A perfect storm swept the country Tuesday night as voters showed they were tired of weathering high prices for gas, food, health care, and housing. Turnout topped 124 million, about 49% of the electorate, second only to 2018 for a midterm election. Yet this election, versus 2016, saw the most significant wave in years, with the Democrats already at 43 seats flipped. The Senate has Democrats at +7, with the potential to reach 9 seats. This includes improbable seats in South Carolina (+4.5), Mississippi, Kansas (+5), and Iowa. They held Michigan easily with a 4% win, flipped Ohio by 5% and won Texas by a whopping 12%.
So the 120th Congress will have significant Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. We lost some LIHTC supporters, but none were significant enough to crimp our efforts to expand the program, which is currently focused on increasing demand. On the tax side, we will see LIHTC champions Senator Ron Wyden and Congressman Richie Neal once again ascend to the chairmanship of the tax writing committees. As you know, we have very close relationships with both Chairmen. Senator Cantwell will lead the AHCIA, with Senator Young by her side leading the Republican effort.
Regarding appropriations, we are very sorry to see Senator Collins tenure as Appropriations chair end. She is a housing stalwart and will be difficult to replace. We are waiting to hear if the Republican appropriations staff will stay on, with Senator Lisa Murkowski taking over the ranking member role on the committee. We have a very good relationship with the incoming chair, Senator Patty Murray from Washington. On the House side, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut will assume the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, another Member with whom we have a relationship.
With the incoming Democratic leadership, we have strong relationships with incoming Speaker Hakeem Jeffries and Majority Leader Katherine Clark, whom David has known and supported since she entered Congress. In the Senate, we expect Senator Schumer to again serve as Majority Leader, with Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, a longtime affordable housing supporter, coming in as Majority Whip. We have worked with Senator Schatz's staff on housing issues, most recently the successful effort to remove the build-to-rent prohibition from the ROAD to Housing bill.
On the authorizing committees, there may be a battle for the Financial Services chair between current ranking member Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California and Congressman Sean Casten of Illinois. We have worked closely with Cong. Waters' staff on the ROAD Act and BABA. On the Senate side, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts will become chair of the Banking Committee. David has worked with the Senator since she ran for the Senate and has a very good working relationship with her staff.
We will provide more once the leadership elections and committee chair decisions have been finalized in the coming weeks. The lame-duck session begins next week, and we will see what the Republican majority tries to get done in the final weeks of the 119th Congress. We know they will have to pass another continuing resolution by December 11. They may also try to pass the National Defense Authorization Act and bring the Farm Bill to the floor for a vote.
The Senate is unlikely to move on the reconciliation bill passed by the House, as the votes do not appear to be there. Attendance by Members retiring or defeated for reelection will be an issue in the lame-duck session, so how much they can accomplish and how long they are in session will be one of the issues we are following.
We appreciate your continued advocacy at home and support for our efforts in Washington. For 33 years, the Housing Advisory Group has been at the center of every significant LIHTC advancement, drawing on the strength of our membership and our relationships on Capitol Hill and with successive administrations. We are well positioned to continue that success in the 120th Congress.