Democrats retain control of House, but Republicans have their eye on 2022
Democrats won two more years of controlling the US House of Representatives but with a reduced majority.
The party won 218 seats, according to the Associated Press, and could win more once vote counting is completed.
Although that would give the party control of the 435-member chamber, the Democrats’ majority was certain to shrink after a Republican surge turned hopedfor gains of 15 seats into losses.
While Democrat Joe Biden won the presidential election, there was a strong chance Republicans would still control the Senate. That would force Democrats to scale back their plans of sweeping healthcare and infrastructure initiatives, instead needing compromises with the Republicans. Republicans were heartened by the House results, which many believed positioned them for a strong run to win a majority in the 2022 elections. They increased their number of women representatives from 13 to at least 26, a party record, according to the Centre for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, while more ethnic minority politicians joined the Republican ranks.
With some races still undecided, it was possible that in the new Congress that convenes in January, Democrats will have the smallest majority since the Republicans won 221 seats two decades ago.
A tight majority could cause headaches for Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, empowering any determined group of lawmakers to pressure her on what bills should be considered or look like. But sometimes a slender margin can help unify a party because its members know they must stick together to achieve anything.
Democratic moderates and progressives clash periodically. Underscoring that tension, House Democrats vented their anger in a three-hour conference call last week in which both factions blamed the other for rhetoric and policies they said proved costly in the campaign.
“We should be honest that this was not a good outcome,” said Tom Malinowski, Democrat representative for New Jersey. He said terms like “defund the police” hurt Democrats by making it sound like they oppose law enforcement.
Pramila Jayapal, Democrat representative for Washington and a progressive leader, said that Democrats needed to discuss “how we talk about some of these issues that are critical to different parts of our base”. But with moderates complaining that the Republicans hurt Democrats by accusing them of pushing socialism, Ms Jayapal said such accusations will be used against progressives no matter what.
Jim Kessler, an official with
Third Way, a centrist Democratic group, said: “In electoral politics, moderates are the beachfront property. If there’s flooding, they’re the ones that get washed away.”
Illustrating that, the Blue Dog Coalition of conservative House Democrats has lost at least six of its two dozen members.
On the other hand, a group of hard-left progressives will be going to Congress, including Democrats Jamaal Bowman and Mondaire Jones of New York.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus, which has tried pushing Republican leaders to the right over the years, was hoping to increase its membership from about 30.