Matthew Cartwright

On Monday night, the entire Simpsons universe gets to experience it in a way not many could have imagined. The prime-time matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys will also take place at Springfield’s Atoms Stadium as part of “The Simpsons Funday Football” alternate broadcast.

Rep.-elect Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania discusses his priorities for the next Congress with Fox News Digital after he unseated six-term incumbent Rep. Matt Cartwright.

Seven House Republicans lost their seats, though the conference picked up new seats in Pennsylvania, Alaska, Colorado and Michigan to earn a 3-seat majority.

Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., lost his reelection bid in the final 2024 House race to be decided.

Republicans will have a narrow majority in the House next year with Democrats flipping one final seat in California, leaving GOP leaders with even less margin for error as they try to advance President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda.Democrat Adam Gray has defeated GOP Rep. John Duarte in a rematch in California’s 13th District in the Central Valley following weeks of ballot counting, NBC News projects, meaning Republicans won 220 House seats in the 2024 elections to Democrats’ 215. The GOP can lose just two votes on legislation in the House in the next Congress if Democrats all vote in opposition, giving them little wiggle room for absences, internal fighting and vacancies.Duarte told the Turlock Journal that he had called Gray to concede on Tuesday evening.Thanks to Gray’s victory, Democrats netted one seat in the House elections, flipping nine Republican-held seats, mainly in blue states, as Republicans flipped eight Democratic-held seats.The 13th District is one of three Democratic pickups in California alone, with Democrats Derek Tran and George Whitesides defeating GOP Reps. Michelle Steel and Mike Garcia. Democrats also flipped three seats in New York and one in Oregon, and they gained one seat each in Alabama and Louisiana because of new congressional maps in those states.Republicans, meanwhile, picked up three seats in North Carolina because of the state’s new congressional map. They also defeated two Pennsylvania Democrats, Reps. Susan Wild and Matt Cartwright, as well as Democratic lawmakers in Alaska and Colorado, and they flipped an open seat in Michigan.Campaigns and outside groups spent hundreds of millions of dollars on House races, with more than $1.1 billion alone spent on ads from September through Election Day, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.Democratic campaigns and groups outspent their GOP rivals in the fall, dropping $662 million on ads in House races to Republicans’ $485 million.The slim GOP majority underscores the close fight for the House this year, with operatives in both parties acknowledging that the recent redistricting process narrowed the battlefield by creating fewer competitive races. Just over 40 seats — around 10% of the chamber — were decided by less than 5 percentage points, according to data from the NBC News Decision Desk.And while Democrats lost the House, the Senate and the White House, they found their down-ballot candidates performed better than Vice President Kamala Harris.Vulnerable Democratic incumbents in House races outperformed Harris by an average of 2.7 points, according to an initial Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee analysis of county data shared with NBC News. The analysis also found Democratic candidates in competitive districts overperformed Harris in counties with lower levels of education and where the majority of registered voters are people of color.Johnson’s challengesControlling all the levers of power in Washington, Republicans in the new year will have a rare opportunity to pass major policy priorities through budget “reconciliation” — an arcane process that allows the GOP to bypass filibusters and fast-track legislation without any Democratic votes in the Senate.But because of how fragile their House majority is, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. — who is expected to be re-elected to the top job by his colleagues next month — and Republicans will face hurdles in getting their reconciliation package to the finish line.Trump and Republicans are eyeing the reconciliation package as a vehicle to renew tax cuts that Trump signed into law in 2017 and that are set to expire next year. Other provisions that could be included are a tax exemption for income earned from tips — what Trump calls “no tax on tips” — and lifting the cap on the state and local tax deduction.Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a Trump ally who is on the Appropriations and Judiciary committees, has been urging colleagues to use reconciliation to pass border security legislation as Trump has vowed to launch “the largest deportation program in American history.”Further complicating Johnson’s math problem is the fact that Trump has chosen two sitting House Republicans for his Cabinet: Elise Stefanik of New York as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Mike Waltz of Florida as national security adviser.Republicans are also expected to start the new Congress short one more lawmaker.Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., resigned from the House last month after Trump selected him to be the next attorney general; Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Gaetz has said he does not plan to join the next Congress even though he won re-election.If the Stefanik and Walz resignations happen simultaneously, Johnson could be operating with just a one-seat majority: 217 to 215. The Florida State Department has already announced the special election schedule to replace Gaetz and Waltz, with primaries in the deep-red seats set for Jan. 28, followed by special elections on April 1.Once Stefanik resigns from Congress, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has 10 days to declare a special election in New York, which must occur 70 to 80 days after the proclamation, according to state law.This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:Texas is offering land for Trump mass deportation facilitiesTrump’s children won’t have White House roles in his second termTrump’s pick for FBI director promoted bogus supplements to ‘reverse’ vaccines

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., walk down the House steps for the House Republican leadership post-election news conference outside the Capitol on Tuesday.

Republicans will maintain control of the House of Representatives by the thinnest of margins, NBC News projected Wednesday, handing President-elect Donald Trump and his party all the levers of power in Washington.A Republican-controlled Congress will allow Trump to quickly fill out his Cabinet and other top administration roles and advance his agenda for at least the next two years. Last week, Republicans flipped three Democratic Senate seats to win control of the upper chamber.House Republicans’ razor-thin victory was propelled by Trump’s decisive win over Vice President Kamala Harris in both the Electoral College and the popular vote. It represents a stinging blow to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the Democrats, who now will have virtually no check on Trump, a man they warned on the campaign trail is a threat to democracy, an extremist and a fascist.“It is a beautiful morning in Washington. It is a new day in America,” a celebratory Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on the steps of the Capitol, flanked by his leadership team, as the House returned to Washington on Tuesday. “The sun is shining, and that is a reflection about how we all feel.”How Republicans wonDemocrats had believed they were in a good position to win back the majority they lost just two years ago. They needed a net gain of only four seats to flip control of the House given that Republicans now hold 220 seats to the Democrats’ 212 — one of the smallest majorities in modern history.But the two parties basically have fought to a draw in the House, preserving a status quo that favored Republicans.In New York, Democrats were able to knock off a trio of vulnerable freshman GOP incumbents: Rep. Brandon Williams in the Syracuse region, Rep. Anthony D’Esposito on Long Island, and Rep. Marc Molinaro, whose district includes parts of the Hudson Valley and the Catskills. They were among the 18 GOP House districts that President Joe Biden carried in 2020.Democratic challenger George Whitesides also ousted vulnerable GOP Rep. Mike Garcia in Southern California.But Trump’s triumph — including wins in battlegrounds like Pennsylvania and Michigan where there were key House races — helped buoy GOP incumbents and new candidates in the places that mattered.Two of the biggest GOP prizes came in the Keystone State. Republicans unseated two vulnerable, veteran Democrats in neighboring districts in eastern Pennsylvania. GOP businessman Rob Bresnahan ousted six-term Rep. Matt Cartwright, a former member of leadership, in the 8th District, which Trump carried in 2020. In the neighboring 7th District based in Allentown, GOP state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie upset Democratic Rep. Susan Wild, the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee.Meanwhile, In the capital of Harrisburg, Democrats believed they had a good chance to knock off former Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, a Trump ally who played a role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election. But the six-term incumbent beat back a strong challenge from former local TV anchor Janelle Stelson, who attacked Perry on everything from the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and abortion rights to his votes on veterans issues.Republicans also captured a Michigan seat that had been held by Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who successfully ran for an open Senate seat. And GOP challenger Gabe Evans narrowly defeated freshman Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Colo., by less than 1 percentage point in a heavily Hispanic district north of Denver.The task of governingThe tiny House victory is hugely consequential as Republicans turn to the task of governing. When Trump and his congressional allies take the reins in January, they will have another rare opportunity to push through major policy initiatives through “reconciliation” — an arcane process that would allow the GOP to fast-track legislation without Democratic support.Discussions about what reforms to pursue began even before the election, with some Republicans pushing to use reconciliation to renew expiring Trump tax cuts and others like Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a Trump ally, calling for Republicans to take up border security legislation. It’s not yet clear what would be in that border bill, but Trump has said repeatedly that he will “seal” the southern border on day one as president and launch “the largest deportation program in American history.”In the closing days of the campaign, Johnson told supporters a “massive” reform of the Affordable Care Act would be part of the GOP’s first 100-day agenda, though he has since denied that Republicans would try to repeal Obamacare as they failed to do in 2017.With very little wiggle room, Republicans are sure to run into challenges. And Trump has already selected two members of the new majority to serve in his administration, Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York and Mike Waltz of Florida. Both are in solidly Republican districts the party will likely carry in special elections to replace them, but vacancies following their departures could be an issue for Johnson.Decision 20243 hours agoTrump returns to White House, thanks Biden for ‘smooth transition'Donald Trump4 hours agoSpecial counsel Jack Smith and team to resign before Trump takes officeThe GOP had a minuscule majority in this Congress, and it struggled to push its agenda forward. Instead, the past two years were defined by a successful conservative coup against Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, the expulsion of a New York Republican congressman and intraparty squabbling over GOP spending bills.Johnson and Republicans will now have partners in a Senate majority and the White House, which they hope will allow them to rally behind Trump and put some of that infighting behind them. Johnson and his top lieutenants — Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a fellow Louisiana Republican, and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. — are all running unopposed for re-election in their top jobs on Wednesday.Johnson will still need to secure 218 votes on the House floor on the first day of the new Congress, in early January, to win his first full term as speaker.“If there’s unified government ... if we have a bicameral approach — Republicans in both chambers working together to develop that agenda and implement it, and President Trump is guiding the way — I think you will certainly have a lot less dissension in the ranks on our side,” Johnson said in an interview with NBC News at a Pennsylvania campaign stop before the election.“I think everybody’s going to want to be a part of that majority that is solving the problems of the country,” the speaker added. “And I think governing is going to be a whole lot easier come January.”This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:Senate Republicans choose John Thune as their new leaderElon Musk may already be overstaying his welcome in Trump’s orbitHouse Democrat to introduce resolution reiterating that Trump can only serve two terms as president

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.

Democrat Kamala Harris urged unity in a concession speech at Howard University following her defeat to Republican Donald Trump. The election results prompted foreign leaders and President Joe Biden to congratulate Trump and left Democrats downtrodden after the former president...

Republicans won control of the White House and the Senate. Now all eyes are turning to the House, Democrats' last line of defense to stop President-elect Donald Trump and his agenda.

Cartwright, who was first elected in 2013, is a progressive Democrat in what is a slightly Republican district.

Democrat Pennsylvania Rep. Matt Cartwright faced Republican challenger, local businessman, Rob Bresnahan in the race for the state's 8th Congressional District seat.

Democrats are growing increasingly concerned that their path to flipping the House of Representatives is narrowing.

Three Pennsylvania races for the U.S. House remain uncalled by The Associated Press. That's as vote counting continued Wednesday and Republicans fight to keep their slim majority in the U.S. House. In all three of Pennsylvania’s uncalled races, the Republican...

It could take days or longer to count critical votes in California, which is likely to decide House control

It could take days or weeks to know the final results.

The picture so far shows high turnout, key demographic swings for Trump, with the GOP taking control of the Senate, while the House remains uncertain.

Democrats are running strong challengers in a handful of districts that could swing control of the House

538's final deep dive into swing states in the 2024 election focusing on Pennslyvania voters.

WASHINGTON — The battle for the House is ultracompetitive one week away from Election Day, with both parties bracing for potential narrow majorities come January but seeing their own paths to victory.

House Republicans are charging into Election Day with high hopes of padding their majority in the next Congress. The fight to control the lower chamber remains too close to call in the final sprint to Nov. 5 — and campaign operatives in both parties acknowledge the 11th-hour uncertainty. Republicans got a small boost from state [...]

House Energy-Water Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Marcy Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in congressional history, is in a tough reelection race.

House Republicans see a path to keeping their majority on Nov. 5 by picking up seats in the Rust Belt that they contend could help offset potential losses on the coast. Why it matters: Political strategists have pointed to clusters of seats in New York and California as the key to which party will have a majority next year, but the National Republican Congressional Committee sees a window in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania to keep control or grow their numbers. Driving the news: The House GOP's campaign arm has been paying for ads in the Michigan districts held by Democratic Reps. Hillary Scholten, Elissa Slotkin, who is running for Senate, and Dan Kildee, who is retiring. The NRCC is also investing in the Pennsylvania districts held by Democrats Susan Wild, Matt Cartwright and Chris Deluzio, as well as Ohio Rep. Emilia Sykes's (D) district. Zoom in: Congressional Leadership Fund, a group with ties to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), similarly has ramped up spending by about $9 million in the past five weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter. CLF added $2.3 million in Lansing, Mich., bringing the total to almost $7 million for the open seat currently held by Slotkin, and $1.8M in Flint, Mich., bringing the total there $4 million in spending for the seat being vacated by Kildee — districts Democrats have said are two of their tightest races.Johnson's PAC also added $3.8M to its initial $5.4 million Philadelphia reserve for Wild's seat and is spending an additional $1.1 million in Toledo, Ohio, bringing their total to over $4 million in an attempt to unseat Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur.What they're saying: "Holding the line on the coasts is how Republicans keep the House majority; Winning races in the Rust Belt is how Republicans expand the majority," one GOP operative said. The operative said former President Trump's appeal in the region could be boon for Republican House candidates there. CLF Spokeswoman Courtney Parella said in a statement that the group was focused on highlighting Democrats' failures "on key issues such as illegal immigration, fentanyl trafficking, and the rising cost of living," adding that they were "confident that voters will turn away from Democrats' extremism."The other side: Democrats dismissed the GOP's bullishness in the region, arguing their spending strategy is flawed and taking out Democratic incumbents will be a heavy lift. Operatives noted Democrats have been outspending in a number of seats including Skyes.' "Republicans struck out recruiting candidates in Ohio, have massive fundraising disadvantages in Pennsylvania, and are running far-right extremists across the Heartland who would ban abortion nationwide," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Aidan Johnson told Axios."This is a last ditch effort to save face, and nobody is buying it."Go deeper: Jeffries and Johnson plow cash into House "squinter" races

Mail ballots are available in some of Pennsylvania's 67 counties. The state's 19 Electoral College votes are considered critical for candidates running for president in 2024.

Face-to-face with the Ukrainian leader, Trump backed down from his apocalyptic war rhetoric and praise of Russia.

‘I think the fact that we’re even together today is a very good sign’

Lawmakers said during a contentious congressional hearing Thursday they are uneasy about the U.S. Postal Service’s readiness for a crush of mail ballots for the November election because some of them feel burned by other Postal Service actions.Postmaster General Louis DeJoy sought to reassure a House Appropriations subcommittee that the Postal Service is well-positioned for an extraordinary effort to deliver mail ballots to election officials on time to be counted and that close to 100% will make it promptly. In recent weeks, DeJoy has pushed back on suggestions from state and local election officials that the Postal Service has not addressed problems that led to mail ballots arriving too late or without postmarks, disenfranchising those voters.But as subcommittee members asked DeJoy about how the Postal Service has addressed election officials' concerns, they criticized a larger, 10-year plan to make the mail delivery system more efficient and less costly by consolidating mail processing centers, suggesting it could slow mail delivery, particularly in rural areas. DeJoy disputed that.

Luzerne County has officially become a Republican region of voter registration advantage as of Thursday, according to data confirmed by a county GOP official.

'This would be an awful idea'

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-8, Moosic, will participate in one debate with Republican businessman Rob Bresnahan, of Dallas Twp.

The Scranton plant is one of the few facilities in the country to manufacture 155 mm artillery shells and has increased production over the past year.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy began his visit to the U.S. with a stop at an ammunition plant in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state that will help determine the outcome of November’s U.S. presidential election.

Many of the highest-profile races are underway in Montana, New York, California and beyond, far from the presidential battleground states contested by Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris.

Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., talks with Gen. Eric M. Smith, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, and Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, left, during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Navy budget request, on May 1.

The race for control of Congress is as close as ever. Lawmakers are returning to Washington for a three-week legislative sprint, away from the campaign trail where races have become “trench warfare” and a seat-by-seat slog. Fewer than two dozen...

Democratic stronghold Lackawanna County in northeastern Pennsylvania is a key player in a war some say is barely registering on the political radar there.

Before Republican businessman Rob Bresnahan decided to run for Congress, he donated to U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright's campaign.

The ascension of Kamala Harris to the top of the Democratic ticket has bolstered the party's chances of keeping control of the White House for another four years, but the effect on House races is much less clear. Since replacing President Biden as the Democrats' likely nominee, the vice president has delivered a bolt of [...]

If Vice President Kamala Harris ends up selecting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, he will in part have his former congressional colleagues to thank.Why it matters: A House member from 2007 to 2019, Walz' congressional relationships have manifested into what one senior House Democrat described as "quiet diplomacy" on his behalf.Walz's political bases of support are members from the Midwest and progressives, but others with whom he has deep personal relationships are campaigning for him as well."People like me think the world of him. A truly great human being," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) a House veteran who serves as ranking member of the House Rules Committee.Zoom in: Walz is believed to be a finalist along with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has his own base of support on Capitol Hill.Several House Democrats from Pennsylvania, including swing-seat Reps. Susan Wild and Matt Cartwright, have lobbied hard for Shapiro, as Axios previously reported.What we're hearing: In addition to public pronunciations of support, many lawmakers have privately reached out to the Harris campaign voicing support for Walz, according to lawmakers familiar with the outreach.A second senior House Democrat told Axios that "a lot of members really like Tim, myself included, and have made that known to the campaign."The senior lawmaker estimated that dozens of members are advocating for Walz in public and private.Another House Democrat told Axios that Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), a veteran progressive from Walz's home state, has reached out to colleagues urging them to "to call [Harris] and talk to press" in favor of Walz.Between the lines: Walz's record as governor has made him the favorite of the party's left flank."A number of [members] on the progressive caucus side like him most," Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.), the former chair of the Progressive Caucus, told Axios, noting that some have taken to social media to tout their support.Another House Democrat said of Walz's support among progressives and Midwesterners: "He definitely seems to be the only one who can draw from both of those camps within our caucus."The bottom line: "Whoever she picks I — and I think all Democrats in the house — will enthusiastically support," said McGovern.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) on Monday announced a slate of 26 Republican candidates as part of its “Young Gun” program, which highlights non-incumbent candidates and challengers in competitive districts. The initial list of 2024 candidates includes 24 Republicans who are either challenging incumbent Democrats or seeking a seat that a Democrat is vacating, [...]

WASHINGTON — With President Joe Biden’s announcement Sunday that he’s abandoning his reelection campaign, the Democrats’ freakout over the top of the ticket is over — at least for now.