Incumbent Mimi Walters Fends Off Democratic Challenger In Orange County's 45th District

MISSION VIEJO (CBSLA/AP) – With 100 precincts reporting, Republican Rep. Mimi Walters appears to have held on to her seat with 51.7 percent of the vote.

In the closely fought suburbs of the 45th District, which stretches from Anaheim Hills to Mission Viejo, Walters managed to fend off challenger Democrat Katie Porter.

Nowhere were the stakes higher than in Orange County, a one-time Republican stronghold where Democrats were trying to claim several GOP-held House seats. Those districts figure prominently in the party's national goal to retake control of the House.

Democrats are projected to take the House, a change in Washington that will mean more gridlock for President Trump's agenda, and congressional investigations into the president, his businesses, and Cabinet members.

Republicans are projected to keep control of the Senate.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)