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Inside Politics

GOP projected to retain control of House

Republicans seem likely to add to lead they won in 1994


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Republicans will retain control of the House of Representatives.

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U.S. House of Representatives

(CNN) -- The Republican Party is projected to retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives, marking the sixth consecutive term in which it has held the majority.

Republicans gained control of the House in 1994. Before that election, they had not been the majority party in the House since the Eisenhower landslide of 1952.

Nearly all incumbents were projected to win re-election, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois; Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California; and former Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.

As of 1:51 a.m. ET, Republicans were projected to win at least 225 seats and the Democrats were projected to win at least 196. The lone independent, Rep. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, was projected to retain his seat.

All 435 House seats were up for grabs this election, including 36 open seats.

Nineteen of the open seats are held by Republicans, 14 by Democrats, and three are new seats were created by redistricting in Texas.

A 12-seat Democratic gain would have put the House at an even 217-217 partisan split, but Sanders votes with Democrats, which would have given them the edge.

Republicans are projected to pick up six seats, five of them in Texas and one in Kentucky.

Democrats are projected to pick up Georgia's District 12. Republican freshman Rep. Max Burns is projected to lose to Democratic Clarke County Commissioner John Barrow.

The net gain for the Republicans is projected to be five seats.

Among the few setbacks for Republicans is the projected loss of their most senior member, Rep. Phil Crane of Illinois.

Crane was first elected in 1969. The apparent winner is Democrat Melissa Bean.

Five of the 12 races that were considered toss-ups as polls started to close on Election Night are in Texas, including the most expensive congressional race in the nation.

In that one, Republican Rep. Pete Sessions is projected to beat Democrat Rep. Martin Frost.

By mid-October, Sessions and Frost had spent a combined $6.6 million on the race for the state's 32nd District, and together still had $2.4 million in the bank.

Texas Republicans used their control of the state Legislature to draw new districts to make it harder for Democrats to win re-election. In addition to the 32nd, the 19th District also pit two incumbents against each other.

Among the primary architects of the new map was House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who was projected to win re-election.

CNN projects that Republicans will also pick up seats in Texas Districts 1, 2, 10, 11 and 24.

Texas Districts 1 and 2 are particularly significant victories for the Republicans, if the projection holds true, because the races had been so close leading into the election.

The projected wins also mark a success for those legislators who redrew the Texas congressional map last year.

In District 1, Republican Rep. Louis Gohmert is projected to defeat four-term Democrat Rep. Max Sandlin.

Sandlin had faced an uphill battle because of the new map. Only about 40 percent of his old district remained in the redrawn district. The race marked the first time Sandlin faced a seasoned candidate.

District 2 is a newly created seat. CNN projects Republican Ted Poe will defeat Democratic Rep. Nick Lampson.

The sixth Republican pickup is projected to be in Kentucky, where Republican Geoff Davis is projected to win in District 4, beating Democrat Nick Clooney for the open seat.

Clooney is the father of actor George Clooney and the brother of the late singer-actress Rosemary Clooney.

Davis, who runs a consulting firm in Boone County, is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and a former Army helicopter pilot. He directed Army aviation operations for a peacekeeping mission in the Middle East.

In the final pre-election poll, the seat had been too close too call.


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