WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leaders projected confidence Thursday that they will keep it that way control of the US House as more races were decided in their favor, while Democrats insisted they still saw a path to the majority and sought certainty every vote is counted.

The GOP took two more hard-fought votes seats in Pennsylvaniawhich became a grim battleground of democratic losses, up and down. The Democrats have scored another victory in New Yorkdefeating a third Republican incumbent in that state.

Both parties in the House of Representatives huddled privately on conference calls to assess the political landscape as Congress prepared to return next week a changed Washingtonwhere a whiff of MAGA-infused GOP power is within reach for the president-elect Donald Trump.

“The latest data indicate that we will also maintain – and likely grow – our Republican majority in the House of Representatives.” Speaker Mike Johnson said in a letter to colleagues, asking for their support to retain the gavel.

But the Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said “it remains to be decided” which party will control the House as several key races have not been called.

Seeing their options shrinking, Democrats focused on flipping a handful of seats in Arizona. California and possibly Oregon to close the gap.

“We have to count every vote,” Jeffries said.

A final outcome in the House of Representatives will almost certainly have to wait until next week, at the earliest, when Congress is back in session and preparing to elect its new leaders, including the nominees for Speaker of the House of Representatives and the senator who will replace the outgoing chairman. Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The election results exceeded what Republicans had even hoped for, including a majority in the Senate, where two races were still undecided: in Arizona between Democrat Ruben Gallego and Republican Kari Lake and in Nevada between Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen and Republican Sam Brown.

The Associated Press called more races Thursday. In Pennsylvania, Republican Ryan Mackenzie defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Susan Wild in the Allentown district, and Republican Robert Bresnahan ousted Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright in the northeastern part of the state.

The Senate race in Pennsylvania between Senator Bob Casey and wealthy businessman Dave McCormick was decided in McCormick’s favor, giving Republicans a 53rd seat in the House.

Democrats made up some ground in New York, where Laura Gillen defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, the third blow for Democrats in Jeffries’ home state.

Attention increasingly turned to the West, where Democrats looked at what was left of their path to the majority.

Democrats would need to win the most closely contested races, including two in Arizona and several in California, to win power. But the numbers are expected to continue as California in particular counts ballots that arrive in the week after the election.

Republican Rep. Richard Hudson, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, told lawmakers in a private call that he is confident the Republican Party will retain the majority in the House of Representatives, according to a Republican familiar with the call, but spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to make details public.

Trump is consolidating power in Washington and returning to the White House as a much more dominant force than in his first term, when Republicans divided their support for him and some were openly skeptical of, if not against, his rise.

This time, Johnson and the Senate GOP leaders have done just that moved closer to Trumprelying on his power for their own, while pushing a common Republican agenda that better aligns with his “Make America Great Again” priorities.

Johnson used a football metaphor in his letter to colleagues to say he is “ready to get on the field with all of you” to play “the biggest foul of our lives.”

Although Johnson is poised to remain Speaker of the House of Representatives in the new Congress, the question is whether Republicans will retain control who will replace McConnellwho led his party in flipping control of the Senate is its own intense battle.

The choices facing Republican senators for a new leader lie between the “Johns” – No. 2 Republican senator. John Thune and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas — and a longshot, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who is favored by far-right conservatives in the Senate who want Trump to enter the race.

Cornyn and Thune, who both campaigned for Trump, are building support among senators in what is expected to be a tight race for private votes.

Thune has been working to repair a rocky relationship with Trump, and the two did not speak until Wednesday, according to another Republican familiar with the private conversation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss it.

The South Dakota senator had criticized Trump in the aftermath of the 2020 election for fueling claims of fraudulent voting ahead of the election. January 6, 2021: Attack on the Capitol. Thune and Trump have been in contact throughout the year, the person said.

Thune has suggested that it might be best if Trump stayed out of the leadership race.

“It’s his prerogative to comment on that,” Thune told Fox News. “Honestly, I think if he plays it out, we’ll find the right person. “I’ve had conversations with him and told him we want to get his team in place so he can hit the ground running and get started on an agenda to ensure he and our team succeed.”

Republicans are looking forward to quick action, in line with Trump’s priorities from day onewhich revolve around lowering taxes, deporting immigrants who are in the country without certain legal status, and reducing federal regulations and operations.

But after the chaos of the past two years in which Republicans controlled the House of Representatives, it is unclear how much Republicans will be able to accomplish, especially if they once again have a razor-thin majority with few seats left for dissent, despite opposition from Democrats.

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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves, Farnoush Amiri and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.