Republicans poised to expand majority in House --- Republicans were poised Tuesday to expand their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, padding their numbers with a new group of conservatives likely to press the party’s assertive control of Congress’s lower chamber. -- Drama on Election Day belonged to the Senate, where polls showed an unusual number of extremely tight races as Republicans looked to snatch control from Democrats. The outcome in the House has for months been merely a matter of degree, as Republicans have aimed to expand their 234-seat majority. -- Their goal has been to win at least 12 seats and attain or exceed the largest majority of the post-World War II era. Most prognosticators before the election said they would probably pick up at least five seats and could reach the historic mark. -- Though all 435 House seats were technically up for grabs, only about 40 races were even moderately competitive, a result of gerrymandered districts and a nation whose partisan divides mirror geography. Of those races, far more contests featured incumbent Democrats attempting to fend off Republican challengers than the reverse. -- The limited number of competitive races did little to stem spending on the battle for the House. An analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project found that more than $234 million was spent on a whopping 480,307 airings of television ads to sway House voters alone. -- Read More, http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republicans-poised-to-expand-majority-in-house/2014/11/04/1fd2530c-6392-11e4-9fdc-d43b053ecb4d_story.html