Democrats have won the 23 House seats they needed for a House majority — and then some, as they continue to score victories in districts represented by Republican members of Congress. Even a week after Election Day, Democrats are still racking up wins as votes get counted and close races are called.
The House battlefield was huge: Election forecasters considered more than 100 House elections to be competitive in the 2018 midterms, the vast majority of them held by the GOP. Democrats were buoyed by the backlash to President Donald Trump and a campaign focused on protecting Obamacare’s protections for people with preexisting conditions after the Republican effort to repeal the law last year.
Once the results began rolling in, it was clear Democrats were quickly winning Republican-held House seats. So far, Democrats have won 34 GOP-held seats for a net gain of 32 seats, more than the 23 they needed to take control of Congress. Democrats have lost two seats they previously held — one in Minnesota and one in Pennsylvania — but they still cruised to a new House majority. They could end up picking up nearly 40 seats when it’s all said and done, with a number of races yet to be called.
You can see all the results here, and we’re tracking the Democratic gains here:
1) Virginia’s 10th Congressional District: Democrat Jennifer Wexton beats Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock
Barbara Comstock always looked like one of the most vulnerable House Republicans, after Hillary Clinton won her district by 10 points in 2016. The race was called quickly for Democrats on election night.
2) Florida’s 27th Congressional District: Democrat Donna Shalala beats Republican Maria Elvira Salazar
Democrats worried at one time about Donna Shalala’s candidacy, but her momentum won out.
3) Pennsylvania’s Fifth Congressional District: Democrat Mary Scanlon defeats Republican Pearl Kim
Democrats were widely expected to flip this seat after Pennsylvania’s court-mandated redistricting.
4) Pennsylvania’s Seventh Congressional District: Democrat Susan Wild defeats Republican Marty Nothstein
This was an open seat vacated by former Rep. Patrick Meehan, who resigned from the House amid sexual assault allegations. Democrat candidate Susan Wild defeated Republican candidate Marty Nothstein.
5) Colorado’s Sixth Congressional District: Democrat Jason Crow beats Republican Rep. Mike Coffman
Mike Coffman always seemed likely to lose this moderate suburban district in an election environment favorable to Democrats. Hillary Clinton won the Sixth by 9 points.
6) Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District: Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb tops Republican Rep. Keith Rothfus
This race was weird thanks to redistricting — pitting two current Congress members against each other — but it still counts as a Democratic pickup.
7) Florida’s 26th Congressional District: Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell beats Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo
This is a big win for Democrats: Carlos Curbelo is one of the most moderate Republicans in the House, and Republicans liked their chances of holding on here even in a Democratic year.
8) Kansas’s Third Congressional District: Democrat Sharice Davids defeats Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder
A solid win for Democrats in the Great Plains, in a district that Hillary Clinton won by 1 point. Sharice Davids is the first Native American woman elected to the House.
9) New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District: Democrat Mikie Sherrill wins over Republican Jay Webber
Top House Republican Rodney Frelinghuysen retired rather than defend this seat, and now Democrats have won it.
10) Minnesota’s Third Congressional District: Democrat Dean Phillips defeats Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen
Democrats snag one of two House pickup opportunities in the Land of 10,000 Lakes in a district Hillary Clinton won by 9.
11) Virginia’s Second Congressional District: Democrat Elaine Luria beats Republican Rep. Scott Taylor
Scott Taylor’s campaign was ensnared in a voter fraud scandal, opening up an opportunity for Democrats that they took advantage of.
12) New York’s 11th Congressional District: Democrat Max Rose tops Republican Rep. Dan Donovan
Dan Donovan was the last Republican lawmaker representing a part of New York City in the House. His district voted for Trump by 9 points, but Max Rose, a combat vet, prevailed.
13) Pennsylvania’s Sixth Congressional District: Democrat Christina Houlahan beats Republican Greg McCauley
Redistricting strikes again, handing Democrats an important win.
14) Texas’s 32nd Congressional District: Democrat Colin Allred defeats Republican Rep. Pete Sessions
Pete Sessions had risen high in the Republican conference, taking over the influential Rules Committee, but fell short in this Clinton +2 district.
15) Illinois’s Sixth Congressional District: Democrat Sean Casten defeats Republican Rep. Peter Roskam
Sean Casten has defeated Peter Roskam, who served in the House since 2007. Hillary Clinton won the district by 7 points in 2016, but Roskam won his last reelection by nearly 20 points.
16) Arizona’s Second Congressional District: Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick defeats Republican Lea Marquez Peterson
Ann Kirkpatrick previously held Arizona’s First Congressional District. She won her race in the Republican-leaning Second Congressional District, vacated by Rep. Martha McSally (R), who is running for Senate.
17) Michigan’s 11th Congressional District: Democrat Haley Stevens defeats Republican Lena Epstein
This district, northwest of Detroit, was previously held by retiring Republican Rep. Dave Trott. Democratic candidate Haley Stevens has now defeated Republican candidate Lena Epstein.
