Boebert, Porter races among marquee, still-undecided House contests determining majority

Several high-profile races, including those of Colorado GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert and California Democrat Rep. Katie Porter, are among those still too close to call and whose outcomes will determine majority control of the House.

As of Friday — three days after polls closed on Election Day — Republicans have 211 seats toward attaining the 218-seat majority, compared to Democrats who now control the chamber but have 198 seats toward keeping control next year, according to the Associated Press. 

Boebert burst onto the political scene in her winning 2020 campaign as a western Colorado restaurant owner with a pistol on her hip and strong support for then-President Donald Trump. However, the fiery conservative and Second Amendment advocate from Rifle, Colo., now unexpectedly finds herself in an extremely close race for a second term against Democrat challenger Adam Frisch in the state's 3rd Congressional District.

Political analysts in the region and elsewhere have suggested district voters in that low-key part of the state no longer want such a high-profile representative.

Analysts also predicted early that Porter would have a difficult time winning a third term, with Republicans aiming to flip the Democrat's House seat in California. She remains locked in a competitive race with Republican Scott Baugh, a former state representative.

Washington Republicans targeted the seat in large part because the district includes Orange County, which until recently had been largely conservative.

While the GOP still hopes to win the Porter seat, the so-call "red wave" that some pollsters predicted failed to materialize election night — after the party failed to defeat 2018 Democrats running in seats President Biden won in 2020 in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Kansas, and elsewhere, the AP also reports.

Another key, undecided race is in Maryland's 6th Congressional District, in the western region of the state that was a GOP stronghold until Democrat-led redistricting several years ago.

Republicans are now trying to flip the seat of two-term Democrat David Trone, the multimillionaire founder and co-owner of a alcohol retailer.

Trone received roughly 60% of the vote in his 2018 and 2020 elections, but now trails Republican state Delegate Neil Parrott, according to the AP.