Republicans are inching closer to reclaiming control of the U.S. House of Representatives, but with 19 races still uncalled as of Sunday night, House Speaker Mike Johnson can’t celebrate yet.
So far Republicans have won 213 races, compared to 203 for Democrats, according to calls made by The Associated Press. It takes 218 seats to win a majority in the House. Of the 19 races that are still too close to call, Republicans were ahead in 10 and Democrats in 9.
The state with the most outstanding races is California with 10, while there are two uncalled races in Arizona. Another seven states have races outstanding, including Alaska’s single House seat, and one each in Oregon, Colorado, Washington, Louisiana, Iowa and Ohio.
The three Utah Republican incumbent representatives — Blake Moore, Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens — easily won their reelection bids last week, while new Rep.-elect Mike Kennedy, also a Republican, won Utah’s 3rd District, which was vacant after Rep. John Curtis ran for and won Sen. Mitt Romney’s Senate seat.
With Republicans likely to retake control of the House, all eyes are now on whether the unruly House Republican conference will unify behind Speaker Johnson, or if there are factions within the conference who will challenge his leadership.
Johnson won reelection to his own Louisiana seat with 86% of the vote. Ahead of the 2024 election, the Republican speaker crisscrossed the country raising hundreds of millions of dollars for Republican candidates and campaigning in swing districts.
Ahead of the election, Johnson was bullish on Republican’s chances to win a trifecta, and promised if they did, they would take advantage.
“When we take control again and we have unified government — when we have the White House, the Senate and the House — we’re going to have the most aggressive first 100 days agenda that, Congress, you’ve ever seen,” he told NPR a few days before the Nov. 5 election.
In a post on X, Johnson said House Republicans would focus on the border, energy, the economy and ending “the radical woke agenda.” With many provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — passed during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term — expiring next year, negotiations over future tax cuts are also likely to take center stage.
If Republicans do retake the House, Johnson could face a challenge to his gavel. Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, R-Ga., tried to oust Johnson in May, but her motion failed. There are already rumblings that Johnson could face another challenge in the coming weeks.
In a historic vote in October last year, House Republicans removed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who then resigned from his California seat. To win the speakership, McCarthy had to make significant concessions to House conservatives, which contributed to his ouster.
Since Johnson became speaker in McCarthy’s wake, uneasiness in the Republican conference has persisted.
But, if Republicans win control again, they will likely face pressure from the Trump White House to work together to pass the president-elect’s agenda — which could keep them from infighting as much as they did in the last Congress.
Meanwhile, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is reportedly promising Democrats he will use his position to oppose Trump’s agenda, according to Axios.
On Thursday, Jeffries was still saying publicly there was a “clear pathway” for a Democratic majority in the House, but Axios reported Jeffries told Democratic donors on a Thursday phone call they would likely win 214 seats, two more than Democrats currently hold, but four seats shy of a majority. On Sunday, Democrats were on track to win 212 seats.
