Democrats have locked up the Senate and gained dozens of House seats in the midterms, but two Senate contests and more than two dozen House races still have no projected winner, leaving the size of the new majorities unsettled.
Democrats will start next year with no fewer than 54 Senate seats, against 44 for Republicans. The two open Senate questions are in Alaska and Mississippi.
In Alaska, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola are separated by a sliver, in a race jolted late by a controversy over how a second man named Dan Sullivan ended up on the ballot. Uncounted ballots and the state's ranked choice system could stretch the process, with final results not expected until 15 days after Election Day. Each campaign says it is ahead.
Mississippi was a surprise. Few expected GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith to face a close fight from Democrat Scott Colom, yet thousands of mail ballots are still out, and state officials say those may lawfully arrive as late as five days after the election. An unknown number of affidavit ballots, which require eligibility checks, also remain. Both candidates have forecast a win.
On the House side, Republicans see one of their best pickup chances in Maine's 2nd District, opened when Democratic Rep. Jared Golden chose not to run again. Democrat Matt Dunlap has conceded to former Gov. Paul LePage, but because LePage fell just short of 50%, Maine officials say a ranked-choice tabulation will begin Nov. 9.
In Florida's 9th District, Democratic Rep. Darren Soto is fending off Republican Dan Green. Florida Republicans redrew four districts to lean further right before the midterms, and this is the lone one of the four still lacking a projected Democratic victory.
Louisiana's 6th District, once a blue-leaning, majority-Black seat, became far more Republican after the Supreme Court threw out the state's maps for relying too heavily on race. No candidate is near a majority under Louisiana's jungle primary, so the seat could be decided in a runoff next month.
Republican seats in play
Democrats are still hoping to flip several uncalled Republican seats. Rep. Lauren Boebert faces Democrat Eileen Laubacher in Colorado's 4th District, and Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, who warned this year that President Trump's immigration policies could alienate Latino voters, is battling Democrat Eliott Rodriguez in Florida's 27th. A string of North Carolina districts, including those held by Reps. Greg Murphy and Virginia Foxx, also remain open.
In Minnesota's 1st District, Republican Rep. Brad Finstad, who won by 17.2 points in 2024, is in a tight contest with Democrat Jake Johnson. State law lets a candidate trailing by under 0.25 points ask for a recount.
Longer counts ahead
Some outcomes will take weeks. Louisiana's deeply conservative 5th District, which Rep. Julia Letlow is leaving after winning a Senate seat this week, is headed to a December runoff between Democrat Patricia Moore and Republican Gabe Firment.
Several California contests pit candidates of the same party against each other and will not change the balance of power. Democrats Scott Wiener and Connie Chan are vying for the San Francisco seat retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi held for years, while redistricting forced Republican Reps. Ken Calvert and Young Kim into a head-to-head race in the 40th District.
Alaska's at-large House seat could also need extra ranked-choice rounds, as Republican Rep. Nick Begich faces Bill Hill, an independent backed by Democrats, and other candidates.
