Photo: Mario Tama/Getty
The Senate majority remains unknown the morning after the consequential 2022 midterm elections.
Heading into Election Day, experts struggled to forecast how the incoming Senate would look. There were too many variables affecting too many races — unreliable polling data, emergency lawsuits affecting mail-in ballots, and adverse weather patterns on Tuesday among them. In an evenly divided Senate, one upset could throw everything out of whack.
Up in New Hampshire,incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan successfully defended her seat— which only recently appeared vulnerable after far-right Army vet Don Bolduc saw a boost in polls.
Four battleground races are still too close to call. To maintain control of the Senate, the Democratic Party only needs to win two. Here’s where Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin currently stand.
Arizona
Mark Kelly, Blake Masters.Rob Schumacher-Pool/Getty; Brandon Bell/Getty
Mark Kelly (D):51.4%
Blake Masters (R):46.4%
With more than two-thirds of votes reported, according to the Associated Press, incumbent Sen.Mark Kellyappears in a good place to maintain his seat against Trump-endorsed challenger Blake Masters.
Senate Democrats are banking on retaining their Arizona seat, and will likely need it to keep the majority.
Georgia
Raphael Warnock, Herschel Walker.Prince Williams/Wireimage; Cindy Ord/Getty
Raphael Warnock (D):49.4%
Herschel Walker (R):48.5%
Nearly all votes are counted in Georgia, and though Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock pulled ahead of controversial RepublicanHerschel Walker, the incumbent has a problem: In Georgia, you must reach at least 50% of votes to secure a win. As it stands, neither candidate appears likely to get there, as close as they may be.
If confirmed that there are not enough votes for either candidate to get a majority vote, a Dec. 6 runoff election will be called. (Sen. Warnock has been through this before;he was first elected in Jan. 2021 during a special election runoff.)
For the runoff, only the top two candidates will face off. A little-known Libertarian candidate on the ticket, Chase Oliver — who earned 2% of the overall vote — will be booted from the ticket, giving Warnock and Walker a month to woo his roughly 80,000 supporters.
It is very possible that Georgia will be the last Senate race called, and that it will be the seat determining the upper chamber’s majority.
Nevada
Catherine Cortez Masto, Adam Laxalt.Anna Moneymaker/Getty; Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty
Catherine Cortez Masto (D):47.2%
Adam Laxalt (R):49.9%
Early on in the election cycle, Catherine Cortez Masto — thefirst Latina elected to Senate— became a target of Republicans, who deemed her the most vulnerable Democratic senator up for reelection.
If Laxalt defeat Cortez Masto, it will flip Nevada’s seat red — and cancel out the Pennsylvania seat that Fetterman turned blue. If Cortez Masto retains her seat, it will pose a major obstacle for Republicans' journey to the majority, and put less pressure on the Georgia runoff.
Wisconsin
Ron Johnson, Mandela Barnes.STR/NurPhoto via Getty; Sara Stathas for the Washington Post/Getty
Mandela Barnes (D):49.5%
Ron Johnson (R):50.5%
Until mid-September Barnes was polling ahead of Johnson, but as time went on, GOP groups released misleading ads with racist undertones that stoked fear about Barnes' stances on crime. He then began to slip in polls, and Johnson appeared the frontrunner.
If Sen. Johnson wins reelection, it won’t do much to change the political landscape, as many expected that outcome. If Barnes closes the gap in the remaining 1% of votes, though, it will effectively guarantee Democrats a majority.
source: people.com
