The 2022 midterms were not a "wave" election, and it was clear by election night that Democrats were showing unexpected resilience in what had been forecast to be a very good year for Republicans. Republicans did seize some House seats from Democrats, and the GOP is "slowly amassing some of the five seats needed to reach a 218-seat House majority," The Associated Press reports. But Democrats flipped some GOP-held seats as well — notably in the Pennsylvania Senate race. Here are some of the biggest House flips of the election, so far.
Virginia Congressional District 2: Election watchers realized a "red wave" wasn't coming when Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) beat GOP challenger Yesli Vega in Virginia's 7th Congressional District, which Republicans had hoped to flip. But in Virginia's 2nd District, Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), a House Jan. 6 committee member, lost her reelection bid to state Sen. Jen Kiggans (R).
Ohio CD 1: Rep. Steve Chabot (R), who has been in Congress for 26 years, lost to Democratic Cincinnati City Councilman Greg Landsman. Chabot lost his seat in 2008 but won it back two years later.
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Michigan CD 3: Democrat Hillary Scholten beat Republican John Gibbs in the Michigan swing district where Gibbs had defeated Rep. Peter Meijer (R) in the GOP primary. Scholten had lost to Meijer in 2020, but Meijer's vote to impeach former President Donald Trump in early 2021 fed his primary defeat.
Florida CD 13: Republican conservative activist Anna Luna beat Democrat Eric Lynn in the St. Petersburg-area seat vacated by Democrat Charlie Crist when he ran for governor. Crist lost to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
North Carolina CD 13: Democratic state Sen. Wiley Nickel defeated Republican Bo Hines, a 27-year-old former football star, in a newly drawn district vacated by Rep. Ted Budd when he ran for Senate. Budd won his Senate race.
Texas CD 15 and 34: Republican Monica De La Cruz flipped Texas' 15th District, long held by Democrats but redrawn to lean Republican. The seat was open as Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) decided to run in the neighboring 34th District, which he won, defeating Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Texas), the winner of a special election over the summer.
Republicans, aided by aggressive gerrymandering, are favored to win the House. "When you wake up tomorrow, we will be in the majority and Nancy Pelosi will be in the minority," House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said early Wednesday. House Speaker Pelosi (D-Calif.) said soon afterward that "it is clear that House Democratic members and candidates are strongly outperforming expectations across the country."
