Democrats have won back the US House of Representatives, with the Associated Press projecting early on Wednesday 4 November that the party had passed the 218 seats needed for a majority. The Democrats win House control for the first time since January 2023, putting Hakeem Jeffries in line to become the first Black Speaker in American history.
The House result, coming hours after the AP reported Democrats had also retaken the Senate, hands the party both chambers of Congress when the new session opens in January.
How big is it as Democrats win House majority?
An AP-based round-up published on Wednesday said Democrats were on track for at least 224 seats, and that Republicans had lost 25 seats in total. Counting was still going on in a number of tight contests, so the final size of the majority is not yet known. Some close races had no declared winner at the time of writing.
For the Democrats to win House control, the numbers were in their favour from the start. Before the vote, Republicans held 218 seats to the Democrats’ 214, so the party needed a net gain of only a handful to take charge.
The Republicans who lost
The Democratic gains stretched from the suburbs of the north-east to the Texas border. Among the results listed in the round-up:
- Pennsylvania: Republicans Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan and Scott Perry were all beaten, and Brian Fitzpatrick lost to Bob Harvie.
- New Jersey: Tom Kean Jr lost his seat to Democrat Rebecca Bennett.
- Iowa: Christina Bohannan defeated Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Sarah Trone Garriott beat Zach Nunn.
- Texas: Bobby Pulido unseated Monica De La Cruz in the 15th district.
- Wisconsin: Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden were both defeated.
- Virginia: Former congresswoman Elaine Luria won back her old seat from Jen Kiggans.
Democrats also picked up Nebraska’s 2nd district, an open seat after Don Bacon retired, where Denise Powell won, and Utah’s 1st, where Ben McAdams defeated Riley Owen.
‘Enough’ says Jeffries as Johnson vows fight
Jeffries said voters had had “enough of the extremism, enough of the corruption”, according to the AP-based report. If he is elected Speaker in January, he will make history as the first African American to hold the post. A longtime adviser told TheGrio he was ready for the job.
Outgoing Speaker Mike Johnson, who had predicted Republicans would hold the chamber, struck a defiant tone, saying “a new battle is just beginning”.
President Trump insisted his party would have won “IN A LANDSLIDE” had he been on the ballot, and said he would use his veto to block Democratic plans. Scripps News reported that his promised $5,000 payments, which depended on Republicans keeping both chambers, now look unlikely to advance.
Why voters turned
Scripps News said the reason Democrats win House seats so widely was that the party tapped into voter frustration over the cost of living, rising petrol prices and the war with Iran. With a House majority, the party will control committees with the power to subpoena and investigate the administration, as well as setting the agenda on spending bills.
Read more: ‘THEY DON’T NEED IT’: Trump pulls the plug on $4 billion a year for Israel · STRIKE IN THE STRAIT: US bombs Iranian island as Trump insists a peace deal is close
Sources: NJ Today, LEX18 (Scripps), TheGrio, PBS NewsHour (Associated Press)
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