Republicans Topple At Least 4 House Democrats on Election Night

Republicans defeated at least four Democrats in the United States House in the 2020 election — including two in Florida, one in New York, and a 30-year incumbent in Minnesota.

In Florida, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez, who represents part of Miami in addition to the Florida Keys, defeated Democratic incumbent Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, while Republican and former journalist Maria Elvira Salazar defeated Rep. Donna Shalala, a former aide to Hillary Clinton, to represent a district that mostly includes the city of Miami.

In New York, Republican Nicole Malliotakis announced her victory over incumbent Democratic Rep. Max Rose. Results from New York’s secretary of state showed Malliotakis leading with 57.9 percent of the vote to 42.1 percent for Rose just after 3 a.m. Wednesday.

Minnesota’s secretary of state similarly reported the state’s former Lt. Gov. Michelle Fischbach leading Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson with 53.8 percent of the vote to 39.7 percent for Peterson. The 76-year-old Peterson first won election to the House in 1990 and

went on to represent Minnesota’s rural western district for the next 30 years, enjoying support from more than 72 percent of his district’s voters as recently as 2008.

Democrats held a 232-197 majority in the House heading into the election, which included five vacancies and one seat held by retiring Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, who switched his party affiliation from Republican to Libertarian in April 2020. Observers widely expected Amash to be replaced by Peter Meijer, a Republican candidate for his seat.