Election 2024 highlights: Republicans win House majority of 218 seats

Democrat Adam Gray won election to a U.S. House seat representing California on Wednesday, defeating Republican Rep. John Duarte. The race was a rematch of the 2022 midterm election, which was one of the closest House races in the country. Democrats bet on higher turnout in a presidential election year in this majority-Hispanic 13th Congressional District, which Democrat Joe Biden comfortably carried in 2020. The Associated Press declared Gray the winner at 12:51 a.m. EST.

Democrat Derek Tran won election to a U.S. House seat representing California on Wednesday, defeating Republican Rep. Michelle Steel. Tran, a U.S. Army veteran and the son of Vietnamese refugees, will represent the 45th District, anchored in Orange County, which is home to a large Vietnamese American community. Steel previously flipped this seat in 2020, two years after a Democrat captured the seat in the 2018 midterms. The Associated Press declared Tran the winner at 4:03 p.m. EST.

Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing Iowa on Wednesday. The second-term congresswoman faced an unexpectedly close primary challenge from an underfunded Republican challenger earlier this year, giving Democrats hope that former state legislator Christina Bohannan‚ who was also the nominee in 2022, might have more success in a rematch. The Associated Press declared Miller-Meeks the winner at 4:02 p.m. EST.

Republican Nick Begich won election to a U.S. House seat representing Alaska on Wednesday, defeating Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola and flipping a seat for the GOP. Begich, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, was among the opponents Peltola defeated in 2022. Peltola, who is Yup’ik, was the first Alaska Native in Congress. Earlier this year in the all-party primary, Begich split the Republican vote with Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom. However, Dahlstrom withdrew from the race, making Begich the only Republican on the four-candidate general election ballot. The Associated Press declared Begich the winner at 9:28 p.m. EST.

Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing Ohio on Wednesday. Kaptur, who was first sworn in to the House in 1983, is the longest-serving woman in congressional history. The Ohio Legislature under Republican control redrew the Toledo-based district’s boundaries in decennial redistricting to include more rural communities, turning it from a comfortable Democratic district to a district that sided with former President Donald Trump by about 3 percentage points in 2020. Kaptur defeated Republican Derek Merrin, a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. The Associated Press declared Kaptur the winner at 1:02 p.m. EST.

Democratic Rep. Jared Golden won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing Maine on Friday. Golden is one of just a handful of Democratic House members who represents a district that Republican Donald Trump carried in 2020, making his northern Maine seat a key target for Republicans. He faced Republican Austin Theriault, a former NASCAR driver who represents Fort Kent in the state House. The Associated Press declared Golden the winner at 8:50 p.m. EST.

Democratic Rep. Josh Harder won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing California on Friday, defeating Republican Kevin Lincoln. Harder, who had been a venture capitalist, was first elected in 2018, when he defeated a four-term GOP incumbent. Lincoln is the mayor of Stockton. Democrats have a voter registration advantage in the 9th Congressional District, which is in the Central Valley and was carried by President Joe Biden carried in 2020. The Associated Press declared Harder the winner at 7:40 p.m. EST.

Democrat Janelle Bynum won election to a U.S. House seat representing Oregon on Thursday, defeating Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer. The district, which includes the Portland suburbs and stretches through Bend, was a top target for Democrats hoping to recapture the House majority. Democrats lost this seat in 2022, when Jamie McLeod-Skinner defeated seven-term Democratic Rep. Kurt Schrader in the primary but lost the general election. The district took in parts of more conservative central Oregon after 2022 redistricting. Bynum represents Happy Valley and North Clackamas in the state Legislature. The Associated Press declared Bynum the winner at 12:47 p.m. EST.

The past two years of Republican House control were defined by infighting as hardline conservative factions sought to gain influence and power by openly defying their party leadership. While Johnson — at times with Trump’s help — largely tamed open rebellions against his leadership, the right wing of the party is ascendant and ambitious on the heels of Trump’s election victory.

The Republican majority also depends on a small group of lawmakers who won tough elections by running as moderates. It remains to be seen whether they will stay on board for some of the most extreme proposals championed by Trump and his allies.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, meanwhile, is trying to keep Democrats relevant to any legislation that passes Congress, an effort that will depend on Democratic leaders unifying over 200 members, even as the party undergoes a postmortem of their election losses.

When Trump was elected as president in 2016, Republicans also swept Congress, but he still encountered Republican leaders resistant to his policy ideas, as well as a Supreme Court with a liberal majority. Not this time.

When he returns to the White House, Trump will be working with a Republican Party that has been completely transformed by his “MAGA movement” and a Supreme Court dominated by conservative justices, including three that he appointed.

“Republicans in the House and Senate have a mandate,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier this week. “The American people want us to implement and deliver that ‘America First’ agenda.”

Republicans have won enough seats to control the U.S. House, completing the party’s sweep into power and securing their hold on U.S. government alongside President-elect Donald Trump.

A House Republican victory in Arizona, alongside a win in slow-counting California earlier Wednesday, gave the GOP the 218 House victories that make up the majority. Republicans earlier gained control of the Senate from Democrats.

With hard-fought yet thin majorities, Republican leaders are envisioning a mandate to upend the federal government and swiftly implement Trump’s vision for the country.

The incoming president has promised to carry out the country’s largest-ever deportation operation, extend tax breaks, punish his political enemies, seize control of the federal government’s most powerful tools and reshape the U.S. economy. The GOP election victories ensure that Congress will be onboard for that agenda, and Democrats will be almost powerless to check it.

Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing Arizona on Wednesday. The first-term Republican won a rematch against Democrat Kirsten Engel, whom Ciscomani narrowly defeated in the 2022 midterms. President Joe Biden carried this Tucson-based district by less than 1 percentage point in 2020. The Associated Press declared Ciscomani the winner at 10:27 p.m. EST.

Democrat Dave Min won election to a U.S. House seat representing California on Wednesday, holding a competitive district for House Democrats. Democratic Rep. Katie Porter left this Orange County seat open to run for U.S. Senate, backing Min to take her place. Min, a state senator, defeated Republican Scott Baugh, who came up short in the 2022 midterms against Porter. Min’s ads called Baugh an extremist who would endanger abortion rights. Republican ads, meanwhile, targeted Min for his support for criminal justice changes in California’s State Assembly. The Associated Press declared Min the winner at 8:19 p.m. EST.

Johnson said Gaetz has been concerned about the Justice Department and is “a reformer in his mind and heart, and I think that he’ll bring a lot to the table on that.”

Trump told Speaker Mike Johnson earlier today that he would be tapping Gaetz for his administration as attorney general, reducing Johnson’s slim majority even further.

Gaetz submitted his resignation from Congress, effective immediately, launching an eight-week clock to fill his seat Johnson said, possibly in time for the start of the new Congress on Jan. 3. It also ends a long-running ethics investigation into the Florida congressman.

Johnson framed the stunning move by Gaetz to resign early and before confirmation as a way to help the majority fill his vacancy much quicker than if he were to wait until his Senate confirmation as attorney general.

But the decision and timing he chose to immediately step down raise concerns about the impending, years-long ethics probe into the Florida Republican, which was expected by many, including Gaetz, to be wrapped up by the end of the year. By stepping down, the bipartisan panel no longer has jurisdiction over Gaetz, deeming the probe and the subsequent report effectively dead.

Election officials in Pennsylvania have said the race will proceed to a recount as required by law, since McCormick’s margin over Casey is less than 0.5 percentage points. McCormick’s lead has narrowed as expected as provisional ballots are counted, but it is still far larger than the margins in statewide elections that historically have been changed by a recount.

In picking Rep. Matt Gaetz as his nominee for attorney general, Trump is looking to install a fierce loyalist who has been seen as divisive even within his own party.

Not one of the top names seen as a likely pick for the job, Gaetz’s selection was first pushed out on Trump’s social media network instead of a more formal announcement from his transition team as with most of his choices.

Here are some things to know about Gaetz:

• He’s being investigated over allegations of sex trafficking
• He’s been loyal to Trump and echoed his attacks on the ‘deep state’
• He has roiled other Republicans
• He’s an attorney
• He may have a tough road to confirmation

▶ Read more about Matt Gaetz

While the president-elect has been busy filling out his incoming administration, there are still more appointments he needs to make.

Here are the Cabinet positions that Trump has yet to pick:

• Secretary of Treasury
• Secretary of the Interior
• Secretary of Agriculture
• Secretary of Labor
• Secretary of Health and Human Services
• Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
• Secretary of Transportation
• Secretary of Energy
• Secretary of Education
• Secretary of Veterans Affairs
• United States Trade Representative
• Secretary of the Council of Economic Advisers
• Administer of the Small Business Administration
• Director of the Office of Management and Budget
• Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy

In Southern California’s Orange County, Republican Scott Baugh conceded his race against Democrat Dave Min in a closely divided swing district, ending his bid to seize the seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Katie Porter.

The Associated Press has not yet declared a winner in that contest because thousands of ballots have not yet been counted.

In a post on the social media platform X Tuesday night, Baugh said that “despite running a strong campaign … that effort is going to come up a little short.”

The 47th District, southeast of Los Angeles, was a top target for national Republicans looking to protect and possibly expand the their narrow majority.

▶ Read more about the uncalled House races

Musk’s SpaceX holds billions of dollars in NASA contracts. He’s CEO of Tesla, an electric car business that benefits from government tax incentives and is subject to auto safety rules. His social media platform X, artificial intelligence startup xAI, brain implant maker Neuralink and tunnel-building Boring company all intersect with the federal government in various ways.

“There’s direct conflicts between his businesses and government’s interest,” said Ann Skeet, director of leadership ethics at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center. “He’s now in a position to try and curry favor for those enterprises.”

Musk has pumped an estimated $200 million through his political action committee to help elect Trump and has made himself a fixture at Mar-a-Lago since the presidential election.

▶ Read more about Musk’s potential conflicts of interest

Rep. Michael Guest, the GOP chair for the House Ethics Committee, told AP that Matt Gaetz’s nomination as attorney general does not change the panel’s ongoing probe into the congressman over alleged sex trafficking, sexual misconduct and drug use.

But if Gaetz is confirmed for the cabinet position, the committee will no longer have jurisdiction to continue its probe or release its report.

“Once we lose jurisdiction, there would not be a report that would be issued,” Guest said. “That’s not unique to this case, we have that every new Congress, where there are members who are under ethics investigation, who either choose not to run again, in some instances, or they resign or they lose reelection.”

He added, “We’re not going to rush this investigation because of the appointment. And so we’re going to again follow the rules and the procedures that we set in place.”

Gabbard is a veteran who served for more than two decades but doesn’t have the typical intelligence experience of past officeholders. She left the Democratic Party in 2022 and endorsed Trump earlier this year, becoming popular among his supporters.

Here are a few things to know about Gabbard:

• She was the first Hindu elected to Congress
• She ran for president — then left her party
• She’s a star in Trump world
• She’s a veteran, but not an intelligence insider
• She would oversee Trump’s possible intelligence overhaul

▶ Read more about Tulsi Gabbard

One of Gaetz’s allies in the House defended him as Trump’s pick, saying that his experience as a member of the House Judiciary Committee has prepared him for the role.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a fellow Florida Republican, told reporters Wednesday that Gaetz’s effort to remove former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and replace him with Mike Johnson shows his strategic skills.

“So a lot of people will try to brand him just as a firebrand but the fact is that there is a lot of strategy behind it,” Luna said.

Asked whether she thinks he can pass a rigorous Senate confirmation process, she added that many will try to “smear him,” referencing the federal sex-trafficking investigation, but “the evidence will speak for itself.”

At the State Department, at least some officials expressed cautious optimism about the Rubio nomination.

Three officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations with colleagues, said there was a sense that Rubio would be willing to work with and listen to career staff even if he might ultimately discard their advice.

And, one of them breathed a sigh of relief that Rubio was the least controversial pick announced by Trump.

In comparison to Gabbard, Gaetz and Hegseth, Rubio, a current senator who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is likely to have a relatively quick and easy confirmation hearing and vote with support from all of his GOP colleagues and at least some Democrats.

Four years ago, the Trump-appointed head of the GSA, Emily Murphy, determined that she had no legal standing to determine a winner in the presidential race because Trump was still challenging the results in court, claiming falsely that there was widespread voter fraud. That held up funding and cooperation for the transition.

It wasn’t until Trump’s efforts to subvert election results had collapsed across key states that Murphy agreed to formally “ ascertain a president-elect ” and begin the transition process. Trump eventually posted on social media that his administration would cooperate.

To prevent that kind of holdup in future transitions, the Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022 mandates that the transition process begin five days after the election — even if the winner is still in dispute. That is designed to avoid long delays and means that “an ‘affirmative ascertainment’ by the GSA is no longer a prerequisite for gaining transition support services,” according to agency guidelines on the new rules.

While Johnson has no serious challenger, he faces dissent within his ranks, particularly from hard-right conservatives and the Freedom Caucus withholding their votes as leverage to extract promises ahead.

Trump told House Republicans, during his first trip back to Washington since the party swept the 2024 election, that he’s with the speaker all the way, according to a person familiar with the remarks but unauthorized to discuss the private meeting near the Capitol.

Johnson heaped praise on Trump, calling him the “comeback king.”

It’s been a remarkable political journey for Johnson, the accidental speaker who rose as a last, best choice to replace ousted former speaker Kevin McCarthy more than a year ago and quickly set course by positioning himself alongside Trump and leading Republicans during the elections.

▶ Read more about Mike Johnson’s victory

President-elect Donald Trump has named Sen. Marco Rubio as his choice for secretary of state.

Here are five things to know about the Republican from Florida, now in his third U.S. Senate term:

• He is the son of Cuban immigrants
• He played college football and married a pro cheerleader
• He was almost Florida’s attorney general
• In 2016, Rubio ran for president — and tangled with Trump
• He often talks about foreign threats, especially from China

▶ Read more about Marco Rubio

“Everybody was saying, Oh my God,” said Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho.

The GOP lawmakers first thought it was a joke, but then saw the reports that it was true.

“That was about as big a surprise as I’ve had in a long time,” Simpson told AP.

“I have a really hard time believing he could get through the Senate confirmation process,” he said. Then added, “You never know.”

It was unclear if Gaetz was in the meeting.

While Gaetz’s nomination sent immediate reverberations around Capitol Hill, Republican senators were reluctant to immediately criticize the pick.

• Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the likely incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, refused to directly answer questions about Gaetz and stood silently for around a minute while he waited for a Senate subway train.
• Texas Sen. John Cornyn, another member of the Judiciary panel, said he didn’t know Gaetz “other than his public persona, so we’ll handle it like any other nomination.”
• Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, newly elected as the incoming No. 2 Senate Republican, said that Trump “is going to continue to make his appointments. We’re going to continue to look forward to them coming to the Senate and have hearings and get his cabinet confirmed as quickly as possible.” He would not comment on Gaetz specifically.
• Only North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, appeared to express doubts about the nomination, saying he will have “his work cut out for him” to win enough votes for confirmation.

While Engel conceded to Ciscomani on Wednesday, AP still assesses she has a narrow path to victory. It would require improving her performance to date in Pima County, the district’s Democratic stronghold. The path could close Wednesday night when election officials there and in neighboring Cochise County — a GOP-leaning county — are expected to report a fresh set of results.

AP called Calvert’s win over Rollins after revising down its turnout estimate based on information provided Wednesday afternoon by election officials in California. There were not enough votes left to count for Rollins to catch up. Calvert’s reelection to this district in Riverside County was the 217th for Republicans, leaving them one short of the majority needed to keep control of the House.

The Florida lawmaker was not one of the main names seen as a likely pick for the top law enforcement job. And Trump’s announcement was first pushed out on his social media network instead of a more formal announcement from his transition team, as most of his picks have been made.

His plane landed in West Palm Beach a short time ago.

During the flight home from Washington, the president-elect announced his picks for the posts of secretary of state, attorney general and director of national intelligence.

Republican Rep. Ken Calvert won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing California on Wednesday. Calvert faced a rematch against his 2022 Democratic opponent, Will Rollins, in a competitive district east of Los Angeles that Republican Donald Trump narrowly carried in 2020. Now elected to a 17th term, Calvert remains the longest-serving Republican in the California congressional delegation. The Associated Press declared Calvert the winner at 3:45 p.m. EST.

In selecting the congressman, Trump passed over some of the more established attorneys whose names had been mentioned as being contenders for the job.

“Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department,” Trump said in a statement.

Trump’s pick of Gaetz comes as the House Ethics Committee is still investigating allegations that he was part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl. The committee said its review now includes whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct. Gaetz has categorically denied all the allegations before the committee.

The Justice Department in 2023 ended a sex trafficking case against Gaetz with no charges against him.

Outgoing national security adviser Jake Sullivan doesn’t have the same worldview as Rep. Mike Waltz, the Florida congressman that Trump has tapped to take on the same role in the incoming administration. But Sullivan said he certainly respects him.

“He’s somebody that I have engaged with in the past,” Sullivan told reporters about Waltz. “I respect his service to this country in uniform. He’s put his life on the line. I respect his service in Congress. He and I obviously don’t see eye to eye on every issue, but I am very much looking forward to engaging him over these next 60 days.”

Trump is congratulating Thune on his election as Senate Majority Leader and says, “He moves quickly, and will do an outstanding job.”

Trump, in a post on his social media network, said he looks forward to working with Thune and other members of the Senate Republican leadership to “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Trump has chosen Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic member of Congress and presidential candidate, to serve as director of national intelligence, continuing to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities complimentary to his own, rather than long-term professionals in their requisite fields.

“As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties - She is now a proud Republican!” Trump said in a statement. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength. Tulsi will make us all proud!”

Gabbard would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor, Avril Haines who was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in top national security and intelligence positions.

Gabbard hasn’t worked directly in the intelligence community, though has served on House committees including two years on the Homeland Security Committee. Like others, she has been among Trump’s most popular political surrogates.