With Vice President Kamala Harris tied, Democrats can retain control of the Senate by winning either the Nevada race, which remains too early to call, or next month’s runoff in Georgia. Republicans now need to win both of those races to take the majority. WATCHES | Georgia is preparing for the second round of elections:
Georgia is preparing for the second round of elections
Republican Herschel Walker and Democrat Raphael Warnock spoke to their bases to drum up support for next month’s runoff election as they vie for a seat in the US Senate. The Arizona race is one of a handful of contests that Republicans have targeted in their bid for 50-50 control of the Senate. It was a test of the inroads Kelly and other Democrats have made in a state once reliably dominated by the Republican Party. Kelly’s victory suggests that the Democratic success in Arizona was not an aberration during the presidency of Donald Trump. Other contests in Arizona, including the governor’s race between Democrat Katie Hobbs and Republican Kari Lake, were too early to call Friday night.
Kelly focused on abortion rights, lowering drug prices
Kelly, a former NASA astronaut who has flown into space four times, is married to former US congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who inspired the nation with her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head during a 2011 assassination attempt that killed six people and injured 13 Kelly and Giffords co-founded a gun safety advocacy group. Kelly’s victory in a 2020 special election, which was triggered by the death of Republican Sen. John McCain, gave Democrats both seats in the Arizona Senate for the first time in 70 years. The change was prompted by the state’s rapidly changing demographics and Trump’s unpopularity. Kelly’s 2022 campaign has focused heavily on his support for abortion rights, protecting Social Security, lowering drug prices and ensuring a steady water supply amid a drought that has limited his water supply. Colorado River in Arizona. This composite photo shows Nevada Republican Senate candidate Adam Laxalt, left, and Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto. Ballot counting in that race continues. (John Locher/The Associated Press, Jacquelyn Martin/The Associated Press) With Biden struggling with low approval ratings, Kelly has distanced himself from the president, particularly on border security, and downplayed his commitment to Democrats amid anxiety over the state of the economy. He also characterized himself as an independent, willing to split his party, McCain-style. Masters, a partner of billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel, sought to penetrate Kelly’s independent image by aligning him with Biden’s failure to secure the US-Mexico border and curb runaway inflation.
Masters promoted racist theory
Masters endeared himself to many Republican primary voters with his penchant for challenge and contrarian thinking. He has called for the privatization of Social Security, taken a hard line against abortion and promoted a racist theory popular with white nationalists that Democrats seek to use immigration to replace whites in the United States. But after emerging bruised from a contentious qualifier, the Masters has struggled to raise money and has been on the defensive over his controversial positions. He won Trump’s support after claiming that “Trump won 2020,” but when pressed during a debate last month, he acknowledged that he has seen no evidence that the last presidential election was rigged. He later repeated the false claim that Trump had won. After the primaries, he deleted some of his more controversial posts from his website, but it wasn’t enough for the moderate voters who decided the election.
Republicans are closing in on a majority in the House
In the race for control of the House of Representatives, Republicans were closing in on becoming a majority and ending four years of rule by Biden’s Democrats. That would give Republicans veto power over Biden’s legislative agenda and allow them to launch potentially damaging investigations into his administration. Republicans had secured at least 211 of the 218 House seats needed for a majority, according to Edison Research late Thursday, while Democrats had won 203. Many of the undecided races are in Arizona, the California and Washington State. WATCHES | Frustrated Republicans say Trump is to blame:
Republicans accuse Trump of lacking a “red wave” in the midterm elections
With control of the US Congress still hanging in the balance just days after this week’s midterm elections, many frustrated Republicans are pinning the blame on former President Donald Trump. Despite the real possibility of losing the House, Democrats are still cheering their success in limiting their projected losses after emboldening voters angry over the US Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn the constitutional right to abortion. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has already announced his intention to run for President if the Republicans take over, an outcome he has called inevitable. It is unclear whether a challenger will emerge for McCarthy, but some of the most conservative House Republicans have expressed doubts that he still has enough votes to become Speaker, the House’s most powerful official. This composite photo shows Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, left, and Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker. The Senate race in Georgia is set for a runoff election on December 6. (Ben Gray/The Canadian Press, Megan Varner/The Associated Press) Meanwhile, Senate Republican infighting erupted on Friday as senators urged Wednesday’s leadership election to be postponed so they could have time to discuss why the party did no better on Tuesday. Mitch McConnell hopes to continue as Republican leader, despite overtures from Trump and other conservatives. Some of Trump’s most high-profile candidates lost key races on Tuesday, tarnishing his status as a Republican kingmaker and leading several Republicans to blame his divisive brand for the party’s disappointing performance. The result may increase the chances that Florida Gov. Ron DeSandis, who unseated his Democratic challenger on Tuesday, will choose to challenge Trump for the 2024 presidential nomination. While Trump has not officially launched a third campaign for the White House, the former president has strongly suggested doing so and is planning a “special announcement” at his Florida club on Tuesday. Trump blasted DeSantis in a statement Thursday, taking credit for the governor’s political rise while attacking critics on his social media site, Truth Social. WATCHES | US Midterms — Understanding 2022 Results:
“This fight is far from over,” says the American policy expert
Andra Gillespie, an associate professor of political science at Emory University in Atlanta, breaks down the US midterm elections as control of the US Senate and House is still unknown.
