These Uncalled Races Could Determine Control of Congress

Both chambers of Congress remained up for grabs, with crucial contests that could determine control yet to be called.

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An election worker processed ballots at the Maricopa County Election Center in Phoenix today. Arizona’s Senate race is one of the key contests around the country that have yet to be called.

As Republicans moved closer to winning a slim House majority and Democratic victories squelched what had been projected to be a red wave, crucial races in the fight for control of Congress remained unresolved on Wednesday afternoon, making it impossible to be certain which party would prevail.

On the West Coast, where polls closed late into Tuesday evening, results were still coming in, and a handful of tight races on the East Coast were also too close to definitively call, according to The Associated Press and an analysis by The New York Times.

Both parties were within reach of controlling the Senate, currently split 50-50, with races in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia yet to be called.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Democrats had picked up a crucial Senate seat in Pennsylvania with the victory of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Republicans had held Wisconsin as Senator Ron Johnson won re-election. Democrats needed to win two more of the still-unresolved races to preserve a 50-seat majority, with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tiebreaking vote. Republicans needed to win three of the four.

The contest in Georgia, where the two candidates appeared virtually tied, was headed for a runoff election on Dec. 6, state officials said, potentially leaving the Senate majority in limbo for weeks.

Control over the House hung on more than two dozen competitive races that had yet to be called.

Here is a look at some of the unresolved House races that could sway the balance:

Many races in California, the biggest House delegation, were still up in the air. Endangered Republicans include Representative David Valadao, who voted to impeach former President Donald J. Trump, and Representative Mike Garcia. Both had opened early leads over their Democratic challengers, but many votes remained to be counted. A longer shot for Democrats was in the California desert, where a Democrat, Will Rollins, held an early lead over a longtime Republican incumbent, Representative Ken Calvert, but only about a quarter of the estimated vote was in.
One unexpected potential bright spot for Democrats was in a sprawling district covering much of the western portion of Colorado, where a Democrat, Adam Frisch, held a slim lead over Representative Lauren Boebert, a right-wing Republican.
Democrats were fighting to defend a seat in the blue state of Maryland, where Representative David Trone was narrowly trailing his Republican challenger, Neil Parrott.
Several other Democrats, many of them in conservative-leaning districts, were in races also still considered too close to call. They included Representatives Jared Golden of Maine, Dina Titus and Susie Lee of Nevada, Susan Wild of Pennsylvania and Kim Schrier of Washington. Two other Democratic incumbents in blue states, Representative Jahana Hayes of Connecticut and Katie Porter of California, were fighting to defend their seats. All were leading.
Alaska’s single at-large race was another being closely watched as Representative Mary Peltola, a Democrat, was leading with a quarter of the votes left to be counted. She had won a special election just weeks ago to finish out the term of a Republican representative, Don Young, who died.