The Associated Press and The New York Times have acknowledged that the Republican Party has control of the House of Representatives, having won at least 218 seats.
The legacy news outlets were days behind Decision Desk HQ, which determined at 7:13 p.m. ET on Monday that Republicans had won enough races to take the House.
Republicans have won 218 of the 435 seats, while Democrats have won 208. That leaves nine races still undecided, which complicates matters as three House Republicans have been announced as President-elect Donald Trump’s picks for other positions, which would leave those three seats temporarily empty. New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik has been announced as Trump’s choice for UN Ambassador; Florida GOP Rep. Mike Waltz was announced as National Security Advisor, and Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz as U.S. Attorney General. Gaetz resigned from Congress on Wednesday, which may give Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis enough time to appoint Gaetz’s replacement before the House representatives take their oath as new members of Congress on January 3.
If the GOP gains three more seats, the three seats temporarily unfilled would not be an issue, as their 221-seat majority would still be reduced only to 218, leaving them in the majority.
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Here are the nine seats still up for grabs and their current results, as reported by AP and The New York Times as of Thursday morning:
In Alaska, the congressional seat-at-large features a race between the GOP’s Nick Begich and the Democrats’ incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola. With 94% of the vote counted, Begich is leading by 9,435 votes, 49% to 45.9%. Two other candidates are competing with a scant percentage of the vote. If no candidate earns more than 50%, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes will be eliminated, and voters’ second picks are then given to the remaining candidates. That process continues until a candidate reaches 50% of the vote.
In California’s 9th District, with 86% of the vote counted, incumbent Democrat Rep. Josh Harder leads GOP challenger Kevin Lincoln by 8,125 votes, 51.8% to 48.2%.
In California’s 13th District, with 74% of the vote counted, incumbent GOP Rep. John Duarte is leading his Democrat challenger Adam Gray by 3,765 votes, 51.2% to 49%.
In California’s 21st Congressional District, with 82% of the vote counted, Rep. Jim Costa, the Democrat incumbent, leads Republican Michael Maher by 5,187 votes, 51.6% to 48.4%.
In California’s 45th Congressional District, with 93% of the vote counted in an incredibly close race, GOP incumbent Rep. Michelle Steel leads Democrat Derek Tran by 349 votes, 50.06% to 49.94%.
In Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, with 95% of the vote counted in another incredibly close race, Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks leads Democrat Christina Bohannan by only 802 votes, 50.1% to 49.9%.
In Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, with 98% of the vote counted in a third incredibly close race, incumbent Democratic Rep. Jared Golden leads Republican Austin Theriault by only 726 votes, 49.9% to 49.7%. Because neither candidate received 50% of the vote, there will be a ranked-choice runoff starting this week.
In Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, with 99% of the vote counted, incumbent Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur leads Republican challenger Derek Merrin by roughly 1,200 votes, 48.1% to 47.8%.
In Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, with 91% of the vote counted, Democrat Janelle Bynum is leading Republican incumbent Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer by roughly 10,000 votes, 47.8% to 45.1%.
