KTLA

California could determine the balance of power in the U.S. House

Several U.S. House races in California may determine which political party controls the U.S. House of Representatives.

After Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto won her race in Nevada Saturday night, Democrats are expected to retain their control of the Senate. Now, all eyes are focused on too close-to-call House seat races, with 12 undecided races in the Golden State.

The candidates in three specific races are separated by less than three percentage points with votes still being counted.

A party needs 218 seats to gain control of the House. As of Sunday, Republicans had secured 212 and Democrats have a total of 204, the Associated Press reported.

A Californian is poised to take on the role of House Speaker, regardless of which party wins.

Either Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat, will keep her current position or be replaced by Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from Bakersfield.

The heated race to determine who will become the next mayor of Los Angeles is also too close to call. The latest vote count from Sunday shows that Rep. Karen Bass has a narrow lead over Rick Caruso by more than 9,400 votes.

For the L.A. County sheriff’s race, former Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna has continued to grow his lead over Alex Villanueva. An updated vote count from Friday shows that Luna carried a lead of more than 205,000 votes.