Democrats won a key Senate seat, while several Trump-backed candidates appeared headed for defeat. Republicans still looked poised to overturn a slim Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, but predictions of a landslide victory did not appear to have materialized. The fate of the US Senate, currently split 50-50, still hangs in the balance as several races are very close. There were predictions that the vote would be a general rejection of Joe Biden’s presidency by the American people and that Republicans would easily regain control of both houses of Congress. But as the first results came in, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said, “It’s definitely not a Republican wave, that’s for sure.” Republicans have tried to make the election a referendum on Biden, who has an approval rating of just 39%. But across the country Democratic candidates have fared much better than that. The president posted a tweet showing himself smiling as the results poured in. Biden said, “I just talked to some of tonight’s winners — including some people I saw on the street this year.”
Key matches
In one of the biggest results for Democrats, John Fetterman flipped the Pennsylvania state Senate seat, cruising to victory surprisingly early in the evening. In Georgia, which Republicans were sure to take, Democrats held a narrow lead with most votes counted. That means control of the Senate itself may remain with Democrats. The New York Times predicted that Biden would narrowly hold the Senate. Strategists from both parties were paying close attention to a House race in Virginia’s seventh district. It was seen as the best early indicator of whether Republicans would coast to a landslide victory. But Abigail Spanberger, the incumbent Democratic congresswoman and former CIA officer, was running closely against Yesli Vega, a former police officer.
