Key House races have continued to break Democrats’ way as final votes trickle in across the country two days after Election Day, giving them 31 more seats and counting in the House.
In Georgia’s 6th district, Democrats have pulled out a win this time around after losing a heated special election in early 2017. On Thursday morning, Rep. Karen Handel (R-GA) conceded to Democrat Lucy McBath, who became a gun control activist after her son was murdered.
Democrat Xochitl Torres-Small has prevailed in a GOP-leaning southern New Mexico district after having the Associated Press incorrectly called the race against her on election night. Rep. Steve Knight (R-CA) conceded to Democrat Katie Hill late Wednesday, making her one of Congress’s youngest members at age 31. And Democrats officially flipped Washington’s 8th district when the Associated Press called the race late Thursday morning.
Not everything has gone Democrats’ way in late-breaking races. Democrats lost a nail-biter of a race in Minnesota’s southern, mostly rural 1st district, giving the GOP a third pickup from the election. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) has won another term. Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA) hung on in spite of his ongoing legal troubles, and businessman Dan McCready (D) conceded to pastor Mark Harris (R) after losing a close race in North Carolina.
Other races look good for Democrats but aren’t done yet. Democrat Andy Kim declared victory over Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ), the architect of the compromise weakening preexisting conditions protections that got Obamacare repeal through the House last year. MacArthur hasn’t conceded, but trails by more than 2,000 votes. Controversial Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) is also refusing to concede but trails by 1,400 votes.
Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) and former Marine Jared Golden (D) are separated by less than 1,000 votes, and their race has yet to be decided. Maine’s new ranked-choice voting law means that either candidate could still win.
Rep. Mia Love (R-UT) trails Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams (D) by more than 5,000 votes, though ballots continue to trickle in there as well. Conversely, Rep. Rob Woodall (R-GA) has a tiny lead in his race, with some votes still outstanding.
Four tight races in California are still counting ballots and could go either way. Reps. Jeff Denham (R-CA) and Mimi Walters (R-CA) currently hold small leads, as does Republican Young Kim in an open Orange County seat, while Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) trails by a bit. But there are plenty of votes left to be counted and those races all could still go either way.
Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) leads Democrat Gina Ortiz-Jones by just over 1,000 votes in a race that may be heading for a recount, and indicted Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) has seen his lead shrink to under 3,000 votes, with a recount possible after his opponent took back his concession as well.
Many of these races could still change hands. If every race’s current leader ends up winning that would give Democrats a net gain of 35 seats, a huge number of pickups and numbers that are in line with what TPM and other prognosticators predicted before election night. That could climb a little higher if late-breaking votes go Democrats’ way in California, something that has happened in previous elections.
My gut feeling is many of these will go towards the Democrat, especially provisional ballots. Those of us in CA 49 are simply overjoyed we now have Mike Levin representing us rather than that right wing toady Issa. Having an environmental law background Levin is a perfect fit for our eco conscious coastal district. Couldn’t have asked for anything better.
The more the merrier…
Wow! I live in GA-6 and couldn’t be more excited about this. This is a huge pickup for the Dems considering this was Tom Price’s seat and Handel pretty easily beat Jon Ossoff last year. I honestly thought it was a permanent Republican seat. Thrilled to be part of the Women’s Wave!
Yup, WA-8 is now blue for the first time. Rossi conceded to Schrier las night. With just over 70% counted, she held on at 53% to his 47. Yay!
Let’s understand California and those four close House races. Do not be thinking that there are a few votes left to be counted here and there. About 30-40% of the vote has not yet been counted, and typically the later-arriving absentees are more Democratic than the earlier-counted votes, as are the provisional votes.
Look at CA-10, where Josh Harder trails incumbent R Jeff Denham by ~1300 votes. That district has most of Stanislaus County and a bit of San Joaquin County. In Stanislaus County, ~80,000 votes remain to be counted. I don’t know how many votes are left in San Joaquin, but however many there are, they’re going to be good for Harder because he won the already-counted votes there. This district looks like it will be a Dem pick-up.