Democrats have flipped six more seats in the US House of Representatives, increasing their lead over Republicans to 253 to 157. According to The Guardian, 25 races remain to be called.
Among the new flips is New York's 17th congressional district, where Democrat Cait Conley defeated Republican Representative Mike Lawler, flipping the seat in the Hudson Valley. In New Jersey's second congressional district, Cape May mayor Zack Mullock, a Democrat, defeated Republican Jeff Van Drew, who had held the office for four terms. Van Drew was first elected as a Democrat in 2018 and switched parties after voting against the first impeachment of Donald Trump in 2019.
In Colorado's fifth congressional district, Democrat Jessica Killin, a former army captain, defeated first-term Republican Representative Jeff Crank. Crank was criticised by Virginia Giuffre's relatives for refusing to meet with them. In North Carolina's ninth congressional district, Democrat Richard Ojeda defeated two-term Republican Representative Richard Hudson in a district that had been red for the past 14 years. Democrats further widened their lead in the House by flipping seats in Ohio, Arizona and North Carolina.
Republicans held onto two House seats in the western United States on Thursday. In Utah's fourth congressional district, Republican Representative Mike Kennedy was re-elected for a second term, defeating Democrat Jonny Larsen. In Washington's fourth congressional district, Republican Amanda McKinney defeated Democrat John Duresky in a race for the seat of retiring Republican Representative Dan Newhouse.
Attention is also drawn to the Senate race in Mississippi, which has become one of the most closely watched in these elections. Republican Representative Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democratic challenger Scott Colom share an extremely narrow margin. Colom told NBC News that his party had almost abandoned Mississippi before his campaign. He highlighted that he has lived in Mississippi for 15 years and that 38 per cent of the population is African American, who vote 90 to 95 per cent Democratic. His campaign received very little help from the national party, and he launched a series of viral ads. One ad, published in mid-October, gathered more than 20 million views on social media. The ad relies on a statement by Cindy Hyde-Smith, who attempted to avoid a question from a television host about the high price of beef by saying: 'You have so much protein to choose from'. The ad then shows three voters from Mississippi responding to the senator. According to Colom, the idea for the ad came from Patrick Gaspard, a former US ambassador to South Africa and advisor to President Barack Obama.
Senator Ted Cruz called the elections a 'repudiation on the scale of Watergate'.
