WHAT HAPPENED: Ten days after Election Day, a small number of congressional races still have no projected winner. Ballot counting continues, and some districts are getting ready for possible recounts. NBC News’ Decision Desk hasn’t yet projected winners in 11 House districts, while other tallies put the count at about a dozen. The Associated Press does not call races until there is absolutely no scenario in which a losing candidate could win.
THE REMAINING RACES: In the Senate, Alaska is the only race still open after the AP called Mississippi for Democrat Scott Colom. In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola leads Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in first-choice votes. Tens of thousands of early and absentee ballots have yet to be counted, and a winner may not be known until Nov. 18.
In the House, the uncalled races include several Republican-held seats in districts the GOP usually wins easily:
- North Carolina: Four races remain undecided, the most of any state, and Republican incumbents were being challenged in each one. They are the 3rd (Greg Murphy), 5th (Virginia Foxx), 7th (David Rouzer), and 10th (Pat Harrigan) districts. While Rep. Murphy’s race has not yet been called, he has publicly conceded to Democrat Jake Johnson. Rep. Foxx currently trails in her race with over 99% of votes counted, while Rouzer and Harrigan lead with over 95% of votes counted.
- Colorado’s 4th: Incumbent Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert is trailing her Democratic challenger, Eileen Laubacher.
- Tennessee’s 4th: Democratic challenger Victoria Broderick was leading Republican Rep. Scott DesJarlais by just 280 votes with 99% of the votes counted.
- Minnesota’s 1st: About 300 votes separated the top two candidates with an estimated 99 percent of votes counted, with Republican Rep. Brad Finstad narrowly behind Democrat Jake Johnson.
- New York’s 1st and 2nd: Both Long Island districts remain uncalled. Reps. Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino lead.
- Alaska At-Large: Incumbent Nick Begich (R) leads the four-person field. If no candidate gets a majority, a ranked-choice tabulation will take place on November 18.
- California’s 4th: Democrats are guaranteed to keep the seat; whether incumbent Mike Thompson keeps his job remains to be decided.
- Louisiana’s 5th and 6th districts are also uncalled, and both will go to a runoff. 27
WHAT’S NEXT: Decision Desk HQ forecasts that Democrats will hold their biggest majority since the 1990s — at least 259 seats. Nov. 18 is the next key date. Alaska will run its ranked-choice tabulation for both the Senate race and its at-large House seat if no candidate tops 50% of first-choice votes. The same day, House Democrats begin their leadership elections. In North Carolina, there are no automatic recounts, but candidates may request a recount if the margin between candidates is one percent or less of the total votes. Louisiana’s two House races are headed to runoffs.
