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Democrats take control of the US House

Democrats take control of the US House
Posted at 11:04 PM, Nov 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-07 08:59:17-05

While Tuesday's election wasn't quite the "Blue Wave" that Democrats had hoped for, the Democratic Party won a majority of seats in the U.S. House once the new Congress is seated in January. 

Democrats needed to turn over at least 23 Republican seats for a total of 218 and the party claimed 222 on Tuesday night, according to numbers from CNN.

Although Democrats will lose seats in the Senate, taking the House gives Democrats the ability to conduct investigations, which could pose issues for President Donald Trump pending the result of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. 

Ushering in a crop of new Democrats into the House, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 29, will become the youngest woman in history to be elected to Congress. She upset New York Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley in the primary election earlier this year. 

Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party's nominee, were elected on Tuesday as the first Muslim women in the House. 

Former Tennessee Titans linebacker Colin Allred, a Democrat in Dallas, defeated incumbent Pete Sessions to win his first time as a candidate.