A day after Democrats surpassed expectations and avoided a Republican "red wave" in the midterm elections, control of the US Senate remained still in doubt on Wednesday as Republicans wrested closer to gaining a majority in the House of Representatives.
With thousands of uncounted votes that could take days to total, the Senate races in Nevada and Arizona, where Democratic incumbents were attempting to hold off Republican challengers, were still unsettled.
After Edison Research predicted that neither Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock nor Republican challenger, Herschel Walker, would reach the 50% threshold to avoid a one-on-one rematch on December 6, the fate of the Senate would depend on the outcome of a Georgia runoff election for the second time in two years if the parties split those races.
Edison Research also predicted that Republicans were getting closer to the 218 seats required to oust Democrats from the control of the House, with 210 now in their column. However, as of Wednesday night, 21 of the 53 contests that Reuters determined to be the most contested were still undecided, suggesting that the ultimate result would not be known for some time.
Republicans would be able to contain Democratic President, Joe Biden, over his remaining two years in office, blocking legislation and initiating potentially divisive probes, even with a tiny House majority.
Despite the Democrats' unusually competitive campaign, Biden promised to cooperate with Republicans and acknowledged that voters are frustrated.
The American people, according to Biden, "have made clear that they expect Republicans to be prepared to work with me as well." Additionally, he reaffirmed his willingness to run for office again in 2024 and stated that he would make a definitive choice early in the following year.
Biden spoke on the phone on Wednesday with Kevin McCarthy, the head of the Republican Party in the House, who would be the front-runner to become speaker of the House if the party wins a majority.
Democrats avoided the kind of severe midterm defeat by the skin of their teeth, so the election fell short of the sweeping win Republicans had hoped for.
According to the statistics, maybe the election result shows the impact of the current state of the economy which experienced the highest rate of inflation in 40 years at 8.2 percent, as well as for supporting Republican efforts to outlaw abortion and put doubt on the country's voting system.
At a time when hundreds of Republican candidates backed Trump's allegations that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, Biden had cast Tuesday's vote as a test of US democracy.
On Tuesday, several election skeptics who agreed with Trump's assertions won office, while many of those running for state-level election management positions lost.
“I believe it was a fantastic day for democracy,” Biden remarked.
There was no evidence of any violence or other disruptions at the voting locations. There is no evidence that any voting system has been corrupted, according to Jen Easterly, director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Strategies of Republicans
Republicans would have the ability to thwart Biden's selections for judicial and administrative positions if they held control of the Senate. However, John Fetterman defeated Trump-backed retired star surgeon, Mehmet Oz, in Pennsylvania's US Senate race, giving Democrats a crucial victory that increased their chances of keeping control of the chamber.
Democratic embarrassments included the chairman of the committee tasked with re-electing House Democrats, New York Representative Sean Patrick Maloney, admitting he had lost his election.
If the Republicans do take over either chamber, they intend to make the tax cuts passed in 2017 that are about to expire permanent and look for ways to cut costs in the Social Security and Medicare safety-net programs.
Republicans might also opt out of a confrontation over the debt ceiling to get significant spending reductions and reduce help to Ukraine.
Midway through a president's first four-year term, the party in power nearly generally loses seats in elections, and Biden has suffered with low public support.
Former Republican Senate campaign chief Rob Jesmer stated, "In this climate, we could have done better."
On Wednesday, US market indexes declined as traders' spirits were affected by the uncertainty.
DAY MIXED FOR TRUMP
Trump, who actively sought out Republican candidates, had varying degrees of success.
In Ohio, the author of "Hillbilly Elegy," JD Vance, gained a Senate seat to retain the chamber in Republican control, giving him a triumph there. However, Doug Mastriano, another supporter of Trump, lost the Pennsylvania governor's campaign easily.
In the meantime, Edison predicted that Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, who might oppose Trump in 2024, will win reelection by close to 20 percentage points.
All 435 House seats, 35 Senate seats, and 12 governorships were up for election.