18) New York’s 19th Congressional District: Democrat Antonio Delgado defeats Rep. John Faso
This is a big pickup for Democrats; Antonio Delgado is a young African-American candidate who just won an overwhelmingly white district. House Republicans’ attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act became a huge point in the race.
19) Texas’s Seventh Congressional District: Democrat Lizzie Pannill Fletcher defeats Republican Rep. John Culberson
John Culberson has been in the House since 2001, but Democrats take this district that narrowly voted for Clinton.
20) Iowa’s Third Congressional District: Democrat Cindy Axne beats Republican Rep. David Young
David Young has served in the US House since 2015. Health care and the GOP attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act was a huge issue in the race.
21) Iowa’s First Congressional District: Democrat Abby Finkenauer beats Republican Rep. Rod Blum
Abby Finkenauer will become one of the youngest members of the House, elected at age 29.
22) Illinois’s 14th Congressional District: Democrat Lauren Underwood defeats Republican Rep. Randy Hultgren
Randy Hultgren has served in the US House since 2011; he has been defeated by Lauren Underwood, a 32-year-old African American woman. Underwood is a registered nurse and former adviser to the Obama administration who helped implement the Affordable Care Act.
23) New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District: Democrat Tom Malinowski beats Republican Rep. Leonard Lance
Leonard Lance opposed the House’s Obamacare repeal bill, but it wasn’t enough to save him.
24) Minnesota’s Second Congressional District: Democrat Angie Craig defeats Republican Rep. Jason Lewis
Jason Lewis, who once lamented on his radio show that men could no longer call women “sluts,” loses to a woman in the Year of the Woman.
25) Oklahoma’s Fifth Congressional District: Democrat Kendra Horn upsets Republican Steve Russell
Kendra Horn’s victory is maybe the biggest upset of election night so far: Trump won this district by 13 points and election forecasters thought it was a Likely Republican win.
26) Virginia’s Seventh Congressional District: Abigail Spanberger unseats Republican Rep. Dave Brat
Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA operative, unseated Dave Brat, a star among conservatives who four years ago unexpectedly dethroned then-House majority leader Eric Cantor.
27) New Jersey’s Second Congressional District: Jeff Van Drew defeats Republican Seth Grossman
This seat, replacing retiring Rep. Frank LoBiondo, was one that Democrats were hoping to pick up. Jeff Van Drew won in a dramatic swing from 2016, when LoBiondo was reelected by a 22-point margin. Seth Grossman lost the support of national Republicans earlier this year over his history of racist comments and white nationalist sympathies.
28) South Carolina’s First Congressional District: Joe Cunningham defeats Katie Arrington
This is a big win for Democrats in the district of Republican Rep. Mark Sanford, who lost his primary to Katie Arrington, a more pro-Trump candidate, earlier this year. Joe Cunningham’s victory is the first time Democrats have flipped a House seat in South Carolina since 1986, according to the Post and Courier. It’s another big swing from 2016, when Sanford won by a 25-point margin.
29) California’s 49th Congressional District: Democrat Mike Levin wins Darrell Issa’s old seat
This was expected: Darrell Issa retired rather than defend his old seat, which Clinton won by 7 points in 2016.
30) California’s 25th Congressional District: Katie Hill knocks off Republican Rep. Steve Knight
Katie Hill is one of the most notable wins in the Year of the Woman: Steve Knight was a fierce abortion opponent, and a target of abortion rights groups, while the Democrat spoke openly about her own unplanned pregnancy.
31) California’s 48th Congressional District: Russian-loving Dana Rohrabacher goes down
Dana Rohrabacher — the lawmaker once dubbed Putin’s favorite congressman, who swore he could never lose reelection — fell to his Democratic challenger, Harley Rouda.
32) Georgia’s 6th Congressional District: Lucy McBath completes remarkable ascent to Congress
Lucy McBath, who is black, suffered the loss of her son in 2012 when he was shot by a white man. She’ll soon be sworn in as the next representative of Georgia’s Sixth District.
This is also a bit of redemption for Democrats, after Jon Ossoff narrowly lost to Republican Karen Handel in the 2017 special election to replace Tom Price.
33) Washington’s Eight Congressional District: Kim Schrier wins open GOP-held seat
Republican Rep. Dave Reichert decided to retire rather than run for reelection in this Hillary Clinton district, and Kim Schrier will join the record number of Democratic women in Congress next year.
34) New Mexico’s Second Congressional District: another open GOP seat won by a Democratic woman
Media outlets have called this race for Xochitl Torres Small, even as Republican Yvette Herrell rails on Fox News against the vote count. The Democrat, a former aide to Sen. Tom Udall, will be one of the younger members of the new Democratic majority; she’ll be 34 when she’s sworn in.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
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