Republicans jumped ahead to early leads in key congressional races in Indiana, Florida and Virginia as they pressed to wrest control of the House from Democrats on Tuesday.
Democrats scratched to keep their majority, holding onto one threatened seat in Kentucky and fighting to keep another.
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Republican Larry Bucshon was ahead for an open seat in Indiana vacated by Democratic Rep. Brad Ellsworth, while the first returns showed two of the state’s Democratic incumbents, Baron Hill and Joe Donnelly, trailing in bids to hold onto their seats.
Across the country, freshman Democrats fought to survive. Outspoken liberal Rep. Alan Grayson was trailing badly in early returns in his Orlando-area swing district, while Rep. Tom Perriello was behind in his conservative Southside Virginia district.
In Kentucky, however, Rep. John Yarmuth won and Rep. Ben Chandler was holding off his Republican challenger in a Lexington-area district targeted by the GOP.
“This thing is not over,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the Democratic House campaign chief.
Republicans need to capture 40 seats to reclaim control of the House that they lost in 2006.
They were hoping for a blowout to rival the party’s success in 1994, when it won 52 seats and took control of the House for the first time in 40 years.
