During an election cycle in which Republicans were ready to ride a “red wave” to victory, several close races for the Senate, House, and statewide office were part of their midterm momentum stalling out on Election Day.
Midterm elections typically favor the president’s opposing party, yet this year, Democrats outperformed expectations.
Despite bruising defeats in some races, Republicans managed to pick up enough seats to clinch control of the House. In the end, Democrats kept control of the upper chamber of Congress.
The votes dragged on for days in some races, and many were a lot closer than many may believe. The Cook Political Report reported that 107,381,703 people voted in this year’s House contests. In the five closest races, Republican candidates beat their Democratic opponents by a combined 6,670 votes.
Here’s a look at the five closest House races in 2022.
COLORADO’S 3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert thought she would cruise to an easy win in November, but the voters in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District had other ideas.
The bombastic congresswoman’s race against Adam Frisch, a former Aspen city councilman, was so close that the results rocked the state’s political world. The 3rd District is one of the reddest in Colorado, and few believed Frisch had a shot.
When he conceded, he was only behind by 551 votes.
Under Colorado law, a mandatory recount is triggered when the total number of votes separating the candidates is less than 0.5%.
Two days after conceding, Frisch told the Colorado Sun that he had gotten calls after the election from Democratic-aligned groups.
“It’s never fun to have phone calls returned nine months later,” he said. “The amount of phone calls that came in on [the day after the election] … people in DC are very, very aware of how well of a race we ran, the team we had, and they are very, very aware of how they did not do anything for us. If we were to run again, I’m pretty darn certain and pretty darn confident that would change dramatically.”
CALIFORNIA’S 13TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
California farmer John Duarte beat Democratic Assemblyman Adam Gray in a nail-biter contest in which the candidates were separated by about 660 votes.
No incumbent chose to run in the open Central Valley congressional district that had been redrawn to give Democrats the edge. Low voter turnout among Democrats and Latino voters, which make up a little more than half of the population eligible to vote, added to the unpredictability of the race.
Gray pitched himself as a “radical centrist” who would work with Republicans if elected.
Duarte, a fourth-generation farmer who grows grapes, almonds, and pistachios, got the attention of conservatives when he fought the federal government after it claimed he violated the Clean Water Act by destroying wetlands to plant wheat. A judge ruled against him, and Duarte ended up paying $1.1 million to the government.
The race, unlike most across the country, remained cordial throughout.
The candidates were split on the abortion issue, with Duarte pledging “to vote against any effort to nationalize abortion law,” while Gray said he would support letting voters decide on whether to codify further California’s already liberal policies on reproductive rights.
MICHIGAN’S 10TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Michigan Republican John James defeated Democratic rival Carl Marlinga by 1,600 votes out of 326,000 ballots cast to become the state’s first black Republican elected to Congress.
Marlinga told the Detroit Free Press that even though he was trailing 48.3% to James’s 48.8%, he did not see a path forward and would not ask for a recount.
“I’ve been doing politics too long,” he said. “Recounts are usually just a lot of puffery unless they’re linked to [some allegation] at a specific polling location or something.”
James, who had run and lost twice for a U.S. Senate seat, is an Army veteran who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from West Point in 2004. He also has a master’s degree in supply chain management from Pennsylvania State University and another master’s in business administration from the University of Michigan.
“It feels great,” he said on WWJ 950 NewsRadio following his win. “There have been a lot of folks that have been working hard for a long time.”
Republicans forked over the funds needed for James to win, while Democrats did little, if anything, to support Marlinga.
“James was a strong candidate for Republicans, and Marlinga a weak one for Democrats,” Jacob Rubashkin of Inside Elections said. “That helped James outrun the statewide GOP candidates on the ballot, all of whom lost the district, but wasn’t enough to ensure a comfortable win.”
NEW YORK’S 17TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the leader of the Democratic Party’s House campaign arm, was ousted by Republican Assemblyman Mike Lawler in November.
The candidates were separated by just 1,787 votes.
“Sean Patrick Maloney is the highest-ranking Democrat in a competitive race,” Lawler told the New York Times ahead of the election, adding that a GOP win would send a message nationwide that “one-party rule does not work.”
The result of the race was a blow to Maloney, who became the first DCCC chairman to lose reelection to his House seat since 1980. Maloney spent much of his time trying to help vulnerable Democrats hold on to their seats while losing his in a district where President Joe Biden won by 10 percentage points.
Maloney’s loss was one of a handful of key GOP House pickups in New York that helped Republicans win control of the lower chamber.
On Dec. 20., incoming House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries tapped Democratic Rep. Suzan DelBene to lead the DCCC.
IOWA’S 3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne lost her reelection race to GOP House nominee Zach Nunn in a close contest in which only 2,145 votes separated the candidates.
Axne had been representing the Iowa district since 2019. Her loss leaves Democrats without a single representative in Iowa’s federal delegation.
“Representing Iowa’s Third Congressional District has been one of the best opportunities of my life and I hope Zach Nunn understands the responsibility of this office and will continue my hard work to uplift Iowans’ voices in Washington, D.C.,” she said in a statement.
The Axne-Nunn matchup was considered one of the most competitive of the election season in Iowa. Multiple Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa polls found voters evenly split between Democrats and Republicans.
Nunn, a state senator, centered his campaign on the economy and tied Axne to unpopular Biden policies every chance he got. Axne campaigned on abortion rights and the infrastructure bill.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
As a whole, Democrats had an abysmal midterm elect
ion season in the Hawkeye State, losing all but one statewide race.
