House Republicans declared victory in the 2024 election Tuesday, winning a coveted trifecta with the White House and Senate.
“It’s morning again in America,” declared National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Richard Hudson (R-NC) at a press conference on the Capitol’s east steps. “Voters delivered House Republicans a majority and sent Donald Trump to the White House in a landslide.”
Republicans were projected to win or leading in 222 House seats, according to the Associated Press, with Democrats projected to win or leading in 213 — a result that would match the outcome following the 2022 midterm elections, if it holds.
GOP Rep. Michael Lawler (left) secured a second term, representing New York’s 17th District. Getty Images
GOP swing-district candidates were projected to pick up half a dozen seats across Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Michigan while mostly defending their districts out west, more than making up for a string of disappointing losses in New York state.
Democratic incumbents Susan Wild and Matt Cartwright fell in the Keystone State’s 7th and 8th districts to Republicans Ryan Mackenzie and Robert Bresnahan, respectively.
In North Carolina, voters in the 6th, 13th and 14th districts backed the GOP’s Addison McDowell, Brad Knott and Tim Moore.
Voters in Michigan’s 7th District chose Republican Tom Barrett to represent them in the House over Democrat Curtis Hertel — an open-seat race due to Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin’s successful bid for the US Senate.
Some New York Republicans held the line, with Reps. Mike Lawler and Nick LaLota securing second terms repping the Hudson Valley’s 17th District and Long Island’s 1st District, respectively.
In California, Republican Reps. David Valadao, Ken Calvert and Michelle Steel were each holding off strong Democratic challengers — while GOP Rep. John Duarte maintained a lead against his Democratic opponent as of Tuesday morning, with nearly 60% of all ballots counted.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he believes Republicans “are going to have a larger majority than we had last time.” Tania Savayan/The Journal News/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
President-elect Trump joined GOP Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Ashley Hinson, Zach Nunn and Randy Feenstra in cruising to wins in Iowa, too — despite an ominous survey from famed pollster J. Ann Selzer predicting the weekend before Election Day that Vice President Kamala Harris was beating Trump in the Hawkeye State.
Colorado’s 8th District also flipped in the GOP’s favor, with Gabe Evans ousting freshman Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo.
In Alaska, Republican Nick Begich was on course to unseat first-term Democrat Mary Peltola, who has held her seat in the Frontier State since a special election in 2022. Republican Rep. Don Young had long represented the state, serving from 1973 until his death two years ago.
The GOP wins are a big boost for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who told The Post last month that he was “very bullish” on his conference’s chances to achieve a government unified under the party this election cycle.
“Voters rejected what they really felt was the misery of the last four years,” Johnson said at Tuesday’s press conference. “We are going to raise an ‘America First’ banner above this place. … Republicans in the House and Senate have a mandate.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is among the top Democrats left to pick up the pieces after his party was badly beaten on Election Day. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
“This leadership will hit the ground running to deliver President Trump’s agenda in the 119th Congress, and we will work closely with him and his administration to turn this country around and unleash, as he says, a new golden age in America,” the House speaker added.
While acknowledging that he was “still waiting the final outcome” of some races, Johnson said, “We believe we’re going to have a larger majority than we had last time.”
Republicans were dealt a setback in achieving that goal due in part to losses in New York swing districts by incumbent Reps. Anthony D’Esposito, Brandon Williams and Marc Molinaro.
Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) stumps for Donald Trump in October. AP
With his majority expanded to four seats from three, Johnson is likely to retain the gavel once the new Congress convenes Jan. 3.
The lower chamber had been narrowly divided in the 118th Congress, with 220 Republicans and 212 Democrats seated as of Election Day, with three seats vacant.
Johnson won the gavel in a unanimous vote of Republican confidence more than three weeks after the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in October 2023 — and was buffeted by intraparty fights and Senate Democratic obstruction for the remaining 13 months of the session.
Before being ousted, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) led his conference in successful negotiations to raise the nation’s debt ceiling in April 2023. Antranik Tavitian/The Republic/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The most significant legislative packages to receive bipartisan support and pass both chambers were several federal spending bills, defense funding, the renewal of the government’s warrantless spy powers and a $95 billion foreign aid bill to assist Israel and Ukraine’s war efforts.
Before Johnson became speaker, McCarthy led his conference in successful negotiations to raise the nation’s debt ceiling in April 2023.
But it was otherwise a largely unproductive Congress, with the House and Senate last year passing the fewest laws since 1989.
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Publish date : 2024-11-12 06:58:00
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