MTG accuses Democrats of “stealing” the House race, further shrinking the GOP majority

Right-wing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is baselessly accusing Democrats of “stealing” the House race while Republicans cling to a narrow majority in the next Congress.

Incumbent Republican John Duarte is running against his Democratic challenger Adam Gray in Northern California. As election workers count ballots, Gray holds a slight lead 22 days later.

Now Greene has baselessly claimed that Gray’s lead was due to “theft.”

“Congressman John Duarte won, but after 22 days of counting votes, he is now losing by 105 votes,” Greene wrote on X on Wednesday. “Democrats are stealing another House seat! Elections across the country should be held one day, requiring paper ballots and proof of citizenship with ID!!”

Melvin Levey, Merced Country voter registrar, said The Independent There is no evidence of voter fraud in this race.

“Everything we do is transparent. We had observers watching this process before Election Day,” Levey said. “We had observers every day from both Democratic campaigns and Democratic committees as well as Republican campaigns and Republican committees.”

“I think there is, you know, perhaps a misunderstanding on their part about how California processes ballots and how we ensure that vote counting is accurate and secure,” he added.

As of Tuesday night, Gray was only 182 votes ahead of Duarte. According to Merced Country Registrar of Voters Melvin Levey, about 1,500 ballots are still being challenged, primarily based on voter signatures.

The pair were neck-and-neck in 2022, and Gray lost by 564 votes, making it the second-closest vote in the country in this midterm election.

There are only three congressional elections yet to be called, including Duarte’s.

In California’s 45th Congressional District, Democrat Derek Tran appears to be ahead of Republican Rep. Michelle Steel. Then in Iowa, GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks is ahead of Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan.

Those races had not been announced by the Associated Press as of Wednesday afternoon.

But if current trends continue, Republicans could have a razor-thin majority in the House. In that scenario, they would have started with 220, but Rep. Matt Gaetz resigned his seat after President-elect Donald Trump named him his nominee for attorney general. The former Florida lawmaker also said he will not return to Congress after retiring from the office of attorney general.

As a result, their number fell to 219.

Rep. Elise Stefanik will also resign after Trump nominated her to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The same goes for Rep. Mike Waltz, who becomes national security adviser.

Stefanik requires Senate confirmation, but Waltz does not.

Depending on the timing of their resignation, Republicans could fall as low as 217 to 215 Democrats. That means the GOP will have little room for error in the first votes of the next Congress.

However, these vacancies will not be permanent as states will hold special elections next year to fill their seats.