US Midterms: Democrats Defy ‘Red Wave’; Control of Congress Remains Undecided

Many of the key races are too close to call as counting of votes is underway. Here is the latest update of results:

Republicans are poised to control the House of Representatives while Senate races are too close to call

Altered by: The Quint

Democrats have performed better than expected in the US midterm elections 2022, winning some competitive House and Senate races as the control of US Congress remains undecided.

With ballots still being counted, the Democrats were hopeful of holding the Senate, even though the outcome of narrow races in Nevada and Arizona remained uncertain/ Democrats need to win two of these, including the seats to maintain senate control.

Meanwhile, Republicans believe that they are still poised to win the House, but by a much narrower margin.

Too close to call: Many of the key races were too close to call as the early counting of votes suggested that Democrats have been able to stave off the “red wave” as predicted in many polls.

Here is the latest on US Midterm Election Results.

In the Senate

Georgia heads to runoff: In Georgia, Incumbent Democrat senator Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker will move to a runoff as neither candidates will be able to clear the 50 percent threshold needed to outrightly win polls. The pair will now move to a runoff on 6 December.

Democrats flip Pennsylvania: Democrat John Fetterman will win Pennsylvania's Senate seat, defeating Donald Trump-backed Republican Mehmet Oz and flipping the first Senate seat.

After Democrats flipped a Senate seat in Pensylvania, the GOP's hopes to control the upper house look harder to achieve. A major factor is the December runoff in Georgia.

Before the election, both the Democrats and Republicans held 50 seats each, and even a one-seat gain for the GOP would mean control of the House for them.

Key races in Nevada and Arizona are too close to call while Georgia is headed for a 6 Deecember runoff after no candidate received more than 50% votes.

48 vs 48: With a gain of one seat, Democrats currently have a total 48 Senate seats, Republicans have 48 while rest of the seats remain undecided.

In the House

Days before conclusive results: It would take days before conclusive results for the House are public, with at least 30 critical races still pending, like in California. Meanwhile, votes are still being counted in at least five competitive races, where The Guardian noted that there may be a flip in party affiliation.

Republicans pick seats: Even though Republicans are picking up fewer seats than predicted in the House, they are expected to win the five seats they needed to take control, The Washington Post reported.

As per the latest updates, Republicans have flipped eight Democratic House seats while some tight races are too close to call, Reuters reported.

In the outgoing House, the Democrats held 220 seats, Republicans had 212 members, and three seats were vacant in the 435-member house.

Majority: The required number to gain a majority in the House is 218.

183 vs 205: As per the latest update on election results, Democrats have won 183 seats while 205 races have been called in Republicans’ favour. The rest of races are yet to be called. 

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, expressed optimism in the early hours of Wednesday.

Other Races

There were 36 gubernatorial seats on the ballot in 2022. Arkansas, Massachusetts, and New York have elected female governors.

In the key races of Georgia, Republican incumbent Brian Kemp has defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams.

In Texas, Democrat Beto O’Rourke lost to incumbent Republican Greg Abbott.

Arizona: Democrat Katie Hobbs is competing with Republican Kari Lake, and is locked in tight battle. With 63% of votes, Hobbs has 50.9% of the votes while Lake has 49.1%.

(With inputs from CNN and The Washington Post.)