Republicans took control of the U.S. Senate late Tuesday after flipping Democratic-held seats, retaining GOP incumbents and taking back the majority for the first time in four years.

The unlikely battleground state of Nebraska put Republicans over the top. Incumbent GOP Sen. Deb Fischer held off a surprisingly strong challenge from independent newcomer Dan Osborn.

Democrats watched as their efforts to salvage their slim majority fell out of reach as numbers rolled out across a map favoring Republicans.

Earlier in the night, Republicans flipped a seat in West Virginia with the selection of Jim Justice, who would easily replace retiring Sen. Joe Manchin.

Democratic efforts to oust ardent Republicans Ted Cruz Texan and Florida native Rick Scott crashed.

Although Texas hasn’t elected a statewide Democrat in nearly 30 years, Colin Allred Dallas area congressman and the former NFL linebacker positioned himself as a moderate and leaned into his support. reproductive rights It’s in the midst of Texas’ strictest abortion ban in the country.

Cruz’s victory followed Democrats’ efforts to save their assets. Senate majority Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio evaporated when he was re-elected over Republican Bernie Moreno, a Trump-era tycoon.

Brown’s loss to Moreno, an immigrant from Bogota, Colombia who made a fortune as a luxury car dealer and blockchain entrepreneur, puts Democrats on the brink of losing Senate control. A three-term senator, he is the first incumbent to lose re-election.

The Ohio race between Brown and Donald Trump-backed Moreno was the most expensive race of the cycle, at nearly $400 million.

under congressional control in danger, competitions for House and Senate It will determine which party has the majority and the authority to support or block the president’s agenda or whether the White House is running into trouble. divided Capitol Hill.

The focus now turns to Democratic “blue wall” states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, where Democrats are fighting to retain what seats remain from their tenuous hold in the Senate.

After all, just a handful or even one small seat can shift the balance in both compartments. The party in the White House determines the majority, with the 50-50 Senate because the vice president serves as the tiebreaker.

Already several states will send history makers To the Senate.

Elected voters Two black women to the SenateDemocrat Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, in a historic first.

Blunt Rochester won the open seat in his home state, while Alsobrooks defeated Maryland’s popular former governor, Larry Hogan. Only three Black women have served in the Senate, and never before have two served simultaneously.

And in New Jersey, Andy Kim became the first Korean American elected to the Senate, defeating Republican businessman Curtis Bashaw. The seat opened when Bob Menendez resigned this year following his federal conviction on bribery charges.

Candidate for the House of Representatives elsewhere Sarah McBrideThe Democratic state lawmaker from Delaware, who is close to the Biden family, won his race and became the first transgender person elected to Congress.

Since this date, there have been important conflicts with the first presidential election. January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitolbut also in unexpected corners of the country most chaotic congress sessions in modern times.

Voters said the economy and immigration were the most important issues facing the country, but the future of democracy was also a primary motivation for many Americans to vote in the presidential election.

AP VoteCast, comprehensive survey More than 110,000 voters nationwide found a country mired in negativity and desperate for change at a time when Americans face a stark choice between the former President and two presidents. Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Congress plays a role in continuing America’s tradition of peaceful transfers of presidential power. Four years ago, Trump sent his mob of supporters to “fight like hell” at the Capitol, and many Republicans in Congress voted to block it. President Joe Biden vote. Congress will be asked to certify the results of the 2025 presidential election.

Billions of dollars have been spent by parties and outside groups in the narrow battleground for both the 435-member House and the 100-member Senate.

The top House races focus on: new York And CaliforniaDemocrats are trying to take back some of the roughly 10 seats where Republicans have made surprising gains in recent years with star lawmakers who helped bring the party to power.

Other House races are scattered throughout the country, a sign of how narrow the field has become. Only a few dozen seats are seriously challenged; some of the most contentious are the “blue dot” in Maine, Omaha, Nebraska and Alaska.

In some races, vote counting could extend into Tuesday.

‘We are within striking distance of taking back the House,’ House Democratic leader says Hakeem Jeffriesnext with whom Make history as the first Black speaker If his party gains control, he told the Associated Press During a recent campaign event in Southern California.

But the Speaker of the Parliament mike johnsondrawing closer to Trump He predicts Republicans will “preserve and grow” the majority. He took over after Kevin McCarthy was fired from the speaker’s office.

One of the most watched Senate races in Montana may be among the last to be decided. Democrat Jon Tester, a popular three-term senator and “dirt farmer,” is fighting for his political career against Trump-backed Tim Sheehy, a former NAVY Seal who has made derogatory comments about Native Americans, a key Western constituency. situation.

Outgoing Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell He has spent a career focused on seizing and maintaining majority power, but other opportunities for Republicans are shifting toward long shots.

In the southwestern states, Arizona’s firebrand Republican Kari Lake took on Democrat Ruben Gallego in the seat opened by the retirement of Sen. Krysten Sinema. In Nevada, Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen is holding out against newcomer Sam Brown.

Democrats intensify their challenges a pair of Republican senators — Cruz in Texas and Scott in Florida — in states where reproductive rights are in focus following the Supreme Court’s decision to roll back access to abortion. Scott defeated former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Democrat.

What started as a lackluster race for control of Congress transformed instantly When Harris stepped in to replace Biden at the top of the ticket, she mobilized Democrats with massive fundraisers and volunteers; lawmakers said it reminded them of the Obama-era euphoria of 2008.

The consequences of redistricting also change the balance of power within the House of Representatives, as states redraw their maps for congressional districts; Republicans are poised to take several seats from Democrats in North Carolina, with Democrats picking up a second black-majority Republican-dominated seat. Alabama

While lawmakers in the House of Representatives appear before voters every two years, senators serve longer terms of six years.

If the two chambers actually exercise reverse party control, as much as possible, it will be rare.

Records show that if Democrats take the House of Representatives and Republicans take the Senate, the halls of Congress will turn to opposing political parties for the first time.

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