House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday night that she's confident Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives.

"We are going to win tonight in the House," the San Francisco Democrat said on PBS’ “NewsHour,” “because of the quality of our candidates, because of the vitality at the grass-roots level, because of the power of our message — lower healthcare costs, bigger paychecks, more honest government.”

Democrats are confident they will pick up more than the 23 seats they need to take control of the House, although some are skeptical of any Democrat who is measuring the drapes before polls close.

Once upon a time, Joe Way, a 45-year-old Lake Forest university administrator, was a registered Democrat.

That was before 9/11, and before he had a daughter. Taxes, safety and the economy were top of mind as he chose how to cast his ballot Tuesday at a Lake Forest clubhouse.

”I just like how things are going, and I don’t want stalemate,” Way said. “The economy is doing great and that’s a big factor.”

"The president ... has made the choice clear. ... Tonight, we can continue down the path of American prosperity and security or we can go backwards."

Dewayne Normand is a dedicated Republican voter and a proud supporter of Donald Trump. 

But his vote for the 47th Congressional District didn’t come down just to that.

"I don't just vote because of whether they're blue or red. I vote based on what they do, what they talk about,” Normand said after casting his ballot outside an early vote center at a Buena Park farmers market on Saturday.

Pitzer College student Judith Welch, 18, is a first-time voter. She’s voting to maintain the progressive rights that she enjoys in this country.

Mike and Leslie Schroeder recently moved from Los Angeles to the heart of conservative Orange County because they could afford a bigger house with a yard in Huntington Beach.

Another benefit they see for the move: Their vote could make difference in Congress. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa), an outspoken supporter of President Trump, is fighting the toughest reelection bid of his 30-year congressional career, and polls have him neck-and-neck with his Democratic challenger, Harley Rouda.

The Schroeders came to the polling station at Marine View Middle School to get rid of Rohrabacher and strip Trump of the power he has now with Congress.

Kyra Kirkwood long considered herself a “conservative” Democrat — she didn’t tend to vote along party lines and thought of herself as more conservative when it came to ballot measures. She’s voted for Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) before, and she remembers voting for George H.W. Bush during her first presidential election.

This year’s different.

“For the first time, I’m actually voting strongly on party lines just because I don’t like what’s happening,” she said, as she browsed the Buena Park farmers market Saturday. “There’s a lot of us-versus-them mentality going on, and I think it’s really dividing the country.”

A line of hundreds of people snaked around the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office in Norwalk Tuesday as people sought an opportunity to vote.

Many of them had registered at the last moment or had recently moved to Los Angeles County and were directed to the office by voting officials.

Staff handed out water bottles, forms and pens, and told would-be voters that their estimated wait time was two hours. Staff estimated that on Monday there were thousands of people who showed up to iron out similar registration issues. 

Republican candidate for California governor John Cox delivered pizza to Rep. Mimi Walters at her campaign headquarters in Newport Beach on election day. Walters, the incumbent Republican candidate for the 45th Congressional District, is facing off against Democrat Katie Porter. More election day photos: America goes to the polls

Alex Kim and his younger brother pored over the names and issues linked to Tuesday's election. Then they marked their ballot guides and went to vote as a family.

"This is our tradition. We love following it and we believe it makes us more aware of such a great privilege," said Kim, 46, a Newport Beach resident for nearly 30 years.

Kim, who is a registered Republican in a Korean American family of mostly Republicans, doesn't think President Trump was a factor in how he voted. Take the Senate race between Dianne Feinstein and Kevin de León.