House Democrats are expected to retain a majority of US House seats in 2021, but with a smaller margin. The leader of the House Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said on Wednesday the election was “challenging” in a letter to colleagues.
As of Wednesday evening, House Republicans have netted five seats by flipping seven Democratic seats. Democrats flipped two previously held Republican seats.
All seven of the House Democrats that lost were representatives who only served one term in Congress. The seven freshmen members of Congress ushered in a “Blue Wave” in 2018, which gave Democrats the majority in the House for the first time in eight years.
The 2018 Blue Wave also returned Pelosi to the speaker’s chair, where it appears she’ll remain in 2021 and 2022.
“Though it was a challenging election, all of our candidates – both Frontline and Red to Blue – made us proud,” Pelosi wrote to colleagues. “Their drumbeat For The People enabled Democrats to Hold The House and flipped critical battleground states, building our margins across the board. Our discipline in building a massive battlefield proved essential in keeping the Majority. Our success enabled us to win in our ‘mobilization, messaging and money,’ forcing Republicans to defend their own territory.”
Despite not winning a majority of seats, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy celebrated Republicans regaining seats in the House.
“We expanded this party that reflects America, that looks like America. And thanks,” McCarthy said. “I think the rejection that we saw last night from the Democrats was that America does not want to be a socialist nation. I think the other rejection that we saw, we watched the Democrats promise if they would be given the power to have the majority, that they would act different, that they would solve problems and they wasted their majority.”