Two more House races called for Dems

Two more House races were called in favor of Democrats Monday evening.

Veteran lawmakers Reps. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) won their seats.

{mosads}Larsen beat Republican challenger John Koster with 51 percent of the vote — The Associated Press called the race Monday evening. Larsen saw his lead expand as votes came in from Snohomish County, which houses Everett and is the biggest county in the district.

Meanwhile, Republican Keith Fimian will concede to Connolly on Tuesday, The Washington Post reported.

Connolly led Fimian by less than 1,000 votes and was declared the winner, although it was unsure if Fimian would request a recount. The concession marks his second straight loss in the 11th district.

Monday night’s results leave eight races up in the air: Reps. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Ben Chandler (D-Ky.), Melissa Bean (D-Ill.), and Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.) are awaiting results.

Meanwhile, Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) saw his election-night lead shrink as ballots were counted. Bishop was ahead by a 3,461-vote margin last Tuesday, which caused The Associated Press to call the election for him. But recanvassing of the voting machines flipped the results to a 383-vote lead for Republican Randy Altschuler. Bishop’s campaign requested a hand recount.

And there’s likely to be a recount in Rep. Bob Etheridge’s (D-N.C.) race. Republican Renee Ellmers leads Etheridge by 1,646 votes, according to unofficial results. As long as Ellmers’s lead doesn’t exceed 1 percent of the vote, or about 1,800 ballots, Etheridge can call for a recount, which his campaign says he will.

Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas) is requesting a recount after trailing Republican Blake Farenthold by less than 800 votes. Farenthold has been declared the winner.

The Larsen and Connolly victories were the third of the outstanding races called for Democrats in the past few days. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) won her race over the weekend.

—Sean J. Miller contributed to this post.