Just two House races remain undeclared, and Republicans lead in both

Just two House races remain undeclared as of Thanksgiving Day, with Republicans leading in both races and looking to add to their majority.

Democrats were able to hold on to the Senate and keep control of a number of key House seats after the “red wave” failed to materialize on Election Day, but Republicans last week narrowly crossed the 218-seat threshold to take the House.

Now, more than two weeks after the midterms, two House races in California and Colorado are officially still up in the air — though the Democrat has conceded in Colorado. If the current GOP leads hold, Republicans will secure 222 House seats, while Democrats would hold 213. 

The 222-213 breakdown would notably be the exact reverse of the results in the 2020 election cycle, when the House split in the Democrats’ favor. 

In California’s 13th Congressional District, Republican John Duarte is ahead of Democratic former State Assemblyman Adam Gray by less than 600 votes, with 99 percent of the vote counted, according to The Associated Press. 

The race was seen as a toss-up heading into Election Day in the recently redrawn California district.  

The 13th Congressional District is currently represented by Rep. Barbara Lee (D), who decided to run in, and win, the new 12th District. Gray was endorsed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and both of California’s Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, but the redrawn lines made a blue win uncertain.

In Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, the vote count is similarly slim. 

With 99 percent of ballots tallied, sitting Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert is up by around 550 votes over Democratic challenger Adam Frisch, a razor-thin margin that kickstarted a recount under Colorado’s election rules. 

Frisch at one point was leading Trump-backed Boebert by 64 votes in the reliably red district Boebert had been expected to win easily. 

The Democrat conceded the race last week, saying he didn’t think a recount would reverse Boebert’s victory, but the race hasn’t been formally called.