WASHINGTON (AURN News) — Congress is getting a lot of new faces after last week’s Democratic wave. More than 100 incoming House members are arriving on Capitol Hill this week for new-member orientation. At least 109 freshmen are expected to take seats in the House when the new Congress convenes, making it the largest incoming House class since 1933.
Orientation runs through Nov. 18. Members-elect will sit through briefings, tour the Capitol, learn how to hire staff and draw numbers in a lottery that determines the order in which they choose their offices.
Not every seat is settled. As of Monday morning, 19 House races remained uncalled, along with the Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi. In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom held a lead over Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith as of Monday morning.
Lawyers for Hyde-Smith’s campaign asked Mississippi counties to set aside and preserve affidavit ballots in case of an election challenge. Democrats have secured majorities in both chambers of the next Congress, and the remaining races will determine how large those majorities are when the new Congress begins Jan. 3.
