Boebert's Seat Is Called, Alaska Counts On, and Three House Races Hang by a Few Hundred Votes

Ten days after the Nov. 3 midterms, the map of the next Congress is nearly finished, but not quite. Friday brought the call Colorado had been waiting on, as Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert lost her seat to Democrat Eileen Laubacher ^[1]. Alaska is still counting ballots in the last undecided Senate race in the country ^[2][3]. And in Minnesota, Tennessee and North Carolina, three House seats remain separated by a few hundred votes apiece, each headed for its own deadline over the next two weeks ^[3][4][5].

None of the remaining contests will change which party holds power in January. Democrats have already secured majorities in both chambers ^[3][6]. But the final numbers will decide how large those majorities are, how much room Speaker-in-waiting Hakeem Jeffries has to lose votes on his own side, and how steep a climb Republicans face in 2028. Here is where each race stands tonight, and what comes next.

Colorado: The Count Is Done in the 4th District

Laubacher defeated Boebert in Colorado's 4th Congressional District on Friday, winning 48.79% to 47.90%, a margin of just over 3,000 votes, the Washington Examiner reported ^[1]. The result is all the more striking because Boebert had changed districts, moving into the more conservative 4th in a bid to improve her chances of keeping a seat in Congress ^[1].

Boebert had declined to concede while counties finished counting military, overseas and cured ballots ahead of Colorado's Friday deadline, as Liberty Bell Report reported on Wednesday. That was a fair request. Every lawful ballot deserved to be counted before anyone declared the race over, and the count is now complete. Laubacher, a retired Navy rear admiral and first-time candidate, as this site has reported, will now represent a district Republicans had long counted as theirs ^[1].

Alaska: The Last Senate Seat Still Out

The only Senate race without a winner is in Alaska, where Democrat Mary Peltola is trying to unseat Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan ^[2][3]. After Thursday's count, Peltola held 49.1% of first-choice votes to Sullivan's 46.8%, the Anchorage Daily News reported, a lead of about 5,800 votes that grew by roughly 1,825 from the day before ^[2]. The state Division of Elections added about 5,000 ballots on Thursday, bringing the total counted to more than 256,000 ^[2]. Peltola's campaign claimed she won Thursday's batch by a two-to-one margin, a figure that comes from the campaign rather than from election officials ^[2].

Because neither candidate has cleared 50%, Alaska's ranked-choice system is likely to decide the race. Thousands of absentee ballots are still to be counted, and the final count and ranked-choice tabulation are scheduled for Nov. 18, according to the Daily News ^[2]. Preliminary data suggest Peltola would stay ahead of Sullivan even after lower-ranked choices are redistributed, the paper reported ^[2]. Sullivan and President Trump have both suggested the senator would gain ground once later rankings are counted, as this site has reported, so the official tabulation next Wednesday is the moment that matters.

After that comes certification, targeted for Nov. 25 ^[3]. Alaska recounts are automatic only in a tie, but a candidate may request one within five days of certification, Al Jazeera reported ^[3]. The Peltola campaign has already lost one round in court: a state judge on Wednesday rejected its request for a list of absentee voters whose ballots were rejected, as Liberty Bell Report reported.

Other Alaska contests are moving toward resolution as well. Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins has crossed 50% of first-choice votes in the governor's race, the Daily News reported ^[2]. In the race for the state's lone House seat, Republican Rep. Nick Begich has held the lead in earlier counts, as this site has reported.

Related California's 'Election Month' Is a Choice: Why the Biggest State Still Counts for Weeks, and How Florida Does It Faster

The national Senate math is nearly settled. Al Jazeera counted 54 Democratic seats earlier this week with Mississippi and Alaska outstanding ^[3]. Mississippi has since been decided, with Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith conceding to Democrat Scott Colom, as Liberty Bell Report reported; the state is scheduled to certify its results on Dec. 3 ^[3]. A Peltola win would give Democrats 56 seats.

