Democrats sweep last undecided House races

[TroyD]

Monday, November 19, 2012 17:53 EST

WASHINGTON — Democrats claimed victory Monday in the final undecided House races of the 2012 election, as President Barack Obama’s party picked up a total of eight seats to narrow the Republican majority.

Two closely watched races in California saw Republicans Dan Lungren and Brian Bilbray concede defeat to Democratic challengers at the weekend, while Arizona’s Ron Barber, an ex-aide to Democrat Gabrielle Giffords who resigned this year after being wounded in a shooting, claimed victory to hold his seat.

A handful of other races were too close to call more than a week after the November 6 vote but they eventually went to the Democratic candidates, pushing their tally to 201 seats, party officials told AFP.

Republicans will still retain control of the House of Representatives, beginning the 113th Congress in January with 234 seats.

“It was beyond our expectations,” Jesse Ferguson of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said of the elections.

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More:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/19/democrats-sweep-last-undecided-house-races/

[craigmatic]

1. That's not true Pelosi said she expected to win back the house.

[rachel1]

2. Now how about a clean Democratic sweep in November 2014?

[ProudProgressiveNow]

3. K&R nt

[DCBob]

4. All things considered this election went very well for us Democrats.

The only downside was not winning back the House but that was a very long shot.

[Ken Burch]

5. So, in 2014, a swing of 17 seats would bring down the Boehnerhaus.

It would be good to take at least 5 to 10 more, though, to prevent the 'Pugs from bribing some Blue Dogs to cross over to them and give them a false majority.

[LukeFL]

7. Do we know which races will be more likely

To win fir 2014? We should have a list so we can begin organizing for the possibility.
We should use Obamas ground game. And the GOTV efforts.

[Ken Burch]

8. You'd have to look at the 2012 races to find the closest contests that we lost.

Then, you'd also have to take into consideration declines in personal popularity by Republiban incumbents that occurred between now and 2014.

Candidate recruitment and re-recruitment(in cases of close losses this time where the Dem might be persuaded to give it another go)will also be crucial.

[davidpdx]

10. The other unknown will be retirements

It is possible many won't announce until the close to the election.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

11. In the meantime, is there a list of 17 Republicans that are likely to caucus with us? nt

[Ken Burch]

13. I don't think there's any such thing as a moderate Repub anymore.

You might get some right-wingers who are too egotistical to follow El llorón any longer...but that's a long shot and they'd have to be willing to commit political suicide to do it.

[Change has come]

6. K & R

[Cha]

9. Money Quotes... Thanks TroyD

Unofficial results had Murphy ahead by some 1,900 votes, and local media reported that lead increasing by 242 votes after the partial recount.

The missed deadline will lead to certification of the unofficial results on Tuesday, barring an unlikely emergency exemption granted by the state.

Murphy declared victory and attended freshman House orientation on Capitol Hill last week.

I'm not as optimistic as they are.. but, I love being Wrong on things like this!

[mojitojoe]

12. West conceded this morning...

...so add another one to the Democrat column.

[Ken Burch]

14. Does that make it 232-203? n/t.