Democrats Continue March Toward Control of the House

(CN) - As polls closed in the west, Democrats continued their steady march toward securing a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As of 11 p.m. eastern time -- when polls were set to close in California -- Democrats had picked up 14 of the 23 seats they need to gain the majority in the House.

The first flip of the night came in Northern Virginia, where Democrat Jennifer Wexton, a state senator, beat Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock.

The trend continued with Democrats flipping seats in Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, and Colorado. But one of the sweetest early victories was in New York's 11th Congressional District, which had been considered a GOP-leaning district.

It was there that Democrat Max Rose defeated Dan Donovan, 52.6 percent to 47.1 percent.

Democrats also did well picking up several open seats. In Florida, Donna Shalala soundly defeated Republican Maria Elvira Salazar.

In New Jersey, Democrat Mikie Sherrill defeated Republican Jay Webber in the race to replace retiring Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen.

In Pennsylvania, Democrat Mary Scanlon will replace Rep. Pat Meehan, who resigned in April 2018, and in Virginia, Democrat Elaine Luria knocked off Republican Rep. Scott Taylor.

In one of the night's more unique contests, a member-on-member race in Pennsylvania, Democrat Conor Lamb defeated Republican Rep. Keith Rothfus. The district was created by a court-ordered redistricting in the state earlier this year.

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