On a November night in 2022, the American House of Representatives changed hands while the Senate stayed where it was, and the result was less a single wave than a patchwork of local stories. Incumbents in many closely watched districts held on, some by narrow margins and at great expense, while newcomers with national attention often fell short. Redrawn maps and a flood of outside money quietly shaped who could win, leaving a divided Congress whose narrower majority will now have to test what it can actually accomplish.
Republicans Win House Control as Key Midterm Races Split Across the Country
Republicans took the House, but flipped none of Nevada's three swing seats
Mark
Republicans took the House, but the key races read like a Democratic night. Why?
Mimi
Because many of the closest seats were held by Democrats: Slotkin, Craig, Kaptur, Cuellar, and all three Nevada seats. The Republican gains came elsewhere, like New Jersey's 7th, where the map was redrawn in their favor.
Mark
Money seems to run through this story.
Mimi
Michigan's 7th saw more than $27 million spent, and Minnesota's 2nd drew an estimated $30 million in outside spending. Both went to Democrats.
Luke
Careful, though. The report doesn't say the spending decided anything. It shows the races were expensive, not that money changed the result.
Mark
What about the candidates Trump endorsed?
Mimi
Bo Hines and J.R. Majewski both lost, and Bognet lost in Pennsylvania. Majewski faced AP reporting that he misrepresented his Air Force service.
Luke
Three losses don't amount to a pattern across the whole map. Santos won in New York, for one thing. And this material doesn't say how many endorsed candidates there were in total.
Mark
And the size of the Republican majority?
Luke
It isn't in this report. We know who controls the chamber, not by how many seats, and two vacancies remain unfilled.
El Pulso
- Republicans seized the House majority, but the margin they carry into the next Congress is narrow and uncertain.
- Expensive races in Michigan and Minnesota drew tens of millions of dollars in spending, with some results decided by razor-thin margins.
- Nevada Republicans aimed to flip three swing seats and came away empty-handed, a costly disappointment for their strategy.
- Trump-backed challengers in North Carolina and Ohio stumbled, with ethical questions and local ties proving decisive.
- The incoming GOP majority now faces the task of turning a fragile lead into a working legislative agenda.
On a November night in 2022, the American House of Representatives changed hands while the Senate stayed where it was, and the result was less a single wave than a patchwork of local stories. Incumbents in many closely watched districts held on, some by narrow margins and at great expense, while newcomers with national attention often fell short. Redrawn maps and a flood of outside money quietly shaped who could win, leaving a divided Congress whose narrower majority will now have to test what it can actually accomplish.
When the polls opened for the 2022 midterms, Democrats held 220 House seats and Republicans held 212, with three seats empty. By the end of the night Republicans had won control of the House, while Democrats kept the Senate.
The contest was unusually open, with dozens of retirements and many members seeking other offices. The key races did not follow one pattern. In Arizona, Republican David Schweikert won a seventh term despite lingering ethics questions, and in California, David Valadao held a Democratic-leaning seat against the registration odds.
Some of the costliest fights went to Democrats. Elissa Slotkin narrowly kept her Michigan seat after more than $27 million in spending, and Angie Craig won a Minnesota rematch amid heavy outside money. Nevada Republicans hoped to flip three seats and flipped none, while in New Hampshire the young challenger Karoline Leavitt lost to incumbent Chris Pappas.
Redrawn maps helped Republicans in places like New Jersey and New York, but Trump-backed newcomers struggled in North Carolina and Ohio. Marcy Kaptur survived her toughest race in decades. The next Congress begins with a narrow Republican House, and its size will determine how much it can get done.
When the polls opened for the 2022 midterms, Democrats held 220 of the House's 435 seats and Republicans held 212. Three seats stood empty after resignations and one death, and two of those will not be filled until the next Congress. By the end of the night, Republicans had taken control of the House, while the Senate stayed in Democratic hands.
The field was unusually open. Forty-nine representatives and one non-voting delegate, 30 Democrats and 20 Republicans, chose to retire. Seventeen of them, nine Democrats and eight Republicans, left to seek another office. Beneath the national result, the key races split in ways that did not follow a single pattern.
In Arizona's 1st District, Republican David Schweikert won a seventh term over Democrat Jevin Hodge. Schweikert came through a second straight election shadowed by ethics issues, tied to campaign finance violations and the improper use of congressional staff for campaign work. Hodge was seen as a rising Democratic star, but the district, covering parts of northeast Phoenix, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and Fountain Hills, has a slight Republican registration advantage. In California's Central Valley, Republican David Valadao beat Democrat Rudy Salas in the 22nd District, despite a Democratic registration edge of 17 percentage points. Valadao is one of two House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump and reached the general election. The other is Dan Newhouse of Washington. California's 13th District pitted Republican farmer John Duarte against moderate Democratic legislator Adam Gray, in a seat with a 14-point Democratic registration advantage.
Some of the most expensive contests went to Democrats. In Michigan's 7th District, which includes Lansing, Elissa Slotkin narrowly won a third term over state senator and Army veteran Tom Barrett. More than $27 million was spent by campaigns and outside groups. Slotkin, a former CIA Middle East analyst, ran on her support for her party's flagship climate, drug-cost and corporate-tax legislation, and drew an endorsement from Republican Liz Cheney. In Minnesota's 2nd District, Angie Craig defeated Republican Tyler Kistner in a rematch, with an estimated $30 million in outside spending. Elsewhere in Minnesota, Republican Brad Finstad beat Democrat Jeff Ettinger, a former Hormel chief executive, in a rematch of the August special election for the seat left open when Rep. Jim Hagedorn died of cancer.
Nevada was a target for Republicans, who hoped to flip three swing seats. They flipped none. Susie Lee beat April Becker in the 3rd District, Steven Horsford won a fourth term over Samuel Peters in the 4th, and Dina Titus also held on. Republican Mark Amodei, the state's lone GOP House member, won again in the rural 2nd District, where no Democrat has ever won. In New Hampshire, Chris Pappas, 42, won a third term over 25-year-old Karoline Leavitt, who had hoped to become the youngest woman elected to Congress. In her concession speech she said she wished the results had come in differently but was humbled by the support she received. Annie Kuster also won there, defeating Robert Burns.
Republicans picked up ground where district lines moved their way. In New Jersey's 7th, Thomas Kean Jr. beat incumbent Tom Malinowski in a rematch on a redrawn map that FiveThirtyEight and the Cook Political Report had both favored Republicans to win. In New York's 19th, Marcus Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive, won after losing the August special election to Pat Ryan. In New York's 3rd, Republican George Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman in what was described as the first known congressional election with two gay candidates.
Trump-backed newcomers fared poorly in some places. In North Carolina's 13th, state Sen. Wiley Nickel beat 27-year-old former college football player Bo Hines, who had moved to the district a month before the May primary. In Ohio's 9th, Marcy Kaptur, 76, the longest-serving woman in House history, beat J.R. Majewski in her toughest race since 1982. The Associated Press had reported that Majewski misrepresented his Air Force service. In Pennsylvania's 8th, Matt Cartwright beat Jim Bognet, and in Texas's 28th, Henry Cuellar won a tenth term over Republican Cassy Garcia.
The next Congress will open with Republicans in charge of the House and Democrats holding the Senate. Redrawn districts and heavy outside spending shaped many of these outcomes, and the size of the Republican majority will determine how much it can do.
Citas Notables
I certainly wish tonight's results came in a little bit differently.— Karoline Leavitt, in her concession speech
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