Empire State Democrats appear set to reclaim three of the four seats in the House of Representatives they lost to the GOP last year, as national control of the chamber remains uncertain.
Election night saw Republicans take the Senate and the White House, but control of the House still hands in the balance — and the GOP may still win Congress even with the losses in New York.
Only Rockland County Rep. Mike Lawler held onto one of the four key seats on Tuesday, trouncing Democrat Mondaire Jones by a 51-44 margin, state board of elections returns show.
“What an absolute asskicking!” Lawler told supporters Tuesday night after walking in to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.” “Tonight the Hudson Valley told Mondaire Jones to ‘Beat It’!”
Otherwise Democrats John Mannion, Laura Gillen and Josh Riley are so far leading Republicans Brandon Williams, Anthony D’Esposito and Mark Molinaro, respectively.
As of Wednesday afternoon, D’Esposito and Molinaro had yet to concede.
“As it stands, we trail by 3,500 votes and there are over 12,000 absentee and affidavit ballots that have yet to be tallied,” Molinaro wrote on X.
“The ballots will decide the race and we have to be sure every legal vote is counted,” he said. ” Whatever the result ends up being, I will accept it and am beyond grateful to my family, friends and supporters.”
D’Esposito has also refused to concede, although Gillen declared victory.
The Associated Press has called all three of the flipped seats in the crucial four races — the 4th, 17th, 19th and 22nd congressional districts.
In another key New York race, Long Island Rep. Thom Suozzi, a Democrat, retained the seat vacated by controversial GOP pol George Santos, edging out Mike LiPetri.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, noted that Republican have been gaining ground in recent years in what has long been a deep blue state.
“There’s already been a trend toward being less blue in our state that did not start this year or even two years ago,” she said. “That’s just the reality. So we recognize that. We listen intensely to voters, and we have some work to do.
“We have to continue listening to our constituents, but more importantly, what I’m focused on right now is not the politics of the situation.”
Hochul was still holding out hope that Dems could take the House.
“The House Representatives is at least in striking distance of being a Democratic majority,” Hochul said. “Hakeem Jeffries as the speaker, because of the unprecedented efforts that we have put into bringing back the state party from the dead, personally committed resources, worked hard, went out to districts, weekend after weekend after weekend.”
Despite the uncertainty over control of the House, the Republican Party had a good night on Tuesday, wresting control of the Senate sending President-elect Donald Trump back to the White House.
The real estate mogul is projected to pick up 292 electoral votes to 224 for Vice President Kamala Harris.