Erin Covey· Oct 17, 2024
Covey said whichever party wins the House will do so by only a couple of seats and that Republicans have the slightest of edges, citing Cook's tally of 202 races favoring Democrats and 207 favoring Republicans. She also gave Cook's ratings: Lean Democratic in Oregon's 6th, Lean Democratic for Brandon Williams' upstate New York seat and Marcy Kaptur's Ohio seat, and Republicans as slight favorites to hold New York's 17th.
“I think you can probably say that maybe Republicans have the slightest of edges, but it is very, very close.”
said on air, transcribed by us · The Inside Elections Podcast · read the original →
7 checkable claims — 4 race winners, 2 seat counts and 1 control of congres — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call.
All 7 have settled, averaging 81.4 out of 100, against 82.9 for a naive guess at the same calls.
Their call against what happened
Their call against what actually happened.
Where do you stand? Pick this and every open claim on Picks →
7 checkable claims in this take
Each one is scored on its own against the published methodology. A pundit naming several outcomes is graded on each, not on all-or-nothing.
- Seat CountsOct 17, 2024
“We still have... We have 202 races favoring, Democrats, 207 favoring Republicans.”
Miss · 35Scored 35a naive guess scored 90-56.1 skillHow this was scored
- election year:
- 2024
- party:
- Democratic
- seats after:
- 215
- skill:
- −56.1
- topic:
- elections
- what happened:
- 215
- result from:
- house: Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives, Party Divisions of the House of Representatives (https://history.house.gov/Institution/Party-Divisions/Party-Divisions/)
- chamber:
- 2024-house
- what they counted:
- seats held
- accuracy:
- 35
- baseline:
- 90
- they said:
- 202
- days before the vote when called:
- 18
- difficulty:
- 1.02
- seats before:
- 213
- the naive guess:
- no change from the previous election
- Election Day:
- 2024-11-05
- the naive guess said:
- 213
- Race WinnersOct 17, 2024
“right now, we have Brandon Williams, a Republican in Upstate New York in the lean Democrat column”
Hit · 100Scored 100a naive guess scored 0+102 skillHow this was scored
- right:
- yes
- race:
- 2024-house-ny-22
- election year:
- 2024
- skill:
- 102
- topic:
- elections
- held going in by:
- Republican
- in their words:
- lean Democrat
- result from:
- wikipedia-2024-house
- who won:
- John Mannion
- accuracy:
- 100
- baseline:
- 0
- race name:
- 2024 U.S. House election in New York's district 22
- decided in the:
- general
- they said:
- John Mannion
- days before the vote when called:
- 18
- difficulty:
- 1.02
- the winner's party:
- Democratic
- the naive guess:
- the party holding the seat keeps it
- Election Day:
- 2024-11-05
- the result is:
- certified
- the party they named:
- Democratic
- Seat CountsOct 17, 2024
“We still have... We have 202 races favoring, Democrats, 207 favoring Republicans.”
Miss · 35Scored 35a naive guess scored 90-56.1 skillHow this was scored
- election year:
- 2024
- party:
- Republican
- seats after:
- 220
- skill:
- −56.1
- topic:
- elections
- what happened:
- 220
- result from:
- house: Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives, Party Divisions of the House of Representatives (https://history.house.gov/Institution/Party-Divisions/Party-Divisions/)
- chamber:
- 2024-house
- what they counted:
- seats held
- accuracy:
- 35
- baseline:
- 90
- they said:
- 207
- days before the vote when called:
- 18
- difficulty:
- 1.02
- seats before:
- 222
- the naive guess:
- no change from the previous election
- Election Day:
- 2024-11-05
- the naive guess said:
- 222
- Race WinnersOct 17, 2024
“I think New York seventeen is definitely a race that fits in that category... now it's at a point where it looks like Republicans are at least the slight favorite, to hold it.”
Hit · 100Scored 100a naive guess scored 100+0 skillHow this was scored
- right:
- yes
- race:
- 2024-house-ny-17
- election year:
- 2024
- skill:
- 0
- topic:
- elections
- held going in by:
- Republican
- in their words:
- at least the slight favorite, to hold it
- result from:
- wikipedia-2024-house
- who won:
- Mike Lawler
- accuracy:
- 100
- baseline:
- 100
- race name:
- 2024 U.S. House election in New York's district 17
- decided in the:
- general
- they said:
- Mike Lawler
- days before the vote when called:
- 18
- difficulty:
- 1.02
- the winner's party:
- Republican
- the naive guess:
- the party holding the seat keeps it
- Election Day:
- 2024-11-05
- the result is:
- certified
- the party they named:
- Republican
- Race WinnersOct 17, 2024
“We have we have her in lean d, which is probably the one that Republicans disagree with the most out of all of our ratings.”
