Democrats appear to lose key House seats they won in 2018, fail to flip GOP targets

Democrats went into election night confident they would increase their majority in the House of Representatives — but they appear to have lost a number of key seats that were won in 2018 while failing to flip seats held by vulnerable Republicans.

House Democrats had hoped for an increase in seats, with a gain of just five seats or so making a “bad” night and a gain of 10 to 15 making a “good” night.

But so far, across the board, House Democrats have consistently failed to flip seats held by vulnerable Republicans, and repeatedly lost districts Democrats flipped from red to blue in 2018. They could also stand to lose seats in New York, Michigan and California.

They appear to have lost seats they picked up in Iowa, New Mexico, Florida and Oklahoma in 2018, while also losing a seat held by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., to Republican Michelle Fischbach.

This means that, at best for Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., holds a small majority. That could produce echoes of 2016 as some Democrats questioned Pelosi’s leadership and delayed leadership elections.

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