With Republicans Controlling Both the House and Senate, the Makeup of the 119th Congress Continues to Take Shape
Overview
As of late yesterday afternoon, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives were declared the majority in the lower chamber of Congress, having obtained 218 members of the 435 members serving in the House. While there are still key races yet to be called in both the Senate and the House, it is clear that the Republicans will control both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue (White House and Congress) entering 2025.
As of this afternoon, there is only one remaining U.S. Senate seat (Pennsylvania) yet to be determined and nine undecided seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. In the Senate, Pennsylvania incumbent Senator Bob Casey (D) trails Dave McCormick (R) by .4% (29,107) votes with 99% of the votes counted. The race has continued to narrow since Monday, which is why with only 1% of the votes uncounted, the races have not yet been called.
The outcome of the Pennsylvania race will not determine which party controls the upper chamber of Congress, as the Republicans have already gained the majority (52-47). However, the outcome still has major implications regarding bot the size of the Republican majority, as well as Senator Casey will be returning to Washington and maintaining a seat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee.
Meanwhile, in the U.S. House of Representatives, slow counting of ballots cast have resulted in ten remaining races yet to be decided AND the determination of which party will control the direction of the House. At this time Republicans need to win just two seats to retain the majority while the Democrats need to win nine to seize control.
As noted above, control of the House has been determined, with the Republicans maintain control of the lower chamber of Congress. What remains to still be determined is the size of the majority with less than a dozen races yet to be determined/called as well as the outcome of several individual House races that have implications with respect to the membership of key committees – including the Education and Appropriations Committees* – with jurisdiction over higher education policy. *(Note – All races regarding returning members of congress on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee have been decided, with no members of the Committee having lost their bids to return to the House.)
What CSPEN is watching very closely today is the outcome of the Senate Republican leadership races and the votes being cast in a closed-door session today. As of the posting of this email, PoliticoPro has announced the Senator Thune has been elected to succeed Senator Mitch McConnell as the head of the Republican Party next year. All other Leadership and Committee Chairmanship votes remain to be made public.
With all of this information shared, here is the latest update on the tracking CSPEN continues to monitor and report on.
U.S. Senate Summary
As noted in the Overview, the only remaining race is the fight between Pennsylvania incumbent Senator Bob Casey (D)vand challenger Dave McCormick (R). All other outcomes of the 2024 Senate elections are below.
Declared Races
- Arizona – Ruben Gallego (D) elected to the Senate
- California – Adam Schiff (D) elected to the Senate
- Connecticut – Senator Chris Murphy (D) returns to the Senate
- Delaware – Lisa Blunt Rochester (D) elected to the Senate
- Florida – Senator Rick Scott (R) returns to the Senate
- Indiana – Jim Banks (R) elected to the Senate
- Maine – Senator Angus King (I) returns to the Senate
- Maryland – Angela Alsobrooks (D) elected to the Senate
- Massachusetts – Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) returns to the Senate
- Michigan – Elissa Slotkin elected to the Senate
- Minnesota – Senator Amy Klobuchar (D) returns to the Senate
- Mississippi – Senator Roger Wicker (R) returns to the Senate
- Missouri – Senator Josh Hawley (R) returns to the Senate
- Montana – Tim Sheehy (R) defeats Senator Jon Tester (Pick up of one seat for Republicans)
- Nebraska – Deb Fischer (R) elected to the Senate
- Nebraska – Pete Ricketts (R) elected to the Senate in Special Election
- Nevada – Senator Jacky Rosen (D) returns to the Senate
- New Jersey – Andy Kim (D) elected to the Senate
- New Mexico – Senator Martin Heinrich (D) returns to the Senate
- New York – Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D) returns to the Senate
- North Dakota – Senator Kevin Cramer (R) returns to the Senate
- Ohio – Bernie Moreno (R) defeats Senator Sherrod Brown (Pick up of one seat for Republicans)
- Rhode Island – Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D) returns to the Senate
- Tennessee – Senator Marsha Blackburn (R) returns to the Senate
- Texas – Senator Ted Cruz (R) returns to the Senate
- Utah – John Curtis (R) elected to the Senate
- Vermont – Bernard Sanders (I) returns to the Senate
- Virginia – Senator Tim Kaine (D) returns to the Senate
- West Virginia – Former WV Governor Jim Justice (R) elected to Senate (Pick up of one seat for Republicans)
- Wisconsin – Senator Tammy Baldwin (D) returns to Senate
- Wyoming – Senator John Barrasso (R) returns to the Senate
Open Races
- Pennsylvania – Dave McCormick (R) leads Senator Bob Casey (D) with 99% of the votes counted. The race is moving toward a Republican win and the flipping of a fourth Senate seat as Dave McCormick has a 0.6% (40,145) vote lead. While not yet called, the Mr. McCormick’s lead has held throughout the weekend and it seems likely that this race will be called – and a fourth Senate seat flipped – today or tomorrow.
U.S. House of Representatives Summary
As noted in the Overview, control of the U.S. House of Representatives will remain in Republicans’ hands. Here is where key races and remaining key races CSPEN is tracking stand,
Declared Races
- Arizona – Rep. Eli Crane returns to the House
- Arizona – Rep Ciscomani returns to the House
- California – Rep. Kevin Kiley returns to the House
- California – Rep. Mark Takano returns to the House
- California – George Whitesides defeats Rep. Mike Garcia (Democratic pick up of House seat)
- California – Rep. Ken Calvert returns to the House
- California – Rep. Mike Levin returns to the House
- Connecticut – Rep. Jahana Hayes returns to the House
- Indiana – Rep. Frank Mrvan returns to the House
- Iowa – Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks returns to the House
- New Hampshire – Rep. Chris Pappas returns to the House
- New York – John Mannion defeats Rep. Brandon Williams (Democratic pick up of House seat)
- Ohio – Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D) returns to the House
- Ohio – Rep. Greg Landsman returns to the House
- Pennsylvania – Rob Bresnahan Jr. defeats Rep. Matt Cartwright (Republican pick up of House seat)
- Pennsylvania – defeats Rep. Susan Wild (Republican pick up of House seat)
- Texas – Rep. Henry Cuellar returns to the House
- Virginia – Rep. Jen Kiggans returns to the House
- Wisconsin – Rep. Derrick Van Orden returns to the House
Open Races
- California – Rep. Josh Harder (D) leads Kevin Lincoln (R) by 2.6% with 71% of the votes counted. This lead has increased since Monday.
- California – Rep. Michelle Steel (R) leads Derek Tran by .8% with 86% of the votes counted. This lead has increased since Monday.
- Oregon – Rep. Lori Chavez-Deremer (R) trails Janella Bynum by 2.8% with 88% of the votes counted. This lead has remained unchanged since Monday.
