Republicans flip two U.S. House seats in Florida


Two Democratic U.S. representatives lost re-election bids in Florida, bringing the count of defeated incumbents to seven as of Nov. 5. All seven defeated incumbents are Democrats.

In Florida’s 26th Congressional District, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D) lost to Carlos Gimenez (R). In the 27th District, Donna Shalala (D) lost to Maria Elvira Salazar (R). Both incumbents were first elected in 2018.

Other incumbents defeated in 2020 are Abby Finkenauer (IA-01), Collin Peterson (MN-07), Xochitl Torres Small (NM-02), Kendra Horn (OK-05), and Joe Cunningham (SC-01).

Two other congressional districts have switched party hands. Democrats won open-seat races for North Carolina’s 2nd and 6th Congressional Districts, where Republican incumbents George Holding and Mark Walker did not seek re-election. They announced they would not run after court-ordered redistricting in 2019 changed the partisan composition of the districts.

In 2020, Ballotpedia is calling congressional races once there is a consensus projection from five outlets: ABC News, CNN, FOX News, NBC, and the New York Times. As of 8:30 p.m. ET on Nov. 5, we called 379 of 435 House races. Democrats had won 192, and Republicans had won 187. Democrats currently hold a 232-197 majority.

Additional reading: