Eight U.S. House races have not been officially called almost a month after election day. As of Nov. 25 in seven of the remaining races, Republican candidates were leading their Democrat opponents while the New York Supreme Court issued an injunction on Tuesday blocking certification of the eighth.
Currently, there are 223 Democrat and 204 Republican House races that have been officially called out of the total 435 House seats, with the remaining to most likely be called for Republicans, pending last-minute mail-in ballot counting and verification.
In California’s 21st District, where close to all of the votes were reported, David Valadao leads his opponent, incumbent Rep. TJ Cox (D) 50.5 percent to 49.5 percent. Although the race has not been officially called, Valadao put out a statement claiming victory.
“I’m once again overwhelmed by the Central Valley’s support and faith in me. To everyone who fueled this campaign putting in long hours making phone calls, knocking on doors, and believing in this cause—thank you! I could not have done it without you. I commend TJ Cox for running a strong campaign and thank him for his service in Congress.”
According to the California Secretary of State, Valadao has a 1,820-vote lead over Cox. Fresno’s County Registrar said she expects to be done with vote counts and to certify the race by Friday, pending a count of ballots with signature issues.
In California’s 25th District, where over 95 percent of votes were tallied, incumbent Mike Garcia (R) has a less-than 1 percent lead over Democrat Christy Smith, with 50.06 to 49.94 percent.
Republican Garcia claimed victory earlier this month, which his opponent said was disrespectful to the voters.
Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.) arrives for a ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol on May 19, 2020, in Washington. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
In Iowa’s 2nd District where over 85 percent of votes have been counted, the race is neck and neck, showing Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks with 196,880 votes and Democrat Rita Hart with 196,841 votes.
“The reality that this is going to a (legal) contest, I believe, is, you know, 95 [percent] probability. They’re going to be within 50 votes of each other,” Scott County Auditor Roxanna Mortiz said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, New York State still has a number of races it needs to certify and the reason many of the races have not been officially called is because of the all-time high numbers of mail-in ballots that have yet to be tabulated. In most cases, Democrats receive a greater number of votes from those ballots.
According to New York State’s Board of Elections, all of their 62 counties have no universal date for beginning the counting of absentee ballots, though each county must report its election results by Nov. 28.
Officials from the New York City Board of Elections testify in front of the City Council Wednesday regarding new election night counting procedures. (William Alatriste/New York City Council)
In New York’s 1st district, incumbent Republican Lee Zeldin is leading opponent Nancy Goroff with 61.3 percent of the votes.
Zeldin declared victory on Nov. 3 and said: “What our country needs to do now is to come together when the election is over and work with each other. We are Americans first. We are not gathering here as Republicans first or Democrats first. We are Long Islanders, New Yorkers. We love our flag, our freedom ... our law enforcement, our Constitution. It’s about all of us coming together because we are one nation.”
In New York’s 2nd District, where 84 percent of votes were reported, Republican Andrew Garbarino leads with 56.4 percent of the votes counted. His opponent, Democrat Jackie Gordon, has 42.6 percent of the votes with some absentee ballots remaining to be counted.
Gordon conceded the race according to a statement posted on Twitter. “While the gap has continued to narrow dramatically to single digits, it has become apparent that we did not achieve the number of votes needed to win this race,“ she wrote. ”I have called Mr. Garbarino and congratulated him on his victory.”
In New York’s 11th swing district that covers Staten Island and South Brooklyn, the totals show Republican Nicole Malliotakis leads with 57.9 against her opponent Max Rose Democrat incumbent who has 42.1 percent of votes.
Max Rose conceded to Malliotakis on Nov. 12.
“As we continue to count every ballot and are on track to dramatically narrow the gap by tens of thousands of votes to a 4–5% margin, it is now clear to me that we will fall short of 50.1%. I have called to congratulate [Malliotakis] on her win and concede the #NY11 race,” Rose wrote on Twitter.
In New York’s 22nd District, Republican Claudia Tenney previously cited recently changed election laws and alleged voter fraud with mail-in ballots in her contest with Democrat incumbent Anthony Brindisi. The New York Post reported that Tenney led Brindisi by about 100 votes before New York State Supreme Court issued an injunction on Nov. 24 to block the certification of results.
In New York’s 24th District, Republican incumbent John Katko leads 57.4 percent to Democrat Dana Balter’s 38.9 percent. Balter conceded to Katko on Nov. 13.
Masooma Haq began reporting for The Epoch Times from Pakistan in 2008. She currently covers a variety of topics including U.S. government, culture, and entertainment.
