The U.S. House majority hangs in the balance, teetering between Republican control that would usher in a new era of unified GOP governance in Washington or a flip to Democrats as a key line of resistance to Donald Trump's second-term White House agenda.
A few individual seats, or even a single one, will determine the outcome. Final tallies will take a while, likely pushing the decision into next week — or beyond.
After Republicans swept into the majority in the U.S. Senate by picking up seats in West Virginia, Ohio and Montana, House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted his chamber would fall in line next.
“Republicans are poised to have unified government in the White House, Senate and House,” Johnson said Wednesday.
The House contests remained a tit-for-tat fight to the finish, with no dominant pathway to the majority for either party. Rarely, if ever have the two chambers of Congress flipped in opposite directions.
Each side is gaining and losing a few seats, including through the redistricting process, which is the routine redrawing of House seat boundary lines. The process reset seats in North Carolina, Louisiana and Alabama.
Much of the outcome hinges on the West, particularly in California, where a handful of House seats are being fiercely contested, and mail-in ballots arriving a week after the election will still be counted. Hard-fought races around the “blue dot” in Omaha, Nebraska, and in far-flung Alaska are among those being watched.
Control of each chamber of Congress comes with its own benefits. The Senate is responsible for confirming appointments, playing a pivotal role in shaping the president's Cabinet and the federal judiciary. The House, meanwhile, originates spending bills, helping to control how funding is deployed in service, or opposition, to the president's agenda.
Trump, speaking early Wednesday at his election night party in Florida, said the results delivered an “unprecedented and powerful mandate” for Republicans.
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He called the Senate rout “incredible.” And he praised House Speaker Mike Johnson, who dashed from his own party in Louisiana to join Trump. “He’s doing a terrific job,” Trump said.
Trump, who won the Electoral College and the popular vote against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, has consolidated growing power around his MAGA movement, backing newcomers to Washington and setting the stage for his own return to the White House.
Johnson said Republicans in Congress are preparing an “ambitious” 100-day agenda with Trump, who he has said is “thinking big” about his legacy.
Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the House “remains very much in play.”
With Democrats having defeated two House Republicans in Jeffries' home state of New York, he said the path to the majority now runs through pickup opportunities in Arizona, Oregon, Iowa and California that are still too early to call.
“We must count every vote," Jeffries said.
The House contests remained a tit-for-tat fight to the finish, with no dominant pathway to the majority for either party. Rarely, if ever have the two chambers of Congress flipped in opposite directions.
Each side is gaining and losing a few seats, including through the redistricting process, which is the routine redrawing of House seat boundary lines. The process reset seats in North Carolina, Louisiana and Alabama.
Vote counting in some races could go on for days and control of the House is too early to call.
Latest House Results
See the latest results for how each state is voting for the House and Senate in this map:
