The GOP's wait for a U.S. House majority dragged into a second week, as the amount of votes still to be counted after Tuesday in California and elsewhere kept The Associated Press from calling the final seat Republicans need for control.
A week after polls closed in the 2022 midterm elections, the AP had called 217 seats in the House for Republicans 鈥� one seat short of the needed 218 鈥� to 209 for Democrats, who have held the House since 2018.
Republicans have been inching closer to seizing the House since voting closed Nov. 8 but weren't there yet. California alone has seven races remain to be called, and vote counting continues elsewhere.
After a review of vote count updates in several counties in California and Colorado, the AP concluded it was not possible to call another U.S. House race for a Republican candidate Tuesday night without more votes being released.
The AP made House race calls for several Democrats on Tuesday, although not enough for that party to secure control of the chamber, either.
was settled Saturday when , but the U.S. House majority is still in question.
WHY HASN鈥橳 THE AP CALLED CONTROL OF THE HOUSE YET?
It鈥檚 simple: Neither party has yet reached the required 218 seats.
The AP has declared winners in most contests, but a handful are outstanding.
The AP does not make projections and when it鈥檚 determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. In some contested races where a party or candidate has a history of consistent and convincing wins, The AP can use results from 鈥� a survey of American voters aimed at determining why they voted how they did 鈥� to confirm a candidate鈥檚 victory, even . But some races, as it is again this year, can .
WHAT STATES ARE STILL COUNTING VOTES?
California, the country鈥檚 most populous state, has seven undetermined contests, with one of them guaranteed to go to one of the two Democrats running against each other in that district.
In Alaska, where incumbent Democrat Mary to fill an open House seat held for decades by Republicans, a second round of vote tabulating could take place.
That鈥檚 because Alaska has in which voters rank candidates. If no one gets more than half of the votes cast on or before Nov. 8, the person with the fewest votes gets eliminated and voters鈥� choices count toward their second pick. The rounds continue until two candidates are left and the one with the most votes wins.
Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich in a race too early to call.
There鈥檚 also a close race in Maine 鈥� headed for a ranked choice finish, like the one in Alaska 鈥� and .
WHAT OTHER CHALLENGES ARE THERE?
In 2020, former President Donald Trump challenged outcomes of the vote for president in states across the country. Those , though Trump continued to insist falsely that the race was stolen.
So far, nothing like those kinds of objections has materialized.
___
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
___
Check out to learn more about the issues and factors at play in the 2022 midterm elections.
Follow AP鈥檚 coverage of the 2022 midterm elections at:
Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press
