How did Republicans still capture House majority?
WASHINGTON – Republicans secured the majority in the House on Wednesday evening, cementing control of the lower chamber when Congress returns next year and creating significant roadblocks for the remainder of President Joe Biden's time in the White House.
Rep. Mike Garcia won California's 27th Congressional District, claiming the 218th seat needed for the GOP to flip control of the House. The win comes after disappointing midterm results for Republican candidates, who were predicted to win by a wider margin.
Where did Republicans underperform?
Despite having a narrow majority in the House, Republicans did not come close to fulfilling predictions that anticipated a red wave. Candidates lost in matchups where they were expected to win or found themselves defeating Democrats by smaller margins than predicted.
They lost races for two Virginia seats they thought they could capture, and seats in Michigan, Washington state, Ohio and New Mexico because of redistricting.
In gubernatorial races, election-denying Republican Tudor Dixon lost her bid in Michigan to incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; in Pennsylvania, Republican Doug Mastriano, lost to Josh Shapiro and in Wisconsin, Tim Michels mounted an unsuccessful challenge against Democratic incumbent Gov. Tony Evers.
Dozens of Republicans who questioned the 2020 presidential election outcome lost in states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Where did Republicans win?
When all the races are decided, House Republicans will get far less than the 30- or 40-seat margin once projected.
It'll be closer to three- or four-seat advantage – disappointing for a party that hoped Biden's low approval ratings, high inflation concerns and favorably redrawn congressional maps would propel them to resounding victory.
But they did well enough in reddish states such as Florida and blue states such as New York to compensate for swing states such as Virginia where they expected to win by a wider margin.
Their most high-profile win was ousting New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who chaired the campaign efforts for House Democrats.
Garcia was one example of Republican's continuing progress. Garcia defeated a Democrat challenger in California where Republicans faced a horrendous election in 2018 winning only seven seats across the nation's largest state.
Many Republicans in Senate and gubernatorial racessailed to victory in the midterms as well.
In the Senate, Marco Rubio of Florida and Tim Scott of South Carolina cruised to victory for their reelections. Senator-elect Katie Britt defeated a Democratic challenger in Alabama for an open seat.
And in Ohio, Trump-backed J.D. Vance was able to beat back challenger Tim Ryan to keep the seat red.
As for gubernatorial contests, Republican Brian Kemp pulled in over 50% of the vote, winning his reelection against Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams in Georgia.
And in Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds was reelected with nearly 60% of the vote, while Gov. Mike DeWine enjoyed similar success in Ohio.