All eyes on California as House majority still hinges on tight races

Congressional leaders are anxiously watching several outstanding races in the West as the battle for the majority in the House of Representatives continues.

Most of those races are in California, where Republican incumbents are fighting to hold on to several seats, including districts around the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

The Democratic stronghold was pivotal to House Republicans clinching the majority in 2022, and their leaders are looking for it to deliver again.

“California’s got a lot of the outstanding races, and I’ve talked to each one of our incumbents who are in those 50/50 races — they’re all leading, by the way — but they feel like what is outstanding … are good areas for them,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told “Fox & Friends” Friday.

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It’s a different story in New York, the other deep blue coastal state critical to the House GOP’s midterm success.

Of the four sitting House Republicans projected to lose their seats, three were first-term GOP lawmakers from New York who got elected as part of a suburban backlash against big cities’ progressive crime policies.

They were also expected to be some of the more vulnerable incumbents in Congress.

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Scalise said he anticipated a four- to six-seat majority for Republicans when all the races were over, not a dissimilar scenario to the one the House GOP has grappled with for much of the 118th Congress.

Ballots are being counted in other close races in Arizona, Oregon, Alaska, Nebraska and Iowa.

House Democrats, who privately expressed dismay over their narrowing path to victory earlier this week, are also closely watching the western states for the final results. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., pointed out that the election is still undecided.

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“It has yet to be decided who will control the House of Representatives in the 119th Congress. We must count every vote and wait until the results in Oregon, Arizona and California are clear,” Jeffries said Thursday.

“I am proud that the Democratic Party does not believe in election denial. Our democracy is precious, and it involves elevating public trust in our system of free and fair elections, not undermining it.”

The first party to reach 218 seats will claim the House majority.