Despite retaining the House of Representatives, the Democrats’ path to change control of the United States Senate narrowed sharply early Wednesday after two key Republicans facing tough re-election battles were victorious. Democrats traded two U.S. Senate seats in the western states of Colorado and Arizona on Tuesday, the networks projected.
But the blue wave that many Democrats predicted may have gotten there, possibly short of the three or four seats they needed to take control of the upper house of Congress. Republicans toppled a vulnerable Democrat in Alabama, and the GOP held its ground in other key races, often defying polls that warned how President Donald Trump could be a drag on Republican rulers defending vulnerable seats in the Senate.
Senator Lindsey Graham, under intense pressure after overseeing the controversial confirmation process for a Supreme Court justice weeks before the presidential vote, fought a fierce defiance from African-American Jaime Harrison in the conservative stronghold of South Carolina.
“We didn’t get the result at the ballot box that we wanted, but we showed courage and determination,” Harrison, an African-American candidate who had raised record amounts of campaign funds, said in a statement.
Republicans did well elsewhere, too, including Kentucky, where Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell easily prevailed, Texas and Montana.
‘Save the Senate’
Iowa junior senator Joni Ernst, a close Trump ally who Democrats targeted intensely, also defeated her rival, multiple US networks projected. “We did it!” Ernst said relieved on Twitter.
Another hotly contested seat was tilting the way for Republicans in North Carolina, where networks had yet to call the race, but Senator Thom Tillis claimed a crucial victory, with about 94 percent of the votes counted.
“What we achieved tonight was an impressive victory, and we did it against all odds, right?” Tillis told boisterous supporters, adding that he was doing his part “to save the Senate.”
Polls had shown that several races were leaning toward the Democrats, and election forecaster FiveThirtyEight gave Democrats a three-in-four chance of winning control of the Senate.
Joe Biden’s Democrats would need to win four seats to take the chamber, or three seats if Biden wins the White House, as a vice president breaks a tie in the Senate in the event of a 50-50 vote.
Democrats now see Maine and Georgia as possible changes.
But embattled Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins was seven percentage points ahead with two-thirds of the precincts reporting, and in Georgia incumbent David Perdue was Top Democrat Jon Ossoff with 90 percent of the precincts reporting.
If Democrats can win one of these seats, control of the House could be at stake until a second round is held in the other special elections for the Georgia Senate on January 5, 2021.
Controlling the Senate is vital as the ruling party determines which bills make it to the floor and which of the president’s nominees receive confirmation votes.
Meanwhile, Democrats kept the House of Representatives, and President Nancy Pelosi, Trump’s main nemesis in Washington, will likely preside over his flock for two more years, but it was unclear whether Democrats could increase their majority.
Popular New York progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez comfortably secured a second term, as did the other three members of “The Squad,” a liberal quartet that has occasionally faced intense criticism from Trump and his allies.
“I’m very, very proud of the fact that relatively early tonight we can say that we have had the House,” Pelosi said.
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