Biden-led Democrats keep US senate edge

With victories in closely fought contests in Nevada and Arizona, the Democrats have won 50 seats in the United States Senate, giving the party control over the chamber

With victories in closely fought contests in Nevada and Arizona, the Democrats have won 50 seats in the United States Senate, giving the party control over the chamber. The Republicans have 49 seats in the Senate after the midterm elections. Chuck Schumer, Senator from New York, will remain the Senate majority leader.

Republican supporters protest in Phoenix on Saturday. (AP)

Elections to the Senate seat in Georgia will be held again on December 6, as no candidate won 50% of the vote. Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock, will clash against Republican challenger and former football star, Herschel Walker, in the run-off. But even if Republicans win the seat, the Democratic Party, with Vice President Kamala Harris’s tie-breaking vote, will retain control over the Senate.

The final result of the elections to the House of Representatives is not out yet — by Sunday night, Republicans had won 211 seats while Democrats had won 204 seats in the house of 435 — but Republicans are expected to have a slim majority. While a Republican dominated House can block legislation and initiate investigations against President Joe Biden, control of the Senate will give the administration continued advantage on nominations, including for the Supreme Court if a vacancy arises, and the ability to block any Republican legislative attempts emanating from the House.

Going into elections, the Republicans were the clear favourites. Biden’s unpopular ratings, concerns over inflation and crime, and a historic pattern where the party in the White House does poorly in the midterms had led to predictions of a Red Wave. But Democrats have not only done better in the House race than expected, they have now won the Senate, a range of gubernatorial races, and scored impressive wins on abortion policy-related issues in specific states that had put the question on the ballot.

On Saturday, after days of counting, Democratic senator Catherine Cortez Masto won 48.8% of the vote, defeating the Donald Trump-backed Republican candidate, Adam Laxalt, who won 48.1% of the vote. On Friday, Mark Kelly, the Democratic incumbent, won 51.8% of the vote to beat back the challenge from Blake Masters, another Trump-backed Republican challenger: Masters won 46.1% of the vote. Both Laxalt and Masters had denied the legitimacy of the 2020 elections.

Away in Cambodia to attend the East Asia summit, President Joe Biden made congratulatory calls to the Democratic winners as well as Schumer.

The president told reporters, “We feel good about who we are… I feel good, and I am looking forward to the next couple of years.”

Biden said he was extremely pleased with the turnout, and credited the “quality of our candidates”, all of whom stood on the same programme, for the win.

Biden said they were now focused on the race in Georgia. When asked how his life or agenda was better with 50 seats (the current strength) or 51 (if the Democrats win Georgia), Biden responded, “It’s always better with 51, because we are in a situation where you don’t have to have an even make-up of the committees. And so that’s why it’s important, mostly. But it’s just simply better. The bigger the numbers, the better.”

The outcome has triggered a major political debate within Republican ranks — Donald Trump is seeking to cast responsibility on the existing Congressional leadership of the party, while many party leaders have sought to blame Trump and his cohort of candidates for the setback. Observers see it as an inflection point which can determine whether the party will remain under the control of Trump and “election deniers” or after the setback, the party will move on from Trump and become a somewhat more regular right-of-Centre party.

Biden said he had watched someone on television say that all that Trump had done was revealed what the Republican Party was. “I think the Republican Party is going to have to make, like our parties have done, it’s going to have to decide who they are.”

Schumer, the majority leader, was clear about what a Democratic majority in the Senate allowed and prevented. “Because the American people turned out to elect Democrats in the Senate, there is now a firewall against the threat a nationwide abortion ban, cuts to Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security, and the extreme MAGA Republican policies. Republicans in the House should be on notice,” Schumer said.