Key facts
- Republicans held 218 House seats and Democrats 214, with one vacancy in each party's column and one Republican member now an independent.
- Democrats needed to flip three seats to reach the 218-seat majority threshold.
- The non-partisan Cook Political Report predicted Democrats would pick up between 15 and 25 seats, for 230 to 240 seats.
- The Center for Politics at the University of Virginia listed 239 House seats in Democrats' favor.
- Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from Brooklyn first elected in 2012, was expected to become speaker if Democrats took the House.
- Democrats signaled they would investigate Trump's family business, immigration enforcement, matters related to Jeffrey Epstein and Robert F Kennedy Jr's handling of vaccine procedures and recommendations.
Democrats were poised to take control of the US House of Representatives in the November 3 midterm elections, after two years of Donald Trump's second presidency. A Democratic majority would give the party control of House committees and the ability to subpoena documents and witnesses as part of investigations during the administration's final two years.
Republicans held 218 House seats and Democrats 214, with one vacancy in a Republican seat, one vacancy in a Democratic seat and one Republican member who switched his affiliation to independent. A party needs at least 218 seats for a majority, so Democrats needed to flip just three seats, something they were expected to do easily. All House members run for re-election every two years.
While uncertainty remained about the size of Democratic gains, the non-partisan Cook Political Report predicted Democrats would pick up between 15 and 25 seats, giving them between 230 and 240 seats. The Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, another forecaster, listed 239 House seats in Democrats' favor.
Republicans faced an unfavorable environment, with Trump's approval rating hitting record lows, the war in Iran deeply unpopular and gasoline prices extremely high, according to the report. Democrats signaled they would investigate Trump's family business, immigration enforcement, matters related to Jeffrey Epstein and Robert F Kennedy Jr's handling of vaccine procedures and recommendations, among other issues. If Democrats retook the House, Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from Brooklyn first elected in 2012, was expected to become speaker. At 56, he would be the first Black speaker in US history.
The expected Democratic win came despite an unusual and aggressive Republican effort to redraw congressional districts ahead of the election. At Trump's request, Republicans in Texas, Florida, Missouri and other Republican-led states redrew districts to add more GOP-friendly seats. After the Supreme Court issued a ruling weakening a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, lawmakers in Alabama, North Carolina and Tennessee redrew their maps to eliminate districts where Black voters had been able to elect a candidate of their choosing. The political environment was so unfavorable to Republicans that Democrats could win races in the Alabama and North Carolina districts that were redrawn, and some GOP-friendly districts added in Texas also appeared winnable for Democrats. Overall, Republicans might pick up only a handful of the districts they redrew to their advantage.