[ad_1]
WASHINGTON (Reuters): A Democratic campaign to gain control of the United States Senate appeared to not be enough, as Democrats won just one Republican-held seat while six other elections remained undecided on Wednesday (November 4).
The Democrats defeated Republican Senators Cory Gardner of Colorado and Martha McSally of Arizona, but lost the Alabama seat held by Democratic Senator Doug Jones.
To win a majority in the Senate, Democrats would have to win three Republican seats if Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is elected president and Senator Kamala Harris casts the runoff vote as vice president.
But the Democrats’ path to victory narrowed dramatically as the results came in, and the end result may not be known for days and, in some cases, months.
Four Republican incumbents – Joni Ernst from Iowa, Steve Daines from Montana, Lindsey Graham from South Carolina and John Cornyn from Texas – fought back against Democratic challenges, according to the networks and Edison Research.
Republicans also kept an available seat in Kansas, where Republican Roger Marshall was declared the winner over Democrat Barbara Bollier.
Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a moderate considered vulnerable to nuisance, led Democrat Sara Gideon by several percentage points in a race that Gideon predicted would not be called soon.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina declared victory over his Democratic rival, Cal Cunningham, while leading by about 95,000 votes. But the race had not been called.
Republicans now have a majority of 53 to 47 seats in the Senate. Democrats were projected to retain control of the 435-seat House of Representatives.
Gardner, a first-term Republican long considered the most vulnerable Senate incumbent in his party, lost to Hickenlooper in a previously Republican state where demographic shifts have increasingly favored Democrats in recent years, according to projections. from the television networks and Edison Research.
Democrat Mark Kelly, a former American astronaut who had long dominated the Arizona race, was declared the winner while leading McSally by nearly 7 percentage points in the former Republican stronghold.
Jones, the most vulnerable Democrat, lost as expected to Tommy Tuberville in the Republican stronghold of Alabama.
Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, came to victory after presiding over the Senate confirmation of United States Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Cornyn was declared the winner against challenger MJ Hegar in a state that seemed to be drifting towards the Democrats. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell’s Majority Leader won reelection in Kentucky, as expected.
In all, 35 of the 100 Senate seats were available for election.
First-term Republican incumbents also faced challenges in Alaska and in a second Georgia Senate race. Democrat Gary Peters was on the defensive in Michigan.
Expected delays in results
One of Georgia’s two Senate races was projected to reach a runoff on Jan. 5 between Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock.
The final results of a four-way race in Maine between Collins, Gideon and two independent candidates could be delayed from 10 days to two weeks if neither candidate wins an absolute majority and the race is forced into an automatic second round under the voting system. by state classification. , according to a state election official.
Maine voters can rank candidates in order of preference. Without a clear winner on election night, the contest would go into a series of knockout rounds in which lower-ranked candidates drop out until a winner emerges.
In Michigan, where Peters could be vulnerable to a setback from Republican John James, state election officials have warned that final results may not be available until Friday. – Reuters
(Reporting by David Morgan; Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Chris Bing and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Scott Malone, Sonya Hepinstall, Peter Cooney, and Lincoln Feast.)
[ad_2]
