Mitch McConnell reelected; Democrats flip one Senate seat in CO, GOP flips one in AL.
WASHINGTON » Republicans fought to keep control of the Senate on Tuesday in a razorclose contest against a surge of Democrats challenging President Donald Trump’s allies across a vast political map.
Polls closed in key states where some of the nation’s most well- known senators were on the ballot. In Kentucky, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell fended off Democrat Amy McGrath, a former fighter pilot in a costly campaign, but he acknowledged his GOP colleagues face tougher races.
It could be a long wait, as both parties saw paths to victory, and the outcome might not be known on election night.
Democrats did flip one Senate seat early in the evening, after Democrat John Hickenlooper defeated Republican Sen. Cory Gardner in Colorado.
Hickenlooper is a popular former two-term governor who repeatedly tied Gardner to President Donald Trump during the race.
Gardner promoted his work on a sweeping public lands bill, a national suicide prevention hotline he launched and various federal dollars he secured for Colorado. But he avoided criticism of the president and struggled to distinguish himself from Trump’s words and policies.
From New England to the Deep South and the Midwest to the Mountain West, Republicans are defending seats in states once considered long shots for Democrats. The Trump administration’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, its economic fallout and the nation’s uneasy mood all seemed to be on the ballot.
Trump loomed large over the Senate races as did Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. They swooped into key states, including Iowa, Georgia and Michigan, in the final days of the campaigns. Voters ranked the pandemic and the economy as top concerns, according to AP VoteCast, a national survey of the electorate.
Securing the Senate majority will be vital for the winner of the presidency. Senators confirm administration nominees, including the Cabinet, and can propel or stall the White House agenda. With Republicans now controlling the chamber, 53- 47, three or four seats will determine party control, depending on who wins the presidency because the vice president can break a tie.
The campaigns were competing across an expansive map as Democrats put Republicans on defense deep into Trump country.
As polls closed in South Carolina, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham was in the fight of his political life against Democrat Jaime Harrison, whose campaign stunned Washington by drawing more than $100 million in small-scale donations. More than 13,000 votes in one county will be delayed and have to be counted by hand by Friday’s deadline to certify returns.