UNITED STATES: As per poll results, Democratic US Senator Catherine Cortez Masto was re-elected in Nevada, handing President Joe Biden a significant victory and ensuring that Democrats will maintain their majority in the US Senate for the upcoming year.
As officials proceeded to tally the votes cast in Tuesday’s US midterm elections, Republicans still have a good chance of taking control of the House of Representatives.
Republican challenger Adam Laxalt, a former state attorney general and Trump supporter, was narrowly beaten by Cortez Masto.
Following Democratic Senator Mark Kelly’s victory in Arizona late on Friday, Masto’s victory means that Democrats will have at least 50 of the 100 Senate seats, with Vice President Kamala Harris having the power to break ties.
Democrats and Republicans each hold one-half of the Senate. On January 3, the newly elected Senate will be sworn in.
If Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock defeats Republican opponent Herschel Walker in the runoff election in Georgia on December 6, the Democrat’s margin of victory would increase to 51-49.
In turn, that would offer Democrats a further advantage in enacting a small number of contentious bills that can progress with a simple majority of votes rather than the 60 required for most legislation.
Democratic senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are “swing” votes who have thwarted or postponed some of Biden’s biggest proposals, including the extension of some social programs.
However, Manchin’s and Sinema’s power would be marginally diminished by the 51 Democratic seats in the upcoming Congress.
The majority party in the US House of Representatives for the ensuing two years is still an open question. While returns for a number of races, including those in liberal-leaning California, were still coming in, Republicans continued to enjoy an advantage.
It may take several days or longer before enough House contests are completed to decide which party will control the 435-seat chamber.
In the midterm elections, a number of Republican candidates repeated the fallacious claim made by the former president, Trump, that massive voter fraud caused him to lose the 2020 election to Biden.
In the race for governor of Arizona, where Democrat Katie Hobbs and Republican Kari Lake are neck-and-neck, no winner has yet been predicted.
Democrat Cisco Aguilar defeated Republican Jim Marchant in the race for secretary of state in Nevada. Marchant was a well-known backer of Trump’s unfounded allegation of voter fraud in 2020.
Biden will have the assurance that his picks for dozens of federal judgeships will be confirmed with the help of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer thanks to the Democratic-controlled Senate.
If a seat on the US Supreme Court, which is currently 6-3 in favour of the Republicans, were to become available in the final two years of Biden’s term, it would be especially important to Democrats.
When the outgoing Senate reconvenes on Monday for a post-election work session that might last until late December, Schumer aims to rapidly confirm two additional federal judges who are awaiting final votes.
Trump, who used his sustained support from hard-right conservatives to influence the candidates the Republican Party selected for congressional, gubernatorial, and local races, has been looming over the 2022 midterm elections all year.
Despite the fact that Republicans narrowly took control of the House on Tuesday, Trump has been accused of supporting candidates who were unable to win over a substantial enough number of the electorate.
Trump endorsed Georgia’s Walker and Laxalt. Trump’s popularity may suffer further if the Republicans lose either of these two elections, as his advisers claim he is thinking about declaring a third presidential bid in 2024.
If they succeed, House Republicans have vowed to try to undo any achievements that Vice President Biden has made in the fight against climate change and to extend many of the 2017 tax cuts that are set to expire.
They also intend to look into the operations of the Biden administration and the president’s son, who has connections to Chinese and Ukrainian businesses.
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