Certainty over Republicans’ control of the U.S. House of Representatives crystalized on Tuesday, while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) fended off a bid for his position by fellow GOP Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.).

As the final votes from last week’s midterm elections continue to trickle in, by Wednesday evening it became clear that when the 118^th Congress is seated in January, the legislature will be divided between the House and the U.S. Senate, where Democrats will either retain their 50-vote majority or win an extra seat, pending the results of Georgia’s runoff election in December.

It is the House, too, that will be divided, as the majority’s shift from blue to red was narrowly won, with only seven races whose results have not yet been tallied. Republicans’ control of the chamber comes with 218 seats, a feat they accomplished today. By 7:40 p.m. ET, Democrats had won 210 seats.

Leadership in both chambers has also been decided. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is poised to take over as House Speaker in January when the new Congress meets. McConnell, meanwhile, prevailed over a challenge for his Senate leadership by Scott, his Republican colleague.

“With a small Republican majority, we think there’s a greater chance of blocking anti-gay and anti-trans bills, which may now not even be brought up for a vote,” Geoff Wetrosky, campaign director for the Human Rights Campaign, told the Washington Blade by phone on Tuesday.

“Not only because of the composition of Congress, but also because last week’s election made clear that voters do not support this kind of extremism,” Wetrosky said.

Annise Parker, president of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, told the Blade by phone on Tuesday that “the first six months will be spent in internal warfare, but it’s clear that there won’t be anything positive coming out of the House for our community.”

There “very well may be negative bills,” Parker added, noting that with a slim majority in the lower chamber, there is unlikely to be much legislation, period.

Maryland Congressman David Trone has defeated his Republican challenger in the state’s 6th Congressional District.

Trone defeated state Del. Neil Parrott (R-Frederick County) by a 50.38-49.5 percent margin.

The Frederick County Republican had been ahead of the incumbent Democratic, in part, because the boundaries of the district, which includes all of western Maryland, had been redrawn during the last redistricting. Mail-in ballots had yet to be counted when Parrott was ahead of Trone immediately after Election Day. 

“I want to thank Del. Parrott for his phone call this afternoon conceding the race,” said Trone in a tweet. “My promise to him, and to all of the people of the 6th District, is this: I’ll continue to work across the aisle to deliver results and get things done. Thank you, Maryland! Let’s get back to work.”

I want to thank Del. Parrott for his phone call this afternoon conceding the race. My promise to him, and to all of the people of the 6th District, is this: I’ll continue to work across the aisle to deliver results and get things done. Thank you, Maryland! Let’s get back to work.

— David Trone (@davidjtrone) November 11, 2022

436 openly LGBTQ candidates won their elections as of 7 p.m. EST Thursday, surpassing the previous record of 336 set in 2020. There are 54 races with LGBTQ candidates that have not yet been called, including Will Rollins in California and Kris Mayes in Arizona.

To reach equitable representation, the U.S. must elect more than 35,000 more openly LGBTQ people to office, according to the LGBTQ Victory Institute.

Victory Fund President Annise Parker issued the following statement:

“This Rainbow Wave was fueled by a record number of LGBTQ candidates who defied the odds by running — and winning — in the face of extraordinary anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and attacks. Bigots underestimated our power and determination as they’ve done throughout history. While this election has given us much to be optimistic about, such as a historic number of victorious trans and nonbinary candidates, we still have a long way to go before we achieve equitable representation in government. LGBTQ people have never been fully represented in government and until that day, we will not stop organizing, we will not stop fighting and we will not stop running for office. Because when we run, we win.”

Key trends:

• Of the 714 openly LGBTQ candidates who appeared on Tuesday’s ballot, 436 won — a 61 percent win rate.
• Of the 250 openly LGBTQ women who appeared on Tuesday’s ballot, 160 won — a 64 percent win rate.
• Of the 353 openly LGBTQ men who appeared on Tuesday’s ballot, 221 won races — a 63 percent win rate.
• Of the 37 openly transgender candidates who appeared on Tuesday’s ballot, 18 won their races — a 49 percent win rate.
• Of the 24 openly nonbinary candidates who appeared on Tuesday’s ballot, 13 won their races — a 54 percent win rate.

Key wins:

• Tina Kotek and Maura Healey — the nation’s first lesbian governors (Kotek release and Healey release).
• Erick Russell — the first Black openly LGBTQ person ever elected statewide (release).
• James Roesener — the first trans man elected to a state legislature in U.S. history (release).
• Leigh Finke — the first trans person ever elected to the Minnesota state legislature (release).
• Zooey Zephyr and SJ Howell — the first trans person and first nonbinary person elected to the Montana state legislature (release).
• Jennie Armstrong and Andrew Gray — the first openly LGBTQ people ever elected to the Alaska state legislature (release). Louisiana and Mississippi are now the only U.S. states to have never elected an openly LGBTQ state lawmaker.

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