Democrats are projected to take control of the House of Representatives Tuesday night, with all indications pointing to a Blue Wave that will place House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in the Speaker's chair.
Democrats won multiple seats that were considered bellwethers of the night, including holding two seats in Florida, and flipping seats in New Jersey, North Carolina and Pennsylvania at the time of publication.
In Florida, Republicans redrew their district map in the hopes of unseating incumbent Democrats and replacing them with members of the GOP, but at least two of the three seats they were hoping to flip remained in Democrat hands.
Democrats needed to gain just three net seats to gain control of the House
In New Jersey, Democrat challenger Rebecca Bennett defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. in the state's 7th district. Kean lost in part due to historical midterm trends – where the party in power typically loses control of one or both chambers of Congress – but also due to his unexplained absence earlier this year. Kean missed more than 100 votes and when he finally re-emerged, he said he had been hospitalized for depression.
In North Carolina, Democratic challenger Jamie Ager defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Jennifer Balkcom in the state's 11th district – a district President Trump won in 2024 by more than 9 percentage votes, NBC News reported. Democrat challenger Paige Cognetti also defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan in Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional district, Democrat Bob Brooks ousted incumbent Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in the state's 7th district, and Janelle Stelson unseated incumbent Republican Rep. Scott Perry in the 10th district.
Democrats needed to gain just three net seats to gain control of the House, which Republicans currently hold with a slim 220-215 majority with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., leading the chamber.
Democrats have said they would spend the majority of their time investigating the Trump administration
Even though Democrats flipped the chamber, it could be difficult to enact their agenda since they would have little room for defections when negotiating major pieces of legislation. Further, with Trump still in the White House, it is unlikely Democrats will be able to accomplish much of their agenda due to the president's veto power. Further, it is unlikely that Democrats would want to work with Trump to pass any legislation that might be seen as a "win" for a president they despise.
Democrats have indicated that they would spend the majority of their time investigating the Trump administration, keeping Trump allies mired in investigations instead of doing their actual jobs.
"What we've seen from the Trump cartel is that they're more focused on enriching themselves, their family members, their friends and their donors than they are with making life more affordable for the American people," Jeffries said in early October.
While Jeffries didn't say Democrats would try to impeach Trump, during his last administration, Democrats gleefully attempted two impeachments, with the Republican-controlled Senate acquitting the president. Democrats in the House also introduced multiple other articles and resolutions of impeachment, but those went nowhere when Republicans controlled the chamber.
Now that Democrats control the House and the Senate, they may make another attempt.
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