House Democrats Disappoint in the 2020 Election

In spite of rosy polling, Democrats lost a number of important House seats to a diverse crop of new Republicans.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaking with attendees at the 2019 California Democratic Party State Convention at the George R. Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California. June 1, 2019. (photo: Gage Skidmore)

After a tumultuous 2020 election season, Democrats are projected to keep their majority in the House of Representatives by a slim margin, while Republicans are generally favored to maintain their control of the Senate, by an even slimmer one.

The results are deeply disappointing to Democratic voters frustrated with polls that projected Democrats would gain seats in the House of Representatives while possibly flipping the Senate as well.

While Democrats have managed to keep their House majority, barely, they failed to protect some of their most vulnerable seats and Republicans had a number of big victories, flipping and winning many house seats.

As of this writing, Democrats currently have 218 seats to the Republicans’ 204. Republicans are currently leading in 8 of the remaining 13 races. Several of those Republicans are making history.

Republican Madison Cawthorn beat Democrat Moe Davis to represent North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District. At age 25, Cawthorn has become the youngest member of Congress in modern history. Cawthorn ran as a pro-gun and pro-faith candidate. His inspiration to run for office was because, “our faith, our freedoms and our values are under assault from coastal elites and leftists like (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.”

Republican Young Kim flipped a Democratic district in deep-blue California, unseating Rep. Gil Cisneros to represent California’s 39th Congressional District. Republican Michelle Park Steel beat Democrat Rep. Harley Rouda to represent Southern California’s 48th Congressional District. Both women are Korean-Americans, making American history as the first Korean-American women elected to the U.S. Congress.

Former GOP representative Yvette Harrell flipped a Democratic district, unseating Rep. Xochitl Torres Small to represent New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District. Herrell and Small are both Native American, but Harrell is the first Cherokee woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress.

Republican state senator Stephanie Bice beat Democrat Rep. Kendra Horn to represent Oklahoma’s 5th…