Democrats’ flip in California concludes final unresolved US House race
Posted on 12/04/2024
Republican Rep. John Duarte has conceded to his Democratic challenger Adam Gray in California’s 13th Congressional District, Duarte campaign spokesman Duane Dichiara confirmed to CNN.
The five counties in the district certified their results Tuesday, leaving Gray with a 187-vote lead.
The contest was the last unresolved House race in the country, and with Gray’s victory, Republicans won 220 seats to Democrats’ 215. Overall, Democrats gained one seat from their pre-election total.
The Republican majority is likely to be even tighter in the early part of next year – former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida resigned from the House last month and won’t take his seat in the new Congress. Republican Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York and Mike Waltz of Florida are expected to leave the chamber to take positions in the Trump administration.
If all three seats are vacant at once, a 217-215 majority would mean that Republicans couldn’t afford to lose a single member on a party-line vote.
Gray, a former California state assemblymember, was making his second bid for the Central Valley seat after losing to Duarte by 564 votes two years ago in one of the closest House races in the country. The seat, which Joe Biden carried by 11 points in 2020, was a top target for Democrats this year.
Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday acknowledged the House GOP’s even tighter margins in 2025 will leave them “nothing to spare” as they work to pass President-elect Donald Trump’s ambitious agenda.
While Johnson said some legal challenges were possible, he acknowledged the final party breakdown was 220-215.
“Do the math, we have nothing to spare,” Johnson said.
The margin will be even slimmer in early 2025 with three vacancies due to Trump’s Cabinet picks. Johnson said he hoped to fill those seats by “late spring” and said he raised this issue to Senate Republicans in his meeting with them on Tuesday.
Asked about maneuvering a GOP agenda through those slim margins, Johnson said: ”We know how to work in a small majority here, that’s our custom.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
The five counties in the district certified their results Tuesday, leaving Gray with a 187-vote lead.
The contest was the last unresolved House race in the country, and with Gray’s victory, Republicans won 220 seats to Democrats’ 215. Overall, Democrats gained one seat from their pre-election total.
The Republican majority is likely to be even tighter in the early part of next year – former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida resigned from the House last month and won’t take his seat in the new Congress. Republican Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York and Mike Waltz of Florida are expected to leave the chamber to take positions in the Trump administration.
If all three seats are vacant at once, a 217-215 majority would mean that Republicans couldn’t afford to lose a single member on a party-line vote.
Gray, a former California state assemblymember, was making his second bid for the Central Valley seat after losing to Duarte by 564 votes two years ago in one of the closest House races in the country. The seat, which Joe Biden carried by 11 points in 2020, was a top target for Democrats this year.
Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday acknowledged the House GOP’s even tighter margins in 2025 will leave them “nothing to spare” as they work to pass President-elect Donald Trump’s ambitious agenda.
While Johnson said some legal challenges were possible, he acknowledged the final party breakdown was 220-215.
“Do the math, we have nothing to spare,” Johnson said.
The margin will be even slimmer in early 2025 with three vacancies due to Trump’s Cabinet picks. Johnson said he hoped to fill those seats by “late spring” and said he raised this issue to Senate Republicans in his meeting with them on Tuesday.
Asked about maneuvering a GOP agenda through those slim margins, Johnson said: ”We know how to work in a small majority here, that’s our custom.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
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