Democrats Projected to Win the House as Senate Control Stays Undecided

Decision Desk HQ projected Tuesday night that Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives. The call came at 9:09 p.m. Eastern, with polls still open in western states and hundreds of races still being counted.

Democrats needed a net gain of three seats to reach the 218 needed for a majority in the 435-member chamber. Republicans entered the night holding a narrow 218-214 edge.

A projection is not a certified result. Votes are still being counted, and other trackers had not yet called control of the chamber late Tuesday. The final margin will not be known until more races are called.

The seats that moved first

The first House seat to flip was in western North Carolina. Democrat Jamie Ager won the 11th District, defeating Republican Jennifer Balkcom. The Associated Press called the race at 8:53 p.m., with Ager at 60.3% to Balkcom's 38.4% and 83% of the vote counted.

The seat opened up in August, when Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards ended his reelection bid after a House ethics investigation. The House later censured him. Balkcom, a state legislator, replaced him on the ballot less than three months before Election Day.

Decision Desk HQ also counted Pennsylvania's 8th District among the evening's Democratic flips.

Senate still undecided

Control of the Senate remained undecided late Tuesday. Democrats entered the night holding 47 seats and need a net gain of four to reach 51. A 50-50 split would leave Republicans in control, because the vice president breaks ties.

Democrats flipped one Senate seat, in North Carolina, where former Gov. Roy Cooper defeated Republican Michael Whatley, according to projections from the Associated Press and CBS News. They held seats in Georgia, where Sen. Jon Ossoff won reelection, and New Hampshire, where Chris Pappas won, according to multiple outlets.

Ohio was the race to watch late Tuesday. In the special election there, former Sen. Sherrod Brown led Sen. Jon Husted by about 68,000 votes as of 9:40 p.m., with fewer than half of Ohio's precincts reporting, according to the Ohio secretary of state's returns. In Ohio's governor race, Democrat Amy Acton led Republican Vivek Ramaswamy by about 149,000 votes in the same returns. Neither Ohio race had been called late Tuesday.

What a Democratic House would mean

If the projection holds, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York is in line to become speaker when the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3. He would be the first Black speaker in the nation's history. Jeffries won reelection in his Brooklyn district Tuesday, according to NBC News and AP projections.

A Democratic House would control the chamber's committees, its subpoena power and the power of the purse. It could block Republican legislation. Democrats have said a House majority would let them investigate what they describe as self-dealing by the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump said before the election that he would wield the veto to enforce his priorities if Democrats gained control of either chamber, but that he expected they would want to negotiate deals.

Elsewhere Tuesday, Keisha Lance Bottoms was projected to win Georgia's governor race, according to NBC News and Decision Desk HQ. She would be the first Black woman ever elected governor of a state.

More races will be called as counting continues.