Democrats widen their lead in the US House of Representatives as midterm votes are counted

House of Representatives: the tally keeps growing in the Democrats' favor

According to the Associated Press, cited by Anadolu, the Democrats have secured 254 seats in the 435-seat House of Representatives against 162 for the Republicans; as of Saturday, 19 races remained undecided. The Democrats have already secured control of both chambers of Congress after significant gains in Tuesday's elections.

Key results by district

In California, Democrat Aisha Wahab defeated her fellow Democrat Melissa Hernandez in the 14th District, earning a full two-year term after winning the special election earlier this year for Eric Swalwell's seat; the Associated Press called the race on Friday evening. In California's 11th District, Democrat Scott Wiener defeated fellow Democrat Connie Chan, succeeding former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who did not seek a new term.

Party switch and held seats

In South Carolina, Democrat Nancy LaCour edged out Republican Jenny Costa Honeycutt in the 1st District, with 49.7% to 48.6% with 99% of votes counted, taking the seat from the Republicans; the district had been represented by Republican Nancy Mace, who did not run for re-election. The Republicans, for their part, held a number of districts: Anthony Constantino won New York's 21st District, the seat held by Elise Stefanik; incumbent Jeff Hurd won Colorado's 3rd District; Mark Lamb and incumbent Abraham Hamadeh won Arizona's 5th and 8th Districts; and Mark Harris won North Carolina's 8th District. Decision Desk HQ separately projected that incumbent Republican Mario Diaz-Balart would defeat Democrat Nicole Lockett in Florida, but the Associated Press had not called that race as of Saturday morning.

The Senate and the timeline for the transfer of power

In the Senate, the Democrats and two independent senators who caucus with them hold a combined 54 seats against 44 for the Republicans; the races in Alaska and Mississippi remain undecided. The new Congress will convene on January 3, after which the Republicans will lose the majorities in both chambers that they held during the first two years of President Donald Trump's second term. Anadolu links the shift in the political landscape to growing discontent over the war in Iran and continued US support for Israel; according to the outlet, Trump promised to end financial aid to Israel by the end of the year, although the support also includes military and diplomatic components.