US Senate control still a toss-up, Republicans inch towards House majority

PHOENIX, Arizona - Election workers in Arizona and Nevada were toiling on Friday to tally hundreds of thousands of uncounted ballots that could determine control of the US Senate, a process that officials in the two battleground states warn could drag on for days.

Either Democrats or Republicans can capture a Senate majority by sweeping contests in both states after Tuesday’s midterm vote. A split would transform a Dec 6 run-off Senate election in Georgia into a proxy battle for the chamber, which holds sway over President Joe Biden’s judicial appointments.

In the fight for the House of Representatives, Republicans were inching closer to wresting control of the chamber from Mr Biden’s Democrats. House control would give Republicans veto power over Mr Biden’s legislative agenda and allow them to launch potentially damaging investigations into his administration.

Republicans had secured at least 211 of the 218 House seats they need for a majority, Edison Research projected late on Thursday, while Democrats had won 197. That left 27 races yet to be determined, including several close contests.

Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy has already announced his intention to run for Speaker if Republicans take over, an outcome he has described as inevitable.

Mr Biden told reporters on Thursday he and Mr McCarthy had spoken but said he had not abandoned hope that Democrats could prevail in the House, despite the tough odds.

“It’s still alive,” he said of their chances.

Democrats staved off an anticipated “red wave” of gains by Republicans, who had criticised Mr Biden over soaring inflation and rising crime rates. Mr Biden’s term since taking office in 2021 has been marked by the economic scars of the Covid-19 pandemic after a tumultuous four years under former president Donald Trump.

Mr Biden portrayed the vote as a fight to save democracy after Republican nominees promoted Mr Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election, which Mr Biden won, was fraudulent. Mr Biden’s Democrats labelled Republicans as extremists, pointing to the Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate a nationwide right to abortion.

Officials overseeing vote counting in the Arizona and Nevada Senate races, where Democratic incumbents were trying to fend off Republican challengers, have said it could take until next week to tally uncounted mail-in ballots.

A senior elections official in Arizona’s most populous county said on Thursday that workers there had a backlog of more than 400,000 uncounted ballots.

“We will be working Friday and Saturday and Sunday, and move through these ballots. The staff here are working 14 to 18 hours a day. We are doing what we can,” Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chair Bill Gates told reporters.

Some of Mr Trump’s most high-profile endorsed candidates lost pivotal races on Tuesday, marring his status as Republican kingmaker and leading several Republicans to blame his divisive brand for the party’s disappointing performance.

The outcome may increase the chances that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who routed his Democratic challenger on Tuesday, will opt to challenge Mr Trump for the 2024 presidential nomination.

Even with ballots still being counted and control of Congress up in the air, Mr Biden, Mr DeSantis and Mr Trump quickly took centre stage as White House contenders with pressure mounting for each to announce their decisions to run. That could crowd out other potential rivals on both sides.

While Mr Trump has not officially launched a third White House campaign, the former president has strongly suggested he will do so and is planning a “special announcement” at his Florida club next Tuesday.

Mr Trump lambasted Mr DeSantis in a statement on Thursday, taking credit for the governor’s political rise, while attacking critics on his social media site, Truth Social.

Even a narrow Republican House majority would be able to demand concessions in exchange for votes on key issues such as raising the nation’s borrowing limit.

But with few votes to spare, Mr McCarthy might struggle to hold his caucus together – particularly the hard-right faction that is largely aligned with Mr Trump and has little interest in compromise.
REUTERS, BLOOMBERG