With House district results from across the country flooding in, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) predicted gains of more than 20 Democratic seats and said it “obviously looks like … we’re going to have a very good night”

The early election night projections show House Democrats picking up “a significant number of seats,” Hoyer said, adding that those victories affirm the voters decision from two years ago to hand Democrats control of Congress.

Hoyer said the next Congress will tackle the economy as its “first and biggest” mandate. The next most pressing issue is resolving the war in Iraq, he said, “so we do not leave carnage and chaos behind.”