The Senate remained in Democratic control on Saturday, despite Republican attempts to retake it. This made it more difficult for them to stop President Obama. Joe Biden’s agenda. The fate of the House was not certain as the GOP failed to secure a narrow majority.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s Nevada’s victory gave Democrats the 50 seats needed to retain the Senate. Her victory is a testament to the surprising strength of Democrats across America this election. election year. Seeking reelection in an economically challenged state that has some of the highest gas prices in the nation, Cortez Masto was considered the Senate’s most vulnerable member, adding to the frustration of Republicans who were confident she could be defeated.
“We got a lot done and we’ll do a lot more for the American people,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Saturday night. “The American people rejected — soundly rejected — the anti-democratic, authoritarian, nasty and divisive direction the MAGA Republicans wanted to take our country.”
These are the final results Nevada Georgia is the only remaining state where both parties are still fighting for a Senate spot. Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock faces GOP challenger Herschel Walker in a Dec. 6 runoff. Alaska’s Senate race has advanced to ranked choice voting, though the seat will stay in Republican hands.
Democratic control of the Senate ensures a smoother process for Biden’s Cabinet appointments and judicial picks, including those for potential Supreme Court openings. If the GOP wins, the party will keep control of the Senate and have the power and authority to investigate or oversee the Biden administration. It will also be able reject legislation sent by the House.
In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Biden said of the election results: “I feel good. I’m looking forward to the next couple of years.”
He stated that winning the 51st Georgia seat in the runoff election would be significant and allow Democrats to improve their standing on Senate committees.
“It’s just simply better,” Biden said. “The bigger the number, the better.”
If Democrats are able to win the House, it would be complete control. Congress for Democrats — and another chance to advance Biden priorities, which he has said include codifying abortion rights. The party still does not have the 60 votes required to move major legislative changes.
Biden called Cortez Masto to congratulate him and said that he still believed Democrats could hold the House.
“It’s a stretch,” he acknowledged. “Everything has to fall our way.”
The Senate fight was decided by a handful of highly contested seats. Both parties spent tens of millions of dollars in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, the top battlegrounds where Democrats had hoped that Republicans’ decision to nominate untested candidates — many backed by former President Donald Trump — would help them defy national headwinds.
Pennsylvania’s Lt. Gov. was a huge win for Democrats. John Fetterman defeated Trump endorsed Dr. Mehmet Oz as a celebrity heart surgeon to fill the seat currently held by a Republican. Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly won the reelection vote by approximately 5 percentage points.
Nevada, a swing state with a divided population, is one of the most racially diverse states in the country. It is a working-class state that has been particularly hard hit by inflation and other economic turmoil. Roughly three-fourths of Nevada voters said the country is headed in the wrong direction, and about half called the economy the most important issue facing the country, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of 2,100 of the state’s voters.
Republicans focused relentlessly on economic concerns heading into the midterm elections. This was a top concern for many voters, given stubborn inflation and high food and gas prices. The GOP also attacked Democrats on crime. This message sometimes exaggerated the threat, but still tapped into anxiety, especially among suburban voters who voted against the party in 2018-2020. They also highlighted illegal border crossings and accused Biden and other Democrats for failing to protect the country.
But Democrats were buoyed by voters angry about the Supreme Court’s June decision overturning the constitutional right to an abortion. They also portrayed Republicans as too extreme and a threat to democracy, following the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and Trump’s false claims — repeated by many GOP candidates — that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Schumer said Democratic candidates’ promises to defend abortion rights resonated with voters. He said that the election results made it feel good about the country’s commitment and democracy.
“We knew that the negativity, the nastiness, the condoning of Donald Trump’s big lie — and saying that the elections were rigged when there’s no proof of that at all — would hurt Republicans, not help them,” Schumer said. “But too many of them, and their candidates, fell into those traps.”
Referring to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, Schumer said voters had rejected “extremist MAGA Republicans.”
Nationally, VoteCast showed that 7 in 10 voters said the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade was an important factor in their midterm decisions. It also revealed that the reversal was not popular. A majority of respondents favored a law that would guarantee legal abortion access nationwide.
Half of voters believed inflation played a significant role in their vote. However, 44% thought the future of democracy was their primary concern.
Beyond Congress, Democrats won key governors’ races in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — battlegrounds critical to Biden’s 2020 win over Trump. Republicans, though, held governors’ mansions in Florida, Texas and Georgia — another battleground state Biden narrowly won two years ago.
Though the midterms failed to deliver Republican romps, Trump remains a major factor in the national party and plans to announce his a third run for the presidency Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida — setting up a potential rematch for the White House with Biden.
“I think the Republican Party is going to have to … decide who they are,” Biden said.
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