WASHINGTON — Republicans have taken management of the U.S. Senate and are preventing to maintain their majority within the U.S. Home, which might produce a full sweep of GOP energy in Congress alongside President-elect Donald Trump within the White Home.
A unified Republican grip on Washington would set the course for Trump’s agenda. Or if Democrats wrest management of the Home, it will present an virtually sure backstop, with veto energy over the White Home.
Trump, talking early Wednesday at his election evening occasion in Florida, stated the outcomes delivered an “unprecedented and powerful mandate” for Republicans.
He referred to as the Senate rout “incredible.” And he praised Home Speaker Mike Johnson, who dashed from his personal occasion in Louisiana to affix Trump. “He’s doing a terrific job,” Trump stated.
Vote counting in some races might go on for days, and management of the Home is just too early to name.
The rally for Republicans began early on election evening in West Virginia, when Jim Justice, the state’s rich governor, flipped the seat held by retiring Sen. Joe Manchin. From there, the Republicans marched alongside Trump throughout the Senate map.
Republicans toppled Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, the primary incumbent senator to fall, with GOP luxurious automotive seller and blockchain entrepreneur Bernie Moreno. They chased Democrats within the “blue wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, the place Vice President Kamala Harris strained to hold the occasion ahead.
Democratic efforts to oust firebrand Republicans Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida collapsed. The sudden battleground of Nebraska pushed Republicans excessive. Incumbent GOP Sen. Deb Fischer brushed again a surprisingly robust problem from impartial newcomer Dan Osborn.
Probably the most-watched Senate races, in Montana, was determined early Wednesday. Democrat Jon Tester, a preferred three-term senator and “dirt farmer” within the battle of his political profession, misplaced to Trump-backed Tim Sheehy, a rich former NAVY Seal, who made derogatory feedback about Native Individuals, a key constituency within the Western state.
All instructed, Senate Republicans have an opportunity to scoop up extra seats, probably delivering their most sturdy majority in years — a coda to outgoing GOP Minority Chief Mitch McConnell, who made a profession charting a path to energy, this time by recruiting high-wealth Republicans aligned with Trump.
The battle for management of the Home turned a state-by-state slog, a lot of which unfolded removed from the presidential race.
Home races are targeted in New York and California, the place Democrats are attempting to claw again among the 10 or so seats the place Republicans have made shocking features lately.
Different Home races are scattered across the nation, with among the most contentious in Maine, the “blue dot” round Omaha, Nebraska, and in Alaska.
To realize management of the Home, Democrats have to flip 4 seats from Republicans, whereas holding all of their very own, a tall activity particularly in congressional districts the place Trump has gained.
It might come right down to only a handful of seats, or as little as one, to find out Home management.
Johnson voiced confidence in a sweep for Republicans, tweeting on X: “This historic election has proven that a majority of Americans are eager for secure borders, lower costs, peace through strength, and a return to common sense.”
Harris ignited enthusiasm for her occasion when Biden dropped out of the race, and he or she stepped in atop the ticket, a head-spinning improvement barely 100 days from the election. However Democrats watched their very own hopes for a sweep of Washington fizzle.
Voters stated the economic system and immigration had been the highest points dealing with the nation, however the way forward for democracy was additionally a number one motivator for a lot of Individuals casting ballots within the presidential election.
AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of greater than 120,000 voters nationwide, discovered a rustic mired in negativity and determined for change as Individuals confronted a stark alternative between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
That is the primary presidential election because the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, when Trump despatched a mob of his supporters to “fight like hell” towards the 2020 election. Many Republicans in Congress voted towards President Joe Biden’s victory. Congress will once more be referred to as on subsequent yr to certify the 2024 election.
Even nonetheless, the election adopted one of many most chaotic congressional periods in trendy occasions because the Republican-led Home kicked out its speaker, Kevin McCarthy, threatened authorities shutdowns and had issue conducting the fundamental operations of governance.
Johnson has stated Republicans within the Home and Senate have been engaged on an “ambitious” 100 day-agenda — slicing taxes, securing the U.S. border and taking a ”blowtorch” to federal laws — in the event that they sweep the White Home and Congress.
Trump himself has promised mass deportations and retribution on his perceived enemies. Republicans wish to push federal companies out of Washington and restaff the federal government workforce, Johnson stated, to carry the federal authorities “to heel.”
Trump is “thinking big” about his legacy, Johnson stated.
A number of states will ship history-makers to the brand new Congress.
Voters elected two Black ladies to the Senate, Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, who defeated Republican Larry Hogan, the previous governor, in Maryland. Simply three Black ladies have served within the Senate, and by no means earlier than have two served on the similar time.
And in New Jersey, Andy Kim turned the primary Korean American elected to the Senate. The seat opened when Bob Menendez resigned this yr after his federal conviction on bribery expenses.
Within the Home, candidate Sarah McBride, a Democratic state lawmaker from Delaware who’s near the Biden household, turned the primary brazenly transgender particular person elected to Congress.
What’s nonetheless unclear is who will lead the brand new Republican Senate, as longtime chief McConnell prepares to step down from the submit.
South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican, and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who beforehand held that submit, are the front-runners to switch McConnell in a secret-ballot election scheduled for when senators arrive in Washington subsequent week.
Billions of {dollars} have been spent by the events, and outdoors teams, on the slender battleground for each the 435-member Home and 100-member Senate.
If the 2 chambers do in truth flip occasion management, as is feasible, it will be uncommon.
Data present that if Democrats take the Home and Republicans take the Senate, it will be the primary time that the chambers of Congress have each flipped to opposing political events.
