Done processing: Republicans take control of Congress, Jeffries comments
In several races that were still too close to call a week out, Republicans were projected to keep majority control of the U.S. House of Representatives and did this Wednesday.
As of Wed., Nov. 13, House Democrats had 207 seats and House Republicans maintained 217 seats. A party needs 218 seats to determine which one wins control of the House for the next four years of Trump’s term. Most estimates were leaning in favor of Republicans by Wednesday afternoon.
“In an adverse electoral climate, House Democrats overperformed the national political environment, re-electing at least 27 of our 31 Frontline incumbents, with one race too close to call, holding four competitive open districts and flipping at least eight Republican-held seats this year,” said Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the first Black person to hold that position, in a statement.
Jeffries clinched his re-election in New York’s 8th Congressional District with no real opposition. He scored 74.61% of the votes while his Republican opponent, John J. Delaney, got 22.05%, according to the New York City Board of Elections (BOE) unofficial Election Night results.
With Jeffries’s victory secured, all eyes turned to a cluster of House races in various states, including in California, Alaska, Maine, Ohio, Arizona, Oregon, and Iowa. Republicans were defending their narrowest House majority in decades, and Democrats only needed to flip four seats to take back control of the chamber.
“House Democrats gave it our all, running aggressive, forward-looking and people-centered campaigns,” said Jeffries. “While we will not regain control of the Congress in January, falling just a few seats short, House Democrats will hold Republicans to a razor-thin majority. That is unprecedented in a so-called presidential wave election.”
Jeffries said he was especially proud of the effort fellow New York Democrats put into flipping three House seats, two of which had been lost to Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections. Those races include the 22nd Congressional District up in Syracuse, where John Mannion beat incumbent Brandon Williams; the 19th Congressional District in the Hudson Valley, where Josh Riley beat out Mark Molinaro; and out in Long Island’s 4th congressional district, where Laura Gillen won over Anthony D’Esposito.
“My deepest gratitude to DCCC Chairwoman Suzan DelBene, DCCC Executive Director Julie Merz, campaign staff across the country, our grassroots supporters, incredible donors and the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who knocked doors, made phone calls and signed postcards,” said Jeffries.
Regardless of the state wins, Jeffries said that it cannot be ignored that President-elect Donald Trump did better than “almost any other Republican presidential candidate in modern political history” in New York State.
Republicans had already usurped control of the U.S Senate, with 53 seats to Democrats’ 47. They needed 50 in total.
Jeffries had concluded that electeds have to focus on the issues that Americans, especially Black and Brown people, have said they care about throughout this election: inflation and affordability, the broken immigration system, securing the border, and the economy.
“Thanks to the extraordinary work of our incumbents, candidates and supporters, the nationwide Trump surge did not materialize in the House,” said Jeffries. “Moving forward, House Democrats will engage in a clear-eyed, candid and comprehensive family conversation about how and where to build upon the foundation that has been laid and improve on our efforts. It is a discussion that we embrace.”
He added that in the new Congress, House Democrats will continue to seek bipartisan common ground on any issue, whenever and wherever possible, while pushing back against far right extremism whenever necessary.
Lastly, he congratulated House Speaker Mike Johnson and the House Republican Conference.deliver real results.”
The post Done processing: Republicans take control of Congress, Jeffries comments appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.