This story originally appeared in The Center Square.
Republicans are poised to lose the majority in the U.S. House, having ceded seven seats to Democrats as midterm election results continue to come in.
Unless Republicans are able to flip districts held by Democrats, the 120th Congress will see Democrats in control of the U.S. House.
With 97% of votes counted, Ohio’s 15th Congressional District chose Democrat Don Leonard over Republican incumbent Mike Carey, 52% to 45%.
Earlier in the night, Pennsylvania Congressional Districts 7, 8 and 10 flipped blue. Incumbent Republican Ryan Mackenzie lost his seat in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District to Democrat Bob Brookes by a margin of more than 30,000 votes with 78% of votes counted. Democrat Paige Cognetti ousted incumbent Rob Bresnahan by over 10 percentage points in the 8th district while Republican incumbent Scott Perry lost to Democrat Janelle Stelson by over 13 percentage points.
Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District flipped blue after Democrat Zach Dembo received 52.9% of the vote with 83% of votes counted. Multiple news outlets have called the race as Republican Ralph Alvarado is lagging behind Dembo by over 24,000 votes.
Democrats also picked up New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, with incumbent Tom Kean Jr. losing to Democrat Rebecca Bennett. With 65% of votes counted, Kean received 37.9% and Bennett received over 60%. National media outlets called the race for Bennett.
The party also gained North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, an open seat previously under Republican control, which flipped to Democrat Jamie Ager, who captured 59.8% of ballots cast at 85% of votes counted. Republican Jennifer Balkcom held less than 40% of the vote when the race was called.
All 435 House seats are up for reelection, and 226 races have yet to be called.
Several national media outlets are projecting the U.S. House will flip to majority Democrats.
Prior to election day, Republicans held a razor-thin majority in the House with 218 seats and another seat held by an independent caucusing with Republicans.
Though Vice President J.D. Vance and other officials had projected confidence that Republicans could keep the House, poll analysts predict Democrats will flip the lower chamber of Congress.
For months, polls have favored Democrats as American voters struggle with rising costs of gas and groceries that are largely due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and nearly all other House Republicans have shied away from challenging the administration’s unauthorized and ongoing conflict with Iran, which caused rising gas prices. That’s despite almost two-thirds of Americans disapproving of how Trump is handling Iran, according to current Real Clear Polling averages.
Republicans have mostly leaned on the sweeping income tax cuts and domestic manufacturing rebates within their signature “One Big Beautiful Bill” as evidence of addressing voters’ affordability concerns.
They have also highlighted some bills cracking down on migrant crime – a top concern for voters during the 2024 presidential race – as well as efforts to root out waste, fraud and abuse in government programs.
Yet polls show that those accomplishments haven’t swayed many voters, and Democrats in the meantime have hammered Republicans over cost of living via election campaign messages.
Democrats have also blamed their opponents for rising healthcare plan costs, which they claim are due to Republicans’ refusal to renew the expansion of certain Obamacare subsidies. The Premium Tax Credit, temporarily boosted during the COVID-19 pandemic, reverted to original levels last year after a grueling government shutdown, where Democrats refused to fund the government for 43 days over demands that Republicans renew the sunsetting pandemic extension.
That shutdown and subsequent Democrat-triggered shutdowns, paired with Republican infighting in both the House and Senate over the past 18 months, has led to legislative backlogs in the House of critical policy issues.
Having spent a meager 72 days in session during the past year, House lawmakers have repeatedly punted the deadlines for the annual government funding process, an overdue transportation infrastructure spending bill, government spy authority reauthorization and other major issues.
Republicans also have historical precedent batting against them. Historically, the party of the sitting president performs poorly in the midterm elections, almost always taking a net loss in the House of Representatives.
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