The 2026 midterm election is over, but the counting is not. Democrats have already won control of both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate, yet 54 House races remained uncalled on Wednesday, November 4, according to the Associated Press count — and the five closest of them are separated by 99 votes, 233 votes, 280 votes, 323 votes and 1,116 votes. In each of those five districts, the Associated Press still lists the race as too early to call, with provisional ballots, mail ballots and, in at least two states, recounts still to come.

Source: Associated Press election results — U.S. House, national, Nov. 4, 2026

The AP's national House table shows Democrats with 235 seats already won and leading in 26 more districts, against 146 seats won by Republicans, who lead in 28 more. A party needs 218 of the 435 House seats for a majority, and Democrats held 215 seats before the election against 219 for Republicans and one other member caucusing with Republicans — so the uncalled races will not change who controls the chamber, but they will decide how large the new Democratic majority is, and whether several long-serving Republican incumbents survive at all.

Source: Associated Press election results — U.S. House balance of power, Nov. 4, 2026

North Carolina's 5th: 99 votes, and a congresswoman since 2005 in danger

The closest House race in America is in northwestern North Carolina. Democrat Chuck Hubbard leads Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx by 99 votes — 139,034 to 138,935 in the AP count — with all 230 precincts reporting and an estimated 99 percent of the vote counted. Foxx has represented the district since 2005 and chairs the powerful House Rules Committee, which controls which bills reach the floor. Hubbard is a former journalist whose family owned the Wilkes Journal-Patriot newspaper until 2020, and before Tuesday he had won only one race in his life: his March primary.

Source: Associated Press election results — U.S. House District 5, North Carolina

Neither campaign is treating the race as finished. Foxx's campaign said the counting process has not ended under state law, that military ballots may still be outstanding and that provisional ballots must still be counted — noting that more than 1,000 provisional ballots were cast in this contest two years ago and that Republicans netted a total that would eclipse the current 99-vote margin. In Watauga County alone, the board of elections is working through approximately 300 provisional ballots, will meet at 1 p.m. on November 10 to approve or reject them, and the county canvass that certifies the results takes place on November 13. Under North Carolina law, a candidate trailing by no more than 1 percent of the votes cast can ask for a recount after the canvass.

Source: Ashe Post & Times — Foxx, Hubbard await provisional count, Nov. 4, 2026

North Carolina's 3rd: 233 votes the other way

Two districts away, the mirror image: Republican Rep. Greg Murphy leads Democrat Raymond Smith by 233 votes — 117,583 to 117,350 in the AP count — with all 190 precincts reporting in eastern North Carolina. Murphy, a physician from Greenville who has held the seat for seven years, has declared victory, but the AP still lists the race as too early to call, and the margin sits well inside the state's 1-percent recount threshold, with absentee and provisional ballots still to be counted at the November 13 canvass. The county detail shows how scrambled the map became: Murphy lost his home Pitt County to Smith by 36,071 votes to 25,666, but won Smith's home Wayne County by 19,565 to 18,530.

Source: Greenville Daily Reflector — Murphy gets narrow win, Nov. 4, 2026

Tennessee's 4th: a 280-vote upset nobody budgeted for

In Tennessee's 4th District, Democrat Victoria Broderick leads Republican Rep. Scott DesJarlais by 280 votes — 95,585 to 95,305 in the AP count — with 193 of 195 precincts reporting. DesJarlais, a physician who has held the seat since 2011 and was seeking a ninth term, had not conceded in the Nashville Banner's reporting. Broderick, a 34-year-old tech professional from Lincoln County, first ran against him in 2024 and lost by more than 40 percentage points; this time she reported raising less than $100,000 by October 14 against more than $600,000 for DesJarlais. Tennessee Republicans' mid-decade redistricting moved the southeastern corner of Nashville's Davidson County into the 4th District, and Broderick won that portion by more than 25,000 votes while holding on in purple Rutherford County — enough, on the unofficial tally, to make her the only Democrat in Tennessee's congressional delegation.

Source: Nashville Banner — Victoria Broderick wins in Tennessee's 4th District, Nov. 4, 2026

Minnesota's 1st: 323 votes and an automatic recount

In southern Minnesota's 1st District, Democrat Jake Johnson leads Republican Rep. Brad Finstad by 323 votes — 163,056 to 162,733 in the AP count — with all 750 precincts reporting. Johnson, 43, is a math teacher at Mayo High School in Rochester who declared victory in a news release; the Minnesota DFL Party chair, Richard Carlbom, issued a statement celebrating the result. Finstad, 50, a fourth-generation farmer from New Ulm, won the seat in an August 2022 special election and was re-elected in 2022 and 2024, in a district Donald Trump carried by nearly 12 percentage points in 2024. Local reporting across the district describes the same expectation: a margin this small — inside a quarter of a percentage point — triggers a publicly funded recount under Minnesota law.

Source: WJON / Townsquare Media — Election Results: Close 1st District Congressional Race, Nov. 4, 2026

Florida's 27th: 1,116 votes, inside the automatic recount line

The largest of the five close margins is still a recount margin. In Miami's 27th District, Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar leads Democrat Eliott Rodriguez by 1,116 votes — 124,483 to 123,367 in the AP count — with 216 of 219 precincts reporting. Rodriguez, a former news anchor running for office for the first time, said the race 'is not over, and we are not conceding,' putting the margin at 0.46 percentage points — inside Florida's 0.5-percent threshold for an automatic machine recount. Salazar, who has held the seat since January 2021, is seeking a fourth term and claimed victory on X; two years ago she cruised to re-election by 21 points. Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia said 202 mail-in ballots were still being processed and provisional ballots from early voting and Election Day were still being reviewed.

Source: NBC News live updates via Europe Says — Democrats win control of the House and Senate, Nov. 4, 2026

What happens next, state by state

Florida moves first: Miami-Dade's Canvassing Board reconvenes on Friday, November 6 to review the remaining ballots, and if the Secretary of State orders the automatic recount, Garcia said it would not begin before Saturday, November 7. In North Carolina, Watauga County rules on its provisional ballots on November 10 and the county canvasses certify results on November 13, after which a trailing candidate inside 1 percent can demand a recount. In Minnesota, the canvass comes first and the publicly funded recount follows because the margin is inside a quarter point. Tennessee's 280-vote race likewise awaits its remaining precincts and certification before any challenge. The Congress elected on November 3 is sworn in on January 3, 2027 — by then, every one of these counts must be final.

A caution that applies to all five races: every figure in this report is an unofficial count reported by the Associated Press and state boards of elections, not a certified result. Provisional and late mail ballots have already moved several of these margins during Wednesday's counting, and they can move again before certification.