Congress in balance as US votes
CONTROL of US congress hangs in the balance as the Democrats showed surprising strength in the American midterm elections, defeating Republicans in several races and defying expectations that high inflation and President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings would drag the party down.
In the most heartening news for the Democrats, John Fetterman flipped the Republican-controlled senate seat for Pennsylvania that is key to the party’s hopes of maintaining control of the chamber.
In the race for the house of representatives, Democrats kept seats in districts from Virginia to Kansas and Rhode Island.
Democrats were also successful in governors’ races, winning in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania - battlegrounds critical to Mr Biden’s 2020 win over former president Donald Trump.
But Republicans held on to governors’ mansions in Florida, Texas and Georgia, another battleground state Mr Biden narrowly won two years ago.
With votes still being counted across the country, Republicans still had the opportunity to win control of congress.
But the results were uplifting for Democrats who were braced for sweeping losses, and raised questions about the size of Republicans’ governing majority if they win the house.