Democrats head toward House control, but struggle to gain seats
- Republican expectations for capturing the House from Democrats all but non-existent
- Republican supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory movement wins seat
Democrats drove Wednesday toward extending their control of the House for two more years, but their expectations of expanding their majority seemed to be waning as they failed to defeat any Republican incumbents in initial returns.
Freshmen Democrats Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Donna Shalala became Election Day’s first incumbent casualties, falling in adjacent South Florida districts in a state where President Donald Trump seemed to consolidate his support among Cuban voters.
Democrats as expected picked up a pair of North Carolina seats vacated by Republican incumbents after a court-ordered remapping made the districts more Democratic. But as Tuesday turned into Wednesday on the East Coast, the day’s results were developing into a disappointing election for the party.
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Instead, the parties’ swapped a handful of seats apiece, underscoring returns that early on suggested a status-quo House election, with Democrats holding onto their majority with modest gains at best.
There were no early victories by Democrats in long-shot races. Republicans retained seats that Democrats had hoped to capture, for example, in central North Carolina and around Little Rock, Arkansas.
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And with Republican expectations for capturing the House all but non-existent, they were likely to view an Election Day with little change in Democrats’ strength as almost acceptable. Even so, they are sure to face internal questions about why they remain trapped in the chamber’s minority. A major question would be how to regain suburban voters who have fled the Republican Party in droves, largely over their distaste for Trump.
Should Democrats retain the House majority as expected, it would mark only the second time in a quarter century that they’ve controlled the chamber for two consecutive two-year Congresses. The first period ran from 2007 through 2010, Nancy Pelosi’s initial run as speaker.
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Scores of both parties’ incumbents from safe districts were easily re-elected. These included progressive star Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York City and both parties’ No. 3 House leaders, Democrat James Clyburn of South Carolina and Republican Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
Democrats’ hopes of protecting their majority and even expanding it were based on public anxiety over the pandemic, Trump’s alienation of suburban voters and a vast fundraising edge.
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In one noteworthy but unsurprising result, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has espoused unfounded QAnon conspiracy theories, won a vacant seat in northwest Georgia. Trump has called Greene a “future Republican star.” QAnon asserts that Trump is quietly waging a battle against paedophiles in government.
Pelosi was hoping to use control of the chamber to pass party priorities that include expanding health care coverage and creating jobs with new infrastructure projects. After a two-year run as one of her party’s most effective counterpoints to Trump, the 80-year-old Pelosi is all but certain to serve two more years running the House.
