How Democrats can win control of the House even if Trump is elected president
Democrats could win control of the House in the 2024 elections even if Donald Trump wins the presidency, providing a curb on his legislative agenda.
WASHINGTON — Among the many permutations for how the elections could end, one prospect has sparked chatter in both parties: Donald Trump could win the presidency while Democrats seize control of the House.
Such a split would be rare — not since 1989 has a president entered office without his party controlling the House — and give Democrats substantial power over Trump's legislative agenda.
Neither side is conceding defeat on any of the electoral battlefields, with both going all out in the final days to capture full control of Washington. But surveys show a stunningly close election with shifting coalitions that point to a path for Democrats to pick up the four seats they need to seize the House even if Vice President Kamala Harris loses the presidency, according to sources in both parties with knowledge of the dynamics and internal polling.
“The most likely scenario is the House goes the way of the presidential, but there’s a world in which Trump wins and we lose the House — if she keeps picking up more in the suburbs and he increases in the inner cities and rural areas,” said a GOP strategist, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the unwanted possibility. “There’s only so many of those rural districts where we have real pickup opportunities.”
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