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At the same time as the presidential elections, a third of the 100 seats in the Senate will be awarded. The choice is almost as important. Because if the party that provides the president does not achieve a majority, it cannot pass many laws. And the election brought in some surprise winners.
For example, Republican Susan Collins secured the spot for the US state of Maine, even though it was behind in all polls. Election observers actually assumed that their zigzag course on Donald Trump could cost them votes.
Sometimes I criticized Trump, sometimes I protected him
Collins is a moderate Republican and has cautiously criticized the incumbent president in recent months. The 67-year-old spoke out against the swift confirmation of Trump-nominated constitutional judge Amy Coney Barrett ahead of the congressional and presidential elections.
Then the president repeatedly attacked the senator. Two years ago, however, Collins accepted the appeal of the also controversial Judge Brett Kavanaugh and supported Trump in the impeachment process.
Former astronaut Mark Kelly became the surprise winner of the Democrats. He won a Senate seat in the traditionally Republican state of Arizona. Fun fact: Along with her brother Scott, Kelly is the only identical twin astronaut pair to date, helping science make amazing discoveries.
Republicans expected to retain a majority in the Senate
Democrat Sarah McBride was elected as the first transgender senator. He now represents the US state of Delaware. She hopes the elections will show transgender children “that our democracy is big enough for them too,” she wrote on Twitter about her election victory.
However, there were also several obstacles for Democrats. They failed to defeat the Republican senators in some races that polls considered close:
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So the Democrat Jamie Harrison could not prevail over the former head of the judicial committee Lindsey Graham.
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Republican Mitch McConnell also defended his seat. Democrats had sent former driver Amy McGrath, 45, to the race against McConnell, 78, with large funds in the state of Kentucky. In vain.
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Unsurprisingly, the Democrats lost the Alabama Senate seat. Democratic Senator Doug Jones was defeated by former football coach Tommy Tuberville, who ran for Republicans.
In fact, the Democrats had planned to win a majority in the Senate. They currently have 45 votes. However, based on current projections, Republicans are likely to retain their majority. Even if Democrat Joe Biden became president, he could hardly implement his major reform plans.
In particular, the current leader of the Senate, Republican Mitch McConnell, thwarted many projects during Barack Obama’s tenure after Democrats lost a majority in the Senate in 2014.
