AP warns voters that House control call could lag by a week

The Associated Press expects to announce which party controls Congress, but the timing for the House and Senate remains uncertain. While the Senate result may arrive quickly, the House outcome could take up to a week to finalize due to complex counting rules and late-arriving mail ballots.

Republicans currently hold 219 seats in the House, a margin of one seat above the 218 needed for a majority. With two vacancies currently open, the party maintains a narrow lead. In the Senate, Republicans hold a 53-47 advantage. Democrats need 51 seats to take control, while Republicans require 50, relying on Vice President JD Vance to break ties.

Recent elections show a pattern of delayed House calls. In the 2022 midterms, the AP determined Senate control four days after Election Day, but the House result came eight days later. The 2024 presidential cycle showed a wider gap, with the Senate call occurring the day after the election and the House result arriving eight days post-election.

Delays often stem from states with high volumes of mail-in ballots and complex voting systems. California, the most populous state, processed half of its votes after Election Day in 2022. Key Senate races in Alaska and Maine use ranked choice voting, a process that can extend the counting period if no candidate achieves more than 50 percent of first-choice votes.

Under ranked choice voting, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated, and their ballots are redistributed to second choices. This iterative process can take days to complete. The AP will not project winners until it can confirm that trailing candidates cannot close the gap. The network will cover all 435 House districts and the 35 Senate contests up for election this year.