West
All eyes on California as House majority still hinges on tight races
Congressional leaders are anxiously watching several outstanding races in the West as the battle for the majority in the House of Representatives continues.
Most of those races are in California, where Republican incumbents are fighting to hold on to several seats, including districts around the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
The Democratic stronghold was pivotal to House Republicans clinching the majority in 2022, and their leaders are looking for it to deliver again.
“California’s got a lot of the outstanding races, and I’ve talked to each one of our incumbents who are in those 50/50 races — they’re all leading, by the way — but they feel like what is outstanding … are good areas for them,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told “Fox & Friends” Friday.
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Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are battling over the House majority (Getty Images)
It’s a different story in New York, the other deep blue coastal state critical to the House GOP’s midterm success.
Of the four sitting House Republicans projected to lose their seats, three were first-term GOP lawmakers from New York who got elected as part of a suburban backlash against big cities’ progressive crime policies.
They were also expected to be some of the more vulnerable incumbents in Congress.
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Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., is among the New York incumbents to lose his seat (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)
Scalise said he anticipated a four- to six-seat majority for Republicans when all the races were over, not a dissimilar scenario to the one the House GOP has grappled with for much of the 118th Congress.
Ballots are being counted in other close races in Arizona, Oregon, Alaska, Nebraska and Iowa.
House Democrats, who privately expressed dismay over their narrowing path to victory earlier this week, are also closely watching the western states for the final results.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., pointed out that the election is still undecided.
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Republicans are fighting for a GOP government trifecta after President-elect Trump won back the White House. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
“It has yet to be decided who will control the House of Representatives in the 119th Congress. We must count every vote and wait until the results in Oregon, Arizona and California are clear,” Jeffries said Thursday.
“I am proud that the Democratic Party does not believe in election denial. Our democracy is precious, and it involves elevating public trust in our system of free and fair elections, not undermining it.”
The first party to reach 218 seats will claim the House majority.
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Agitators in Portland, Oregon, clashed with police late Thursday near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building, hours after a U.S. Border Patrol agent shot two people.
Video showed officers in riot gear pushing forward as agitators crowded the street, leading to shoving and jostling during the nighttime confrontation.
The Portland Police Bureau said six people were arrested, with those detained facing charges including riot, disorderly conduct in the second degree and interfering with a peace officer. All were booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center.
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Police in riot gear face crowds outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Thursday night, Jan. 8, 2026, in Portland, Ore., as demonstrations erupted hours after a shooting involving a federal immigration agent.
Some demonstrators could be heard chanting, “Shame on you, shame on you,” as police led people away. Police said they deployed crowd-control units, dialogue officers and a police sound truck to manage the demonstration.
Authorities said officers repeatedly ordered demonstrators to move to the sidewalk so that traffic could remain open. When those directives were ignored, officers moved in and made targeted arrests.
Police said the total number of arrests tied to anti-ICE and immigration enforcement demonstration activity has reached 79.
The incident erupted after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that a U.S. Border Patrol agent shot two people during a traffic stop earlier in the day.
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A woman was arrested near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Thursday night, Jan. 8, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (X/@haileywest)
According to DHS, the driver — who is believed to be a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) — allegedly, “weaponized the vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents” after agents identified themselves as law enforcement, prompting an agent to fire a defensive shot. The driver fled the scene with a passenger, officials said.
Following the incident, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson called on ICE to “halt all operations” in the city until a full and independent investigation can take place.
“We know what the federal government says happened here,” Wilson said during a news conference Thursday. “There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time has long passed.”
Portland police officers in riot gear detain agitators during a demonstration near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Thursday night, Jan. 8, 2026, in Portland, Ore. Police said six people were arrested during the protest. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Wilson added that ICE agents and DHS leadership “must fully be investigated and held responsible for the violence inflicted on the American people in Minnesota, in Portland, and in all the communities across America.”
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Thursday’s shooting in Portland followed the fatal shooting of Renee Good during an ICE enforcement operation in South Minneapolis Wednesday.
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Thursday marks one year in office for San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie.
Lurie was elected in the 14th round of ranked choice voting in 2024, beating incumbent London Breed.
His campaign centered around public safety and revitalization of the city.
Mayor Lurie is also celebrating a significant drop in crime; late last week, the police chief said crime hit historic lows in 2025.
- Overall violent crime dropped 25% in the city, which includes the lowest homicide rate since the 1950s.
- Robberies are down 24%.
- Car break-ins are down 43%.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins spoke with NBC Bay Area about this accomplishment. Watch the full interview in the video player above.
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