House GOP majority at 220—result in California's 13th district still unknown

The last House seat in Congress yet to be called in the 2024 election is California's 13th district, where the margins are as tight as can be over three weeks out from Election Day. The Republican Party has taken the majority of the House, Senate, and the presidency going into the New Year, with trifecta control of the US government.

However, the last seat with determine the exact size of the lead Republicans have in the House and will sit at either 220-215 or 221-214. As of Saturday, 220 Republicans have won their seat, and 214 Democrats have won theirs. With 99 percent of the vote tallied in the last race, per CBS News, Democrat Adam Gray leads incumbent Rep. John Duarte by a mere 182 votes as of November 27. The AP still holds the race as a toss-up between the two contenders with Gray having 104,991 votes to Duarte's 104,801.



In the House, it takes 218 votes in favor of a bill to move it along to the Senate, where it is then put under more consideration. With the slim majority of 220 in the House, only three Republicans would need to peel off on a party-line vote in order to upend efforts pushed by the GOP. With four votes needing to be peeled off, the process to pass legislation becomes slightly easier for the Republican majority, but not by a huge margin.

The House can usually pass legislation through with a simple majority, unlike the Senate in which 60 votes are needed to end senators' attempts to stop legislation going through with the filibuster.

Gray served as a California Assemblymember for five terms between 2012 and 2022, per the Turlock Journal. Duarte is finishing up his freshman year in Congress and beat Gray out last time with 564 votes, one of the closest races of 2022.

“Once all the votes are counted and the election is certified, if I do not prevail, I will concede," Duarte told reporters about the race. Gray commented on Wednesday when an update showed him taking a small lead, saying, “While this race is still too close to call, I’m am hopeful for our chances following tonight’s ballot-count update."