Hit · 100Scored 100a naive guess scored 100+0 skillHow this was scored
- right:
- yes
- race:
- 2024-house-oh-09
- election year:
- 2024
- skill:
- 0
- topic:
- elections
- held going in by:
- Democratic
- in their words:
- lean d
- result from:
- wikipedia-2024-house
- who won:
- Marcy Kaptur
- accuracy:
- 100
- baseline:
- 100
- race name:
- 2024 U.S. House election in Ohio's district 9
- decided in the:
- general
- they said:
- Marcy Kaptur
- days before the vote when called:
- 18
- difficulty:
- 1.02
- the winner's party:
- Democratic
- the naive guess:
- the party holding the seat keeps it
- Election Day:
- 2024-11-05
- the result is:
- certified
- the party they named:
- Democratic
- Race WinnersOct 17, 2024
“We just moved that race to solid Democratic, and you guys still have it at lean Democratic... So I do think this is a race that probably should move on our end.”
Hit · 100Scored 100a naive guess scored 100+0 skillHow this was scored
- right:
- yes
- race:
- 2024-house-or-06
- election year:
- 2024
- skill:
- 0
- topic:
- elections
- held going in by:
- Democratic
- in their words:
- lean Democratic
- result from:
- wikipedia-2024-house
- who won:
- Andrea Salinas
- accuracy:
- 100
- baseline:
- 100
- race name:
- 2024 U.S. House election in Oregon's district 6
- decided in the:
- general
- they said:
- Andrea Salinas
- days before the vote when called:
- 18
- difficulty:
- 1.02
- the winner's party:
- Democratic
- the naive guess:
- the party holding the seat keeps it
- Election Day:
- 2024-11-05
- the result is:
- certified
- the party they named:
- Democratic
- Control of CongressOct 17, 2024
“And so I think if you... If you're just, like, dividing it down the middle, it's like, I I think you can probably say that maybe Republicans have the slightest of edges, but it is very, very close.”
Hit · 100Scored 100a naive guess scored 100+0 skillHow this was scored
- right:
- yes
- election year:
- 2024
- skill:
- 0
- topic:
- elections
- in their words:
- maybe Republicans have the slightest of edges
- result from:
- house: Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives, Party Divisions of the House of Representatives (https://history.house.gov/Institution/Party-Divisions/Party-Divisions/)
- chamber:
- 2024-house
- who controls it:
- Republican
- accuracy:
- 100
- baseline:
- 100
- they said:
- Republican
- days before the vote when called:
- 18
- difficulty:
- 1.02
- the naive guess:
- the party in control going in keeps it
- Election Day:
- 2024-11-05
- who controlled it before:
- Republican
More race winners
The same kind of call, about other players and teams.
- Jim GeraghtyRace WinnersMiss · 0Geraghty said Republicans would clearly win the House, but with a majority in the twenties rather than a 40-50 seat wave, and that the GOP would take the Senate by about one seat. He called Budd, Vance and Johnson winners in their Senate races, Kiggans a winner in Virginia's 2nd, Fetterman the likely winner in Pennsylvania, Laxalt the safer GOP bet in Nevada, and liked Walker's odds in a Georgia runoff.
- Megyn KellyRace WinnersHit · 100Kelly predicted Republicans would win control of the House, that Ron Johnson would hold Wisconsin given Mandela Barnes' record on crime, and that JD Vance would win in Ohio.
- Tom BevanRace WinnersHit · 100Bevan said Republicans would still take the House and would win the Senate by a margin of one or two seats, that Oz would fall short in Pennsylvania, and gave expected winning margins of roughly eight points for Vance in Ohio, about five for Budd in North Carolina, and a very narrow Walker edge in Georgia.
- Dennis PragerRace WinnersMiss · 0Asked who a Georgia Senate runoff would favor, Prager said it would favor Herschel Walker, because the contest would effectively be about control of the Senate.
- Megyn KellyRace WinnersMiss · 0Kelly said the worst case for Republicans was taking only the House, predicted Lee Zeldin would win the New York governor's race, and agreed the New Hampshire Republican Senate candidate would win.
- Matt ContinettiRace WinnersHit · 100Continetti forecast a big Republican night: a House gain of 20 to 30 seats or more and three to four Senate pickups, with Ron DeSantis reelected in Florida.