Democratic hopes of Senate takeover fading after surprise Republican surge

Majority leader claims Donald Trump’s strong campaign helped swing votes towards his party

REPUBLICANS were buoyant as Democrats had a disappointing night trying to retake control of the Senate.

The party also made unexpected gains in the House of Representatives, overturning predictions that Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker, would expand her majority.

Needing to gain at least three seats to win a Senate majority, the Democrats picked up two in Arizona and Colorado.

But the Republicans won a seat in Alabama and several of the party’s senators, who were under threat, held on. Key races in North Carolina and Michigan remained undecided last night.

The Republicans went into the election with a 53- 47 majority in the 100-seat Senate and a third of the seats were up for grabs. The Democrats had targeted seats across the country confident of retaking the chamber.

Arizona saw a victory for Democrat Mark Kelly, a former Nasa astronaut, over Martha Mcsally, a Republican former combat pilot. Mr Kelly will take up the seat once held by John Mccain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee.

In Colorado, John Hickenlooper, the state’s former governor, defeated the incumbent Republican senator Cory Gardner.

But in Maine, the embattled senator Susan Collins, a moderate Republican who has often differed with President Donald Trump, clung on.

In the Senate she had voted with Mr Trump’s agenda two-thirds of the time, making her the Republican l east aligned with the president.

She often served as a crucial swing vote in high-profile debates, breaking with her party to defeat an attempted repeal of Obamacare. However, she voted against removing Mr Trump from office when Democrats impeached him.

Ms Collins, who had trailed in the polls against Sara Gideon for months, said: “I just received a very gracious call from Sara Gideon conceding the race. I feel this is an affirmation of the work that I’m doing in Washington to fight hard every day for the people of Maine.”

In South Carolina, Lindsey Graham, one of the president’s closest allies in Congress, held off a challenge from Democrat Jaime Harrison, who raised a record $100 million (£77 million).

The victorious Mr Graham said: “You wasted a lot of money. This is the worst return on investment in the history of American politics.”

Mr Harrison said: “We didn’t get the result at the ballot box that we wanted, but we showed courage and determination. We brought hope back to South Carolina.”

In Iowa, Joni Ernst, another senator loyal to Mr Trump, who had been under threat, defeated Democrat challenger Theresa Greenfield.

Ms Greenfield, an urban planner, had accused Ms Ernst of being a rubber stamp for the president and not taking the pandemic seriously enough.

In Georgia, there will be a run-off in January between Republican senator Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock after neither secured a majority in a multi-party race.

Alabama saw Republican Tommy Tuberville, a former American college football coach, defeat Democrat senator Doug Jones in an expected result. Mr Jones was considered the most vulnerable Democrat in the Senate.

Senate majority leader Mitch Mcconnell said Mr Trump’s campaign helped his Republican allies, but it was still too soon to declare victory, although he felt “pretty good” about the remaining contests. He said: “We’re waiting to see whether I’m going to be the majority leader or not.”

“Overall we had a better election than most people thought across the country,” he told reporters in his home state of Kentucky.

The Senate races attracted an unprecedented flood of small donations from Democrat supporters.

Democrats retained their control of the House of Representatives as expected, but did not make gains as they had hoped.

They lost at least seven incumbents and failed to oust any Republicans. It was a setback for Ms Pelosi who had anticipated picking up seats.

Kevin Mccarthy, the Republican leader in the House, said: “They were all wrong. The rejection that we saw last night of the Democrats, was that America does not want to be a socialist nation.

“The Republican coalition is bigger, more diverse and more energetic than ever before.”

Securing the Senate majority is hugely important for the winner of the presidency. It confirms administration nominees, including the Cabinet, and can propel or stall the White House agenda. In the event of the chamber ending up tied 50-50, the vice-president has a casting vote.

‘The rejection of the Democrats shows that America does not want to be a socialist nation’