Republicans received a boost Friday as several closely contested midterm races were called in their favor.
As of Friday afternoon, The Associated Press had projected Democratic victories in 254 races and Republican wins in 162, up from 155 the previous afternoon. Nineteen House contests remained undecided.
The Republican candidates declared winners Friday included Rep. Jeff Hurd of Colorado, Mark Lamb of Arizona and Anthony Constantino in New York’s 21st Congressional District.
Constantino, who ran in the upstate district of retiring Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), had already claimed victory during his Election Night watch party.
Democrats held leads in roughly half of the remaining too-close-to-call House races, leaving open the possibility that they could add to their already substantial majority.
Republican incumbents still at risk of losing their seats include Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Brand Finstad (R-Minn.), Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) and Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.).
A lawyer for the Boebert campaign alleged “unusual voting patterns” late Thursday in the congresswoman’s race against Democrat Eileen Laubacher, saying he expected the contest to proceed to a recount.
“Since election night, ballot returns have been trending in Congresswoman Boebert’s direction, consistently lowering the margin under one percentage point,” Scott Gessler, a former Colorado secretary of state, said in a statement. “We are investigating some very unusual voting patterns and expect this election to head to a recount, one way or another.”
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Democrats have picked up at least 42 seats.
Two Senate races, in Alaska and Mississippi, remained uncalled.
Democrat Mary Peltola held a 0.3 percentage-point lead over incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska, a margin of roughly 600 votes, with 74% of ballots counted in the ranked-choice election.
In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom continued to lead Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 0.3 percentage points, or approximately 2,500 votes, with 97% of ballots counted.
“We are not backing down,” Hyde-Smith wrote defiantly on X Friday. “This election is not over. Our team is working across Mississippi to monitor the remaining ballots and protect the integrity of the process.”
“We will see this through to the very end!”
Democrats have so far secured a 54-44 majority in the Senate.