Republicans will flip the Senate, CNN projects, shifting balance of power in Washington
By Stephen Collinson, CNN
(CNN) — Republicans will win the US Senate majority, CNN projects, shifting the balance of power in Washington.
A GOP majority will put the Senate in position to boost a possible Donald Trump presidency or impede a possible Kamala Harris administration if the Democratic vice president wins the White House.
With several races still to be declared, Republicans now have 51 seats in the chamber and will assume control, under a yet-to-be chosen Republican leader when the new Congress convenes in January.
The Senate takeover was the first big success of the night for Republicans, with the fight between Trump and Harris yet to be resolved and the destiny of the House of Representatives, where the GOP is trying to defend its narrow majority, also up in the air.
The new GOP Senate will be in a position to back Trump’s agenda if he wins a second term and to resume the ex-president’s significant reshaping of the judiciary with scores more conservatives if he ends up in the Oval Office. Should Harris prevail, she would face problems in confirming members of her Cabinet and judicial nominees, and the GOP Senate could thwart her domestic plans.
The Republican march to control started early on election night when West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice was projected to pick up the Senate seat vacated by retiring Democrat-turned–independent Sen. Joe Manchin. Democrats had stopped contesting the seat after Manchin announced he wouldn’t seek reelection.
In Ohio, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who has served in the chamber for three terms, will lose his reelection bid, CNN projects, in a state that has gone from a perennial political bellwether during his tenure to a deep red stronghold. The new Republican senator will be businessman Bernie Moreno, a vehement Trump supporter.
Cruz and Scott cruise to reelection
The few Democratic opportunities to mitigate their losses dwindled quickly throughout the night.
In Florida, GOP Sen. Rick Scott easily dispatched a challenge from Democratic former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who had built her campaign partly on a backlash to the overturning of the federal right to an abortion and Florida’s six-week abortion ban. Democrats had hoped that an abortion measure on the state’s ballot could boost Democratic turnout, but that measure failed Tuesday night.
The party’s best chance to pick up a seat had been in Texas, where national party groups made late multimillion-dollar investments into trying to unseat GOP Sen. Ted Cruz. But the two-term senator will defeat Democratic Rep. Colin Allred, CNN projects, in yet another disappointment for Democrats as they chase the mirage of making inroads in the longtime Republican state.
And in Nebraska, CNN projects that Republican Sen. Deb Fischer will defeat a stronger-than-expected challenge from independent Dan Osborn, who, along with his allies, outspent Republican forces in the state. Her loss wouldn’t necessarily have flipped the seat to the Democrats, since Osborn hadn’t said which party he’d caucus with in Washington. But with Democrats trying to stave off a GOP majority, an Osborn win would have deprived Republicans of a seat.
Outstanding races
Democrats had always faced a prohibitive path this year in defending their narrow control of the Senate, given the incumbents facing reelection are either in states Trump had carried twice before or narrowly lost in 2020.
There are several key outstanding competitive races that have not been called.
In Montana, three-term Democratic Sen. Jon Tester went into Tuesday facing an uphill battle to fend off a challenge from Republican businessman Tim Sheehy, a retired Navy SEAL, in his red state.
Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who is running for a third term, is in a tight race with Republican Eric Hovde, in a state also critical to the presidential race.
In another blue wall state critical to Democrats’ success up and down the ballot, two national security specialists are facing off in Michigan. Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin is seeking to hold the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow. She is facing Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers, the one-time chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who left Congress in 2015.
In Pennsylvania, Democratic Sen. Bob Casey is trying to hold off a challenge from Republican Dave McCormick, who lost out on Trump’s backing during the 2022 Senate primary but secured it, and the GOP nomination, this year.
The final numbers in the Senate will also have to await the result from Nevada, where first-term Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen is up against Republican Sam Brown, an Army veteran who also lost a primary two years ago for the state’s other Senate seat. And in Arizona, where Democratic-turned-independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is retiring, Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego is facing Trump acolyte Kari Lake, the 2022 gubernatorial nominee who still refuses to acknowledge her defeat in that race.
There was not much to cheer for Democrats on the Senate map on Tuesday, but Democrat Angela Alsobrooks was projected to beat Maryland’s Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan, who was popular in the solidly blue state. Hogan was often critical of Trump, a stand that was challenging for him with deeply conservative Republicans in Maryland’s western districts and areas close to the eastern shore. Alsobrooks will become just the fourth Black woman elected to the Senate after Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester, the third, was projected to win Delaware’s open Senate seat earlier in the night.
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