Republicans are expected to win control of the US Senate for the first time in four years in Tuesday’s US elections, after the party flipped two seats previously held by Democrats.
It is still too early to determine which party will control the US House of Representatives, as Republicans currently have a slim majority.
Both chambers of Congress will ultimately set the country’s legislative agenda and certify the winner of the presidential race between Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Early in the night, Republicans flipped one seat in West Virginia, electing former Governor Jim Justice, who easily replaced retiring Democratic Senator Joe Manchin.
Later, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio was expected to lose re-election to Republican Bernie Moreno, a wealthy newcomer in the Trump era. The Ohio race was the most expensive of the tournament, with both sides spending an estimated US$400 million.
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The unexpected battleground in Nebraska pushed Republicans past the 51-seat threshold for a majority. Incumbent Republican Sen. Deb Fischer faced a surprisingly strong challenge from independent newcomer Dan Osborne.
The new Republican majority will not be led by the party’s longtime Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, who announced in February that he would step down after this year’s election.
Democratic efforts to oust prominent Republicans Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida have collapsed.
The focus now turns to the Democratic “blue wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, where Democrats are fighting to protect seats in what remains of their slim grip on the Senate.
Voters elected two black women to the Senate, Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, in a historic first.
Blunt Rochester won the open seat in her state, while Alsobrooks defeated popular former Maryland governor, Larry Hogan. Only three Black women have served in the Senate, and never two at the same time.
In New Jersey, Andy Kim became the first Korean American elected to the Senate, defeating Republican businessman Curtis Bashaw. The seat opened when Bob Menendez resigned this year following his federal conviction on bribery charges.
He easily won re-election to popular independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with Democrats and has helped lead the party leftward.
Elsewhere, House of Representatives candidate Sarah McBride, the Democratic representative from Delaware and close to the Biden family, won her race, becoming the first transgender person to be elected to Congress.
If Democrats take control of the House of Representatives and Republicans take over the Senate, this will be the first time that both chambers of Congress have turned toward opposing political parties.
—With files from The Associated Press
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