The U.S Republican party has won control of the U.S Senate with victories in West Virginia and Ohio on Tuesday, ensuring that Donald Trump’s party will control at least one chamber of Congress in 2025.
Republicans had also posted early gains as they fought to keep their control of the House of Representatives.
So far, Tuesday’s results have ensured that Republicans would be able to assist Trump in appointing conservative judges and other government personnel if he wins the presidential race, or prevent much of Democrat Kamala Harris’s agenda if she wins the ballot.
Republican Jim Justice was expected to win an open Senate seat in West Virginia shortly after the polls closed, taking over the seat previously held by Joe Manchin, a Democrat-turned-independent politician.
In Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno was also projected to defeat incumbent Democrat, Sherrod Brown. These two victories ensured Republicans will hold about a 51-49 majority in the Senate, with expectations of further gains possible as results in other competitive races trickle in.
The Republican party had also won several races that may allow them to expand their 220-212 majority in the House, alrhough the final outcome may not be known for days to come.
The party won a Democratic-held district in Pennsylvania, including Scranton, Democratic President Joe Biden’s hometown, and picked up seats from Democrats in North Carolina, where they had drawn up district lines to favour them.
The Democrats have been trying their bat however, by winning a Republican-held seat in upstate New York and a seat in Alabama that had been redrawn to comform with a U.S. Supreme Court order to create a Black majority district.
All Democrats now need to do is to flip at least six seats to take control of the 435-seat chamber.
In Delaware, voters made history by electing Democrat Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress.
As for the presidential election, the outcome will likely be determined by a small slice of voters. Less than 40 House races are seen as truly competitive.
In Texas, the incumbent Republican Senator Ted Cruz is being projected to win the reelection by defeating the Democrat candidate, Colin Allred.
While the results are still unknown as regards the House, analysts have said that Democrats could easily pick up enough seats to secure control of the chamber, even though there are no signs of a “wave” election, as seen in 2018 or 2010, that would result in a decisive shift in power.
With at least 200 seats safe for each party, the winning side will likely end up with a narrow majority that could make governing hard.
