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Two weeks after Election Day, there are seven House races up in the air. Some are already headed to recounts, while votes are still being counted in others.
Democratic incumbents in two races have both declared victory, but their opponents have not yet conceded. If Democrats are not able to reverse the outcomes of the five races where Members trail, it would mean an overall net GOP gain of 65 seats. The contest in Illinois’ 8th district is the closest, with Rep. Melissa Bean trailing by roughly 347 votes. It’s already gotten messy between the two camps and doesn’t appear headed to an easy resolution anytime soon.
California 11th: 1,751 votes separating candidates
Sophomore Rep. Jerry McNerney claimed victory last week with an “insurmountable lead” of 1,681 votes. Thousands of votes have been counted since, and the Democrat’s lead over Republican David Harmer has grown to 1,751. However, thousands more votes are still uncounted. In San Joaquin County, one of four counties in the district, about 9,000 provisional ballots remain to be counted. More than 52 percent of the total vote comes from San Joaquin, where Registrar of Voters Austin Erdman said a final update likely will not come until just before Thanksgiving. Harmer holds a lead of more than 5,000 votes in that county, while McNerney leads in Alameda and Santa Clara counties. The two are split in Contra Costa County. Harmer, who held a lead on election night, has refused to concede.
California 20th: 1,107 votes separating candidates
Rep. Jim Costa declared victory last week after new vote tallies boosted his lead. So far, the Democratic lawmaker is the only one to say the race is over, but his lead of 1,107 votes will be difficult for Republican Andy Vidak to close. Kern County, one of three counties in the district, was expected to release an updated vote count late Monday. With Costa leading Vidak by about 20 points in Kern and Fresno counties combined, Democrats expected Costa’s lead to increase by today as absentee ballot counting is completed. Provisional ballots will be counted in the two counties, with updates coming Wednesday and Friday. If the race is not decided by then, Democrats in the state think it will be over by the middle of next week.
Illinois 8th: 347 votes separating candidates
Democratic Rep. Melissa Bean trails Republican challenger Joe Walsh by 347 votes. Counting was on hold while clerks in the district’s three counties waited for today’s deadline to receive absentee and military ballots. The Cook County clerk’s office said Friday that 209 ballots had been returned in the four townships that overlap with the Congressional district, but not all of those will count toward the House race because either the voters don’t live in the district or they chose not to vote in the race. After the county clerks have counted the last of the ballots, they have a few days to report their results to the state board, which must declare its results by Dec. 3. The losing candidate has until Dec. 8 to ask for a recount in up to a quarter of the precincts in each of the three counties.
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