CNN
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Nick Begich’s flip of Alaska’s lone Home seat will pad Republicans’ slim Home majority — however with a number of members departing to affix President-elect Donald Trump’s administration and simply three races left to be determined, the get together may enter the brand new yr with little or no room for error.
That slim majority may form an amazing deal on Capitol Hill — from how Home Speaker Mike Johnson handles a looming authorities funding combat and unhappiness from his proper flank, to who governors think about appointing to fill Senate vacancies — when the brand new Congress is sworn in on January 3 and Trump takes workplace 17 days later.
Two weeks post-Election Day, each events are intently watching a handful of Home races by which a winner had not but been determined. On Wednesday, winners emerged in two of these races: Begich ousted Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola as Alaska tallied its ranked-choice ballots late Wednesday. And, hours earlier, ultimate vote tallies in Ohio padded Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s slim edge within the Toledo-based ninth District.
These outcomes imply Republicans have gained 219 Home seats to Democrats’ 213, in line with CNN’s projections. The undecided races are California’s thirteenth and forty fifth districts, the place ballots are nonetheless being counted, and Iowa’s 1st District, the place GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks leads by about 800 votes forward of a recount.
Nevertheless, Trump is poaching the Republicans who maintain — or till lately held — three of these seats, to affix his still-forming administration. The president-elect may choose extra GOP Home members as he fills out the rest of his Cupboard and different administration positions.
Up to now, he has tapped Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for legal professional basic, Florida Rep. Michael Waltz as his nationwide safety adviser and New York Rep. Elise Stefanik as his nominee for US ambassador to the United Nations. Gaetz instantly resigned his Home seat and stated he wouldn’t take his seat in January. Waltz and Stefanik stay Home members for now.
Their seats, that are all anticipated to stay in Republican palms, will probably be crammed by way of particular elections — however when these elections will happen, and when the winners will probably be seated in Congress, just isn’t but clear.
The skinny Home Republican majority may additional form Capitol Hill, as governors look to fill Senate seats comparable to that of Vice President-elect JD Vance, who was two years into his time period in Ohio, and Florida’s Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is weighing as much as a half-dozen Republican contenders to fill Vance’s seat, officers say, however is in no rush to make an announcement concerning the appointment earlier than January. A handful of Ohio members of Congress have expressed curiosity within the Senate publish, officers say, however the slim Republican majority may complicate elevating a Home member to the Senate.
Vance has but to determine when he’ll formally step down from his seat, officers say, however it’s more likely to be nearer to the date of the January 20 inauguration. If he decides to take action sooner, DeWine may regulate his timing.
Right here’s a have a look at the three races by which CNN has not but projected a winner:
Miller-Meeks — the winner of 2020’s closest race, notching a six-vote victory earlier than redistricting shifted Iowa’s congressional boundaries — leads Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan by about 800 votes in southeast Iowa’s 1st District, which stretches from counties close to Des Moines east to the Mississippi River and consists of Davenport, Iowa Metropolis and Burlington.
Miller-Meeks has already declared victory, however Bohannan’s marketing campaign requested a recount, which is funded by the state in races determined by lower than a share level. That recount started Wednesday.
The race was a rematch of Miller-Meeks’ 2022 win over Bohannan, a former state Home member. Miller-Meeks, an ophthalmologist and Military veteran, was first elected to Congress in 2020 after three failed Home runs, and a quick tenure within the state Senate.
Republican Rep. John Duarte holds a slim edge towards Democratic challenger Adam Grey in one other rematch of a 2022 race — this one in California’s thirteenth District, based mostly within the San Joaquin Valley.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Duarte led Grey by simply 227 votes out of greater than 201,000 solid, a margin that has narrowed considerably as extra votes have been counted.
The district is without doubt one of the nation’s best. Duarte, a pistachio farmer, is wrapping up his freshman time period in Congress. He defeated Grey, a four-term state assemblyman, by four-tenths of a share level in a 2022 race that wasn’t determined till early December.
California is notoriously gradual to rely ballots. The state has common mail-in voting, and votes are counted so long as they arrive at county elections workplaces no later than seven days after Election Day. These poll envelopes then should be processed, and signatures verified, additional slowing the method.
In California’s forty fifth District, a predominantly Asian American district in Orange County, Democratic challenger Derek Tran leads Republican Rep. Michelle Metal by 314 votes in one other knife’s-edge California congressional battle.
Metal made historical past in 2020 as certainly one of three Korean American ladies elected to the Home. Tran, a lawyer and Military veteran who’s Vietnamese American, is a first-time candidate who’s vying to symbolize a district that features Little Saigon.
CNN’s Ethan Cohen and Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.
