Democrats entered Tuesday night with the expectation of a House majority, but with questions lingering about how much buffer Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) might have with an incoming group of socialist-aligned candidates.
They answered that question decisively, with Democrats en route to a significant House majority and control of the Senate to boot.
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House Democratic leadership declared victory before midnight Tuesday, putting the finishing touches on what shaped up to be a historic night for Democrats.
Democrats are celebrating their victories in competitive races, as well as races not on the radar, and not a single incumbent has lost reelection as of midnight. They won in districts they didn’t spend in and in states they’ve been historically uncompetitive. Democrats will control both chambers of Congress for the last two years of President Donald Trump’s term.
“The American people have spoken and made clear they’ve had enough of the extremism, enough of the corruption,” Jeffries said at a press conference Tuesday night. “They want a Congress that’s going to deliver for the American people, and that is exactly what House Democrats will do as soon as we get into office in January. We understand, as House Democrats, that life is way too expensive in this great country of ours.”
Jeffries was introduced as “Speaker Jeffries,” and those at his election night watch party roared when he took the stage, hours after the drinks flowed from the open bar amid an energetic crowd of activists and staff.
“Hakeem Jeffries is the right person in this moment, and he is the right leader and we are going to be so very proud in just a few weeks, when we get to say ‘Hakeem Jeffries is the Speaker of the House,’” said House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA).
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Democrats’ declaration of victory came after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) addressed the results at his watch party in his home state of Lousiana.
“From the first day of this election, we knew that to keep the House and sustain our majority, we would have to defy more than a century of midterm history,” said Johnson. “It’s only happened twice in 90 years that a sitting president has picked up or held seats for his party in that first two-year cycle. There’s a lot of reasons for it. It’s very, very difficult to overcome, and it looks like history will be kept.”