A win in either contest would give either the Democrats or the Republicans a majority in the Senate, while a split would turn Georgia’s Dec. 6 Senate runoff into a delegate battle. Political analysts expect a surge in campaign funds in Georgia as Republicans and Democrats prepare for the final battle of the 2022 midterm elections. In Arizona, law enforcement officials remained on alert for possible protests, with barricades and security fences set up around Maricopa County’s polling place, where dozens of officials are working 18-hour days to verify outstanding ballots and tally votes. . Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial candidate, Cary Lake, blasted election officials in Maricopa County, the state’s most populous, as “incompetent” and “despicable,” accusing them of deliberately delaying vote counting. Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and a Republican, blasted Lake’s comments. “Everybody needs to calm down a little bit and drop the rhetoric. That’s the problem with what’s happening to our country right now,” he told reporters.
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 199. Many of the undecided races are in Arizona, 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 angered by the 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 to McCarthy will emerge, but some of the most conservative House Republicans have expressed doubts that he still has enough votes to become the speaker, the most powerful official in the House. 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) 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 the intentions of former President Donald Trump and other conservatives.
Countless ballots
Officials overseeing vote counts in Arizona and Nevada Senate races, where Democratic incumbents are trying to fend off Republican challengers, said it could take until next week to collect about 520,000 uncounted ballots. Most of those were in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix. Their work is being slowed by the need to match signatures on mail-in ballots with voter registration signatures after a large number of such ballots were rejected on Election Day. WATCHES | “This fight is far from over,” says the American policy expert:
“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. By midday Friday, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly had extended his lead over Republican Blake Masters to 115,000 votes, with about 80 percent of the vote counted, while Arizona Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs had widened the small her lead over Trump-backed Republican Kerry. Lake at 27,000. 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:
intermediate US terms | Understanding the 2022 results
Washington Post correspondent Karoun Demirjian and New York Post editor Kelly Jane Torrance break down the results of the 2022 US midterm elections, discussing what the numbers mean for President Joe Biden and American democracy as a whole.
