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All eyes are on the battle for the White House, but it is not the only contest raging in the United States right now.
The possibly nearly equal Senate control prize is also up for grabs.
The Senate is the upper house of Congress, which has the power to ratify treaties, confirm judges and high-level government appointments, as well as introduce legislation, and its political structure is enormously important to the future of the country.
Currently under Republican control, it had been predicted that the Democrats would possibly win the Senate this time, and to have made progress in Colorado and Arizona, but so far they have failed to change the states needed to win a 51-seat majority.
Just over a third of senators are fighting for their seats in this election, and Democrats must win three if Biden captures the White House to take control of all of Washington for the first time in a decade.
Becoming president without control of the powerful upper house would mean that Biden would be hampered at all times from introducing new Democratic policies and overriding others, unable to pass key laws on issues he has campaigned on, such as healthcare, change. climate and immigration.
And on the other hand, if Trump remains president, a Democratic-controlled Senate could cripple some of his more conservative policies.
A deadlock in the Senate always stalls legislative progress and has recently meant very little progress on things like economic recovery during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Democratic push to gain control of the United States Senate appears, at this time, to be failing, with
the party won just one Republican seat, while six other elections remained undecided early Wednesday.
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Democrats defeated Republican Senators Cory Gardner of Colorado and Martha McSally of Arizona, but lost the Alabama seat held by Democrat Doug Jones.
Four Republican incumbents – Joni Ernst of Iowa, Steve Daines of Montana, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas – appear to have faced Democratic challenges.
Republicans also held a free seat in Kansas.
In total, 35 of the 100 Senate seats are up for election.
The lower house of Congress is the House of Representatives, which has 435 members. Democrats have remained in control, only the second time in a quarter century that they have led the House for two consecutive two-year congresses.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “Our purpose in this race was to win so that we could protect the Affordable Care Act and we could squash the virus.”