GOP closing in on House win; Senate control up for grabs
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans were closing in Wednesday on a narrow House majority while control of the Senate hinged on tight Arizona, Nevada and Georgia races in a midterm election that defied expectations of sweeping conservative victories driven by frustration over inflation and President Joe Biden's leadership.
John Fetterman's success in flipping Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled Senate seat lifted Democratic hopes of maintaining control of the chamber. Republicans found a bright spot in Wisconsin, where Sen. Ron Johnson's victory raised the stakes of races where results were unclear and vote counting continued.
In the House, Democrats kept seats in districts from Virginia to Kansas to Rhode Island, while many in states like New York and California had not been called. But Republicans notched several important victories in their bid to flip the five seats needed to reclaim the House majority. In a particularly symbolic victory, the GOP toppled House Democratic campaign chief Sean Patrick Maloney of New York.
The race for control of Congress will determine the future of Biden's agenda and serve as a referendum on his administration as the nation reels from record-high inflation and concerns over the direction of the country. A Republican House majority would likely trigger a spate of investigations into Biden and his family, while a GOP Senate takeover would hobble the president's ability to make judicial appointments.
Democrats. though, saw candidates who prioritized protecting abortion rights after this summer's Supreme Court decision overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade court decision, perform well. The party won governors' races, winning in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — battlegrounds critical to Biden's 2020 win over Donald Trump. But Republicans held on to governors' mansions in Florida, Texas and Georgia, another battleground state Biden narrowly won two years ago.
Though neither party had yet secured a majority in either congressional chamber, the midterms didn't feature a strong GOP surge, uplifting for Democrats who had braced for sweeping losses — and raising questions about how big the Republicans could hope their possible majority might be.
"As we sit here I can't, with 100% certainty, tell you who holds the House majority," said Maloney whose defeat marks the first time since 1980 the head of the Democratic House campaign arm has been defeated. "If we fall a little short, we're going to know that we gave it our all and we beat the spread."