November 7th 2024.
As the U.S. House majority hung in the balance on Wednesday, the fate of the nation's political landscape was uncertain. It was a delicate balancing act, with Republicans hoping to maintain control and usher in a new era of unified governance under their party, while Democrats saw a potential flip as their last line of defense against a second term for President Trump and his agenda.
The outcome of the election rested on a few individual seats, and it was clear that the final tallies would not be determined quickly. It was likely that the decision would stretch into next week, or perhaps even longer.
After a successful showing in the Senate, where they picked up seats in key states such as West Virginia, Ohio, and Montana, House Speaker Mike Johnson was confident that his party would follow suit. "Republicans are on track to have unified control of the White House, Senate, and House," he declared on Wednesday.
The President-elect, Donald Trump, had managed to consolidate his power and grow his "Make America Great Again" movement, securing a victory in both the Electoral College and the popular vote against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. With his eye on his legacy, Trump was backing new faces in Washington and setting the stage for his own return to the White House.
Johnson revealed that Republicans in Congress were preparing an ambitious 100-day agenda in collaboration with Trump. The President, he said, was "thinking big" when it came to his plans for the country. Top priorities included tax cuts, securing the southern border, and reducing federal regulations. Trump had also promised mass deportations and retribution against those he saw as his enemies. Additionally, Republicans aimed to relocate federal agencies out of Washington and hire new staff through outside think tanks, with the goal of bringing the government "to heel."
However, despite Johnson's optimism, it was clear that governing the House would not be an easy task. In his short time as Speaker, he had already faced challenges, and the new Congress would likely be no different. The House had been marked by chaos and internal conflict, with hardline members like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep. Matt Gaetz often causing disruptions and overturning their own party's leadership. With such a slim majority, any further decrease in Republican seats would make governing nearly impossible.
Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries emphasized that the House was still very much up for grabs. With two Republican seats already lost in his home state of New York, Jeffries saw potential for Democrats to gain ground in states like Arizona, Oregon, Iowa, and California. He stressed the importance of counting every vote before making any predictions.
The battle for the House was a close one, with neither party having a clear advantage. It was rare for the two chambers of Congress to flip in opposite directions, but in this election, both sides were gaining and losing seats, including through the redistricting process. This routine redrawing of House boundaries had reset seats in North Carolina, Louisiana, and Alabama.
The outcome of the election was heavily influenced by the West, particularly California, where a few key House races were fiercely contested. Mail-in ballots that were still being counted a week after Election Day would play a crucial role in determining the final results. Other closely watched races included those in Omaha, Nebraska, and Alaska.
At his election night party in Florida, Trump wasted no time in declaring that the results were a clear "mandate" for Republicans. He praised the "incredible" Senate victory, and commended Speaker Johnson for his excellent work. Meanwhile, from the U.S. Capitol, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, who had previously been a harsh critic of Trump, called it a "hell of a good day."
Senate Republicans had marched across the country alongside Trump, flipping three Democratic-held seats and fending off challenges from Democratic opponents in Texas and Florida. In West Virginia, the state's wealthy governor, Jim Justice, had successfully flipped the seat previously held by retiring Sen. Joe Manchin. In Ohio, Republican luxury car dealer and blockchain entrepreneur Bernie Moreno defeated Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. And in Montana, Republican Tim Sheehy defeated Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.
Democrats were able to hold on to some of their seats in "blue wall" states, with Rep. Elissa Slotkin winning an open Senate seat in Michigan and Sen. Tammy Baldwin being reelected in Wisconsin. The race in Pennsylvania, however, between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger Dave McCormick, remained undecided.
The election also made history by sending two Black women, Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, to the Senate. This brought the total number of Black women to serve in the Senate to three, including Harris, who had made history by becoming the first Black and South Asian woman to be elected Vice President.
Overall, Senate Republicans were poised to achieve their most significant majority in years, a testament to McConnell's political prowess. He had made a career out of charting a path to power, and this time, he had done so in collaboration with Trump, whom he had previously referred to as "despicable" in private conversations leading up to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
During a news conference on Wednesday, McConnell declined to comment on his past criticisms of Trump and instead saw the election results as a referendum on the Biden administration. He assured reporters that a Republican-controlled Senate would act as a "guardrail" to prevent any changes in Senate rules that would put an end to the filibuster.
McConnell's imminent departure from his leadership post left the question of who would take over the reins of the new Republican Senate. Two top contenders were South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the current No. 2 Republican, and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who had previously held that position. A secret-ballot election to determine the new Senate leader was scheduled for when senators returned to Washington the following week.
The Associated Press writers Stephen Groves, Kevin Freking, and Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report.
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