The House: Three Seats, a Few Hundred Votes Each

The tightest unresolved contests are in the House, where a handful of districts are being decided by a few hundred votes out of hundreds of thousands cast.

In Minnesota's 1st District, Democratic challenger Jake Johnson led Republican Rep. Brad Finstad by roughly 300 votes with about 99% of the vote counted, according to Al Jazeera's tally ^[3]. In a district of this size, that is roughly a tenth of a percentage point, squarely in recount territory.

In Tennessee's 4th District, Democrat Victoria Broderick led Republican Rep. Scott DesJarlais by about 300 votes ^[3][4]. About 700 provisional ballots remain across the district, and roughly 600 of them are in Nashville, where Broderick won about three-quarters of the vote on election night, the Tennessee Lookout reported ^[4]. Those ballots are scheduled to be counted Monday, Nov. 16, after which the race could be called ^[4]. DesJarlais has not conceded, since the outstanding ballots outnumber Broderick's lead ^[4]. Tennessee does not hold automatic recounts; a recount there comes only through a legal challenge in court, Al Jazeera noted ^[3].

In North Carolina's 5th District, Democrat Chuck Hubbard's lead over longtime Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx grew to 335 votes as county boards continued counting, the Greensboro News & Record reported ^[5]. Foxx had held the lead on election night until the final precincts reported in Guilford County, and she has asked for observers to monitor the count ^[5]. Candidates in close North Carolina races must request any recount by noon on Tuesday, Nov. 17, and the state board is scheduled to certify results on Nov. 24 ^[3].

North Carolina had four Republican-held House seats still in doubt earlier this week, the most of any state ^[3]. One of them has since been resolved, with Rep. Greg Murphy conceding the 3rd District to Democrat Raymond Smith, as Liberty Bell Report reported.

What the Final Numbers Mean for the Next Congress

Even before the last calls, House Democrats were on track to hold at least 255 seats in the next Congress, the Washington Examiner reported, far above the 218 needed for a majority ^[6]. That cushion gives Jeffries a freedom his recent predecessors in both parties rarely enjoyed. The Examiner reported that the new majority's rules package will be introduced in the coming weeks ^[6]. With a margin that large, Democrats should be able to pass it, and much else, without needing a single Republican vote.

For conservatives, the practical consequences are plain. The incoming majority will control every committee gavel, every subpoena and every floor schedule in the House. Republicans will have to rely on the Senate filibuster while it lasts, on presidential vetoes, and on the courts to check legislation and investigations they consider overreach. Each House seat that remains in Republican hands still matters for one more reason: the path back to the majority in 2028 starts with the members who are already there.

There were bright spots. Former Gov. Paul LePage flipped Maine's 2nd District to the Republican column after that state's ranked-choice count, as Liberty Bell Report reported this week. But the overall verdict of 2026 was clear, and Republicans who want to win again will have to reckon with it honestly.

Counting Every Vote, Then Accepting the Count

The coming two weeks will test something more important than any one seat: the public's confidence that elections are run fairly and finished faithfully. The calendar is now set. Tennessee counts its provisional ballots on Monday ^[4]. North Carolina's recount deadline arrives Tuesday ^[3]. Alaska tabulates its ranked choices next Wednesday and certifies on Nov. 25 ^[2][3]. Mississippi certifies on Dec. 3 ^[3].

Candidates on both sides have every right to insist that each lawful ballot be counted, to request recounts the law allows, and to ask questions in court. Conservatives should defend those rights for everyone, whether the trailing candidate is a Republican in Colorado or a Democrat in Alaska. But once the count is finished and certified, the duty runs the other way. Hyde-Smith and Murphy showed this week what that looks like: each accepted the voters' decision and conceded with grace.

That is not weakness. It is the habit of a self-governing people, and of believers who know that no election outcome is the final word on anything that truly lasts. The races still being counted tonight will be settled soon enough. How the winners serve, and how the losers respond, will say more about the health of the republic than the margins ever could.