More than a week after Election Day, last night House Republicans reached the 218 seats needed to control the chamber next Congress.

There are still seven uncalled House races as of this writing. What is clear is that the Republicans will have a narrow majority of fewer than 10 seats. A narrow majority can make governing the House complicated, a struggle we have witnessed throughout the current Congress for House Democratic leadership. The expected House GOP leadership of the 118^th Congress may have to manage a comparable narrow majority for the next two years.

On the Senate side, initially there were four races too close to call; there is now only one. Of those four races, Wisconsin stayed Republican, while the Democratic candidates in Arizona and Nevada won their respective races. The race in Georgia has gone to a runoff between sitting Senator Raphael Warnock (D) and challenger Herschel Walker (R) because neither candidate reached 50% of the vote. Under Georgia state law, when that happens, the top two candidates face off in a runoff, which will be held on December 6^th, 2022. Regardless of the outcome of that race, Democrats will retain control of the chamber because even if Walker wins the runoff in December the Senate will remain 50-50 as it currently stands. Since Vice President Kamala Harris breaks ties in the Senate, that would give the Democrats the majority again.

The new 118^th Congress begins on January 3^rd, 2023, and PIA stands ready to advocate on behalf of independent agents when it convenes.