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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

202They said
215What happened

Their call against what actually happened.

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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 skill
    How 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

    Think this is wrong?

  • 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 skill
    How 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

    Think this is wrong?

  • 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 skill
    How 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

    Think this is wrong?

  • 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 skill
    How 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

    Think this is wrong?

  • 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 skill
    How 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

    Think this is wrong?

  • 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 skill
    How 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

    Think this is wrong?

  • “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 skill
    How 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

    Think this is wrong?

More race winners

The same kind of call, about other players and teams.