The battle