Unsettled California races could tip US House control

The outcome in a string of closely matched California U.S. House races remained uncertain Friday as millions of ballots remained uncounted.

Only a few races in the state were seen as being too close to call. There are 218 seats in the house. Democrats claimed 200, while Republicans claimed 211.

It could take days or weeks to make a decision on who will be the new leader.

Kevin McCarthy would replace Nancy Pelosi if Democrats failed to protect their majority.

Orange County, a suburb southeast of Los Angeles that was once a GOP stronghold but has become increasingly diverse and Democratic, is the primary battleground in California.

In an Orange County district about equally divided between Democrats and Republicans, a star of the party's progressive wing went up against a former legislator in a close race.

Porter gained 51.2% of the votes to Baugh's 48.8%. Porter had a lead of about 3000 votes.

In a Democratic-leaning district north of Los Angeles, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike He had a 12 point margin.

Democrats have long dominated California's congressional delegation, which is dropping to 52 seats next year, from 53 seats, because its population growth has slowed.

The Democrats hold 53 of the 53 seats in the state.

Republicans claimed six races so far and were in the lead in six others.

Democrats won 30 seats and were leading in 10 others. The party will hold control of those seats because only Democrats were on the ballot.

There was still a lot of uncertainty. More than 4 million ballots remained uncounted.

The Republican congressman regained the lead after the Democrat had fallen behind. About half of the votes had been counted. The longest-serving Republican in the California congressional delegation is Calvert.

An update showed Democrat Rudy Salas cutting into the lead held by Republican David Valadao in the Central Valley's 22nd District. After Valadao had a bigger lead, the two are separated by 5 points.

The district is anchored in San Diego County. About two-thirds of the votes have been counted.

In the closing days of the campaign, President Joe Biden went to the district to boost the chances of the candidate.

That's right.

You can follow the AP's coverage of the mid-term elections. If you want to learn more about the issues and factors that are playing out in the elections, check out the Explaining-the-Elections website.