Dems fall short of their goal of expanding House majority

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HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: “We have held the House, and after all the votes are counted we will see how much better we will do than that.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on election night not only predicted Democrats would hold on to their majority in the chamber, but would tighten their grip by flipping a handful of Republican seats seen as potentially vulnerable.

But on Wednesday the party appears to have fallen way short of its goal – its lead in the House slipping after Democrats not only failed to make inroads in some conservative strongholds, but also lost key incumbent races they had viewed as likely shoe-ins.

A notable upset - that of Democrat Donna Shalala in South Florida, a prominent party member who served as health and human services director under President Bill Clinton. Shalala lost Cuban-American Maria Elvira Salazar, who was backed by President Trump, and who she beat in 2018.

Another key loss - that of longtime Representative Collin Peterson in Minnesota, one of only two House Democrats who opposed both articles of impeachment against Trump in 2019.

And in Georgia, Republican small business owner Marjorie Taylor Greene – who has expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory - won a seat after her Democratic opponent dropped out.

REPRESENTATIVE ILHAN OMAR: "Tonight's results are an affirmation of our people-centered agenda...."

But some of the Democratic party’s popular progressives prevailed – including Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, a frequent target of Trump’s and one of the often called “Squad”, all of whom won re-election. The three others being Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

“AOC”, as she’s commonly known, had been the youngest person in modern history to win a Congressional seat at age 29.

That distinction now goes to 25-year-old Republican Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, who won the seat left vacant by White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Cawthorn – who was partially paralyzed in a 2014 car accident – is a staunch anti-abortion, pro-gun conservative who shot to stardom after appearing at the Republican National Convention in August.