Washington: The Democratic Party has retained control of the US Senate, winning two close contests in Arizona and Nevada to go up 50-49, with one seat (Georgia) going into a runoff election in December because no candidate could hit the 50% vote required under state laws. With the vice-president having a tie-breaker vote, Democrats have once again edged out Republicans who were tipped by pollsters to win both the Senate and the 435-member House. Winning Georgia would, a distinct possibility now, would be the icing on the cake, freeing vice-president Kamala Harris from babysitting the Senate.
For that matter, even the House results remain on knife’s edge with Republicans struggling to reach the 218 majority mark. With results in 20 seats, mostly from the Democrat-leaning west coast still due, the GOP is leading 211-204. It is now expected to win only a very narrow majority, possible of only one or two seats rather than the 25-50 seat lead it was projected to take. There is still a small possibility Democrats can retain an equally thin majority in the House where they had a five-seat advantage. The shock results, one of the best in mid-term elections, by a party in control of the White House, has completely changed the political dynamics in America. Bloodletting and circular fire has erupted in the Republican with the establishment GOP unloading on Donald Trump for blowing the chance to win, and Trump Republicans gunning for the legislative leadership who they say did not bring energy to the campaign.
A visibly happy President Biden tweeted, “Tuesday was a good day for America and a good day for democracy- and a strong night for Democrats.” He hoped the party would win the Georgia seat because “the bigger the number, the better”.
Democrats also captured numerous state legislatures and governorships riding on liberal voter anxiety over the direction Trump’s MAGA forces were taking the country. Some mainstream Republicans are now looking to Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who won second term against a Democrat challenger in a swing state, to take on the former president for the White House run in 2024. Trump Republicans, and Trump himself, have promised to wreak havoc if that were to happen.
