Republicans take control of the US Senate

Victories in West Virginia and Ohio reversed the Democrats’ 51-49 upper house advantage.

Ted Cruz greets supporters in Houston on Tuesday night. Picture: AFP

Republicans have wrested the closely divided US Senate from Democrat control after flipping two states and fending off an effort to unseat their most vulnerable members.

While all eyes are on the White House race between Democrat Vice-President Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump, hundreds of congressional elections will determine how much of the next president’s agenda gets enacted.

Jim Justice, the 73-year-old sitting Republican governor of West Virginia, emerged as an easy victor over his Democrat challenger in the Senate race to replace retiring moderate Joe Manchin, an independent who voted with the Democrats.

Ohio then moved into the Republican column after longstanding Democrat senator Sherrod Brown, 71, was defeated by Bernie Moreno, a Trump-endorsed businessman and the son of a one-time high-ranking Colombian government official. With spending that hit $US500m ($764m), Ohio was the most expensive Senate race this year and one of the most expensive in US history.

The US Capitol is divided into the House of Representatives, where all 435 seats are up for grabs – and a 100-member Senate, which has 34 seats at stake this year. As with polling in the White House contest, the congressional election looks close. Even with Republicans taking control in the Senate, control of the House was expected to be a toss-up.

The Justice and Moreno victories reversed the Democrats’ 51-49 Senate advantage, with Republicans looking to extend their lead with pick-ups in Montana, and possibly Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Democrats were looking to mitigate losses with gains in Texas and Florida, but conceded both as the sitting Republicans notched easy wins. If Republicans win all of the toss-up races, they’ll have 55 of the 100 seats, giving them huge power to usher through Mr Trump’s domestic agenda and judicial appointments, should he prevail against Ms Harris.

“Republicans had the advantage to win control of the Senate before election day and they’re still well-positioned after early returns,” said Nathan L. Gonzales, editor of Inside Politics. “West Virginia plus Montana plus Ohio is enough for a majority without the White House.”

Democrats lost their best offensive opportunity in the long shot of Texas, where Senator Ted Cruz was able to fend off Representative Colin Allred, a former NFL football player and civil-rights lawyer. Senator Cruz, 53, secured a third term following another expensive re-election campaign, six years after only narrowly beating Beto O’Rourke.

Walking out to the song Eye of the Tiger, Senator Cruz addressed his supporters at his watch party in Houston. “Tonight the people of Texas have spoken, and their message rings clear as a bell across our great state: Texas will remain Texas,” Cruz said to cheers of the crowd, many of whom held signs that read “Keep Texas Texas”.

In Florida, Republican Senator Rick Scott also defeated his Democratic challenger, former representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

“Our incumbents look strong. Our challengers are in dog fights all over the country and are holding their own,” said Mike Berg, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

For the first time in history, two black women will serve at the same time in the US Senate, following victories from Democrats Angela Alsobrooks and Lisa Blunt Rochester in Maryland and Delaware respectively. Of the 2000-plus Americans who have served in the upper chamber, only three have been Black women – including Ms Harris.

Nonpartisan political finance monitor OpenSecrets reports that $US10bn has been spent on candidates for Congress this cycle – a touch less than in 2020 but almost twice as much as the $5.5bn price tag for the 2024 White House race.

While the Senate approves treaties and certain presidential appointments, such as ambassadors and Supreme Court nominees, all bills that raise money must start in the House, where the majority could take days to be decided.

The Democrats are in the minority, but overall control looks like a more realistic goal in the lower chamber, where they only need to flip four seats. “The race for control of the US House remains as close as it’s ever been,” said the Cook Political Report.

Sarah McBride will be the first openly transgender politician elected to Congress after beating Republican John Whalen III to take a House seat representing Delaware.

AFP, AP