [keep the House]. Whether they will… it’s a stretch. Everything has to fall our way.”

Here’s where the race currently stands.

Where does the race stand now?

The 2022 Midterm Election defied odds with Democratic candidates delivering major upsets and retaining more Senate and House seats than expected following Tuesday’s vote.

Political pundits’ had long predicted a red wave, with many pointing to the president’s low approval rating—just over 41%— and rising inflation as evidence that Americans would overwhelmingly support a conservative majority. That did not come to fruition.

Going into the election, multiple races were a tossup, including Michigan’s 3rd and Nevada’s 1st districts, which were both won by Democrats. Competitive races in Oregon and Arizona remain without a result.

In Washington, the state’s 3rd Congressional District had a surprising upset, with newcomer Marie Gluesenkamp Perez beating Trump-backed opponent Joe Kent for election. The region voted red for more than a decade, according to the Seattle Times, and Kent had previously called it “deep red MAGA country.”

Nevada Democrats successfully held on to their seats in a series of competitive races, the AP reports. Like many other states, redistricting changed the makeup of their districts, which made the races of Rep. Dina Titus, Susie Lee and Steven Horsford ones to watch.

Gerrymandering also worked against incumbents in other regions like Texas Rep. Mayra Flores, a Republican, and Arizona Rep. Tom O’ Halleran, a Democrat.

Nearly 90% of the votes are in for Arizona but the race remains tight. Republican Juan Ciscomani is currently in the lead by less than 1% of the vote. Delays in ballot counting were already expected because the verification of early voters’ signatures takes time. But Maricopa County, the state’s most populous region, also experienced problems with voter tabulation machines. Sixty out of the 233 voting centers in the county were affected by these issues, according to the Arizona Mirror.

This has also impacted the state’s governor race, where Arizona’s Secretary of State, Katie Hobbs, is facing former TV broadcaster Kari Lake. The AP has not yet called the race because “there are simply too many votes left to count to conclude Hobbs’ lead is insurmountable.”

In Colorado, Trump-backed candidate Lauren Boebert’s bid for reelection is neck and neck with former Aspen city councilman Adam Frisch. Prior to the ballot count, nonpartisan Cook Political Report said the race was solidly Republican. But Frisch is only a little over 1,000 votes behind Boebert, according to the New York Times. Colorado’s eight congressional district is also in a tight race, with Democrat Yadira Caraveo winning by just under 1,700 votes thus far.

Eighty percent of the vote is in for Alaska, where Rep. Mary Peltola, who won an August special election to fill a House seat, ran for reelection. She faced former Gov. Sarah Palin once again, and is in the lead with 47.3% of the vote, though the race has not been called.

Results in California are still unclear. Only 61% of the vote is in for California’s 13th district, and less than 50% is in for the 9th. Due to mail-in ballots, results in the Golden State, as well as Oregon and Arizona are taking longer.

New York’s 22nd congressional district also remains a tight race, with more than 95% of the vote in. Republican Brandon Williams is outpacing his Democratic opponent, Francis Conole, by close to 4,000 votes. The seat was previously held by John Katko, a moderate Republican.

While many candidates endorsed by former President Trump won, numbers show that they are becoming less popular. The Times reports that at least three Republican House candidates—Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and J.R. Majewski— who have supported QAnon theories underperformed during the Midterm Election compared to Trump.