Who will win the House? The outstanding races to watch

· BBC News
Image source, Getty Images

Rachel Looker
BBC News, Washington

The party that will control the US House of Representatives for the next two years is currently unknown.

All 435 seats in the lower chamber of Congress were up for votes this year, and it may take days to get final results and see if Republicans will keep their slim majority. That would put the party in control of Congress and the White House when President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in in January.

Democrats, meanwhile, are hoping that the last votes trickling in in a handful of tight races will be enough to give them a majority in the House.

A party needs 218 seats to take control. As it stands on Wednesday, Republicans have 197 and Democrats 188.

Here are some of the races that have yet to be called.

California: Democrats hold out hope for 5 potential gains

Democrats are closely monitoring five seats in California as crucial to winning back the House.

Challengers are hoping to defeat the incumbent Republicans and flip the seats blue, but initial polling shows incumbents holding onto their seats by narrow margins.

The key races to watch are:

Arizona: 2 toss-up seats too close to call

The two closely watched races in the state currently have margins of less than 2%.

Republican Juan Ciscomani currently leads his Democratic challenger, Kirsten Engel, by 1.5 points in Arizona's 6th district located in the southeast corner of the state. About 60% of votes have been counted.

In Arizona's 1st district, David Schweikert has a lead of 1.6 points over Democratic challenger Amish Shah, with 62% of votes counted.

Schweikert's district covers north-eastern Maricopa County, outside of Phoenix.

Maine: Democrat looks to defend seat in toss-up race

In Maine, incumbent Democratic Congressman Jared Golden is fighting to keep his seat - one of two congressional districts in the state.

Maine's 2nd Congressional district encompasses the majority of the state north of Augusta and Portland.

Golden is currently leading in the race against his Republican challenger, Austin Theriault, by nearly 4 points. Around 77% of votes have been counted.

Ohio: Democrat leads by less than one point

Democrats are looking to hold onto one seat in Ohio's 9th congressional district, which encompasses Toledo in northern Ohio.

Incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, who has served in Congress since 1983, leads in the race against her Republican challenger, Derek Merrin.

Kaptur has a narrow 0.3 point lead. Around 94% of votes have been counted.

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