WASHINGTON, DC — President
Joe Biden’s Democratic Party retained control of the US
Senate on Saturday, a remarkable midterm election result that defied
predictions of a Republican win over both houses of Congress.
اضافة اعلان
Midterms
traditionally deliver a rejection of the party in power, and with inflation
surging and Biden’s popularity in the doldrums, Republicans had been expecting
to ride a mighty “red wave” and capture the Senate and the House of
Representatives.
US networks on
Saturday called the key Senate race in Nevada for Democrat incumbent Catherine
Cortez Masto, giving the party the 50 seats it needs for an effective majority.
The win clinches
Democratic control in the Senate as
Vice President Kamala Harris can cast the
tie-breaking vote if the upper chamber is evenly split 50-50.
One Senate race
remains up in the air — a runoff in Georgia set for December 6, in which the
Democrats could add to their majority.
The result in the
House of Representatives still hangs in the balance, and while Republicans are
slightly favored to take control, it would be with a far smaller majority than
they had envisaged going into Tuesday’s election.
While more than
100 Republican candidates who challenged the 2020 presidential election results
won their races, according to US media projections, some of the candidates
hand-picked by former president Donald Trump underperformed and the
Republicans’ poor showing overall was a damaging political blow.
Trump is set to
declare his 2024 White House bid on Tuesday -- an announcement he had planned
as a triumphant follow-on to an expected crushing election victory by the party
he still dominates.
Maintaining
control of the Senate means Biden and the Democrats will retain key leverage in
legislative debates, particularly in domestic and foreign spending policy.
The underwhelming
outcome for Republicans has prompted a bout of internal finger-pointing, with
targets including Trump, party leaders, and campaign messaging.
US media on
Saturday cited a letter circulated by three Republican senators calling for the
postponement of party leadership elections currently scheduled for the middle
of next week.
“We are all
disappointed that a red wave failed to materialize, and there are multiple
reasons it did not,” the letter said.
“We need to have
serious discussions within our conference as to why and what we can do to
improve our chances in 2024,” it added.
After the Senate
result was projected, Republican Senator from Missouri Josh Hawley called in a
tweet for the party to “build something new”.
“The old party is
dead. Time to bury it.”
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