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Edison Research predicted Saturday that Democrats will retain control of the U.S. Senate next year after Sen. Kathryn Cortez Masto wins re-election in Nevada, handing a major victory to President Joe Biden.
Still, Republicans remain close to winning control of the U.S. House of Representatives as officials continue to count votes in Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections.
Cortez Masto narrowly defeated Republican challenger Adam Laxart, a former state attorney general backed by former President Donald Trump.
Masto won late Friday after Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly won re-election in Arizona, where Democrats will take control of at least 50 Senate seats, the vice president said. Kamala Harris Able to break the deadlock in a 100-member House.
The Senate is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans. The newly elected Senate will be sworn in on Jan. 3.
If Democratic Senator Rafael Warnock wins the Dec. 6 runoff in Georgia against Republican challenger Herschel Walker, that would expand the Democratic majority to 51-49. That, in turn, would give Democrats an extra edge in passing a limited number of contentious bills that allow for a simple majority instead of the 60 needed for most legislation.
Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kirsten Sinema of Arizona are “swinging” votes, blocking or delaying some of Biden’s major initiatives, including expanding some social programs.
But in the upcoming Congress, with Democrats holding 51 seats, Manchin and Sinema will be slightly less influential.
It remains to be seen which side will hold the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives over the next two years. Republicans continued to hold the upper hand, but still paid off in several races, including many in liberal-leaning California.
Democrats scored a major victory in Washington’s 3rd congressional district on Saturday, with Democrat Mary Grusenkamp Perez defeating Trump-backed Joe Kent.
It could be days or more before the results of enough House races are known to determine party control of that 435-seat chamber.
Democrats got a major boost late Friday when Sen. Kelly, D-Ariz., was expected to keep his seat, beating Republican Blake Masters, who, like Laxalter, got Trump support. The Masters didn’t budge.
Former Navy combat pilot and astronaut Kelly gave a brief victory speech to his supporters in Phoenix on Saturday, with his wife, former Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords, by his side. His remarks focused on working in Congress in a bipartisan way.
Kelly did not mention Masters, but said: “We have seen the consequences when leaders refuse to accept the truth and focus more on the conspiracies of the past than on addressing the challenges we face today.”
In the midterms, many Republican candidates, including Masters, echoed former President Trump’s false argument that he lost the 2020 election to Biden due to massive voter fraud.
In Nevada, where officials in Clark County are processing ballots that arrive by mail and drop boxes, county registrar Joe Gloria said no candidates have filed fraud charges with his office.
“We have not heard anything from any activity related to fraud or questioning the process or outcome,” he told a news conference.
In Arizona’s gubernatorial race, with no expected winner yet, Democrat Katie Hobbs has a narrow lead over Republican Cary Lake.Democrats run for Nevada secretary of state Cisco Aguilar defeated Republican Jim Marchant, a prominent Trump supporter of false claims of 2020 voter fraud.
involving judicial nominations
The Democratic-controlled Senate will insure Biden that dozens of his candidates for federal judges will be confirmed under the direction of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
That’s especially important for Democrats if the U.S. Supreme Court seat, which now holds a 6-3 conservative majority, opens in the final two years of Biden’s term.
When the outgoing Senate returns Monday for a post-election working session that could last into late December, Schumer is aiming to immediately confirm two other federal judges awaiting final votes.
Wandering through the 2022 midterms all year is Trump, who has used his continued popularity among far-right conservatives to sway Republican candidates for Congress, gubernatorial and local races.
With Republicans underperforming Tuesday — even if they did win a narrow majority in the House — Trump has been accused of boosting candidates who have failed to attract a broad enough electorate.
Laxalt and Walker of Georgia both won Trump’s support. A Republican loss in either race could further dent Trump’s popularity, as advisers say he is considering announcing a third presidential bid in 2024.
House Republicans, if they are victorious, have pledged to try to reverse Biden’s victory on climate change and hope to make permanent a slew of tax cuts set to expire in 2017. They also plan to investigate the activities of the Biden administration and the president’s son, who does business with him. Ukraine and China.
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