Four weeks after Election Day, the make-up of the House of Representatives is now known. The last race has finally been called.
Democrat Adam Gray has defeated incumbent Republican Rep. John Duarte in California’s 13th Congressional District. Officials have counted all ballots.
Gray’s victory puts the current election tally in the House at 220 Republican wins to 215 Democratic victories. However, three seats will soon be open after President-elect Donald Trump nominated three Republican House members to his cabinet, dropping the majority to a very slim 217-215 margin in favor of the GOP.
Within days after the election, Trump nominated Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to be attorney general. Gaetz resigned from the House and later removed his name from consideration. There’ll now be a special election in northwest Florida. It’s set for April 1, 2025.
Another Republican, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, is slated to become the Trump administration’s national security adviser and leave Congress on Jan. 20. A special election in the Daytona Beach area of Florida is also set for April 1.
In northern New York, Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik is Trump’s pick for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She hasn’t announced when she is leaving Congress.
In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul is required, by law, to set the date for a special election within 10 days of Stefanik’s resignation, and that election has to happen within 70 to 80 days.
The departure of the Republicans and uncertainty of who wins the special elections leave the GOP with almost no wiggle room to push their agenda forward in Congress in early 2025.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has supposedly urged President-elect Trump not to tap any more House Republicans for cabinet jobs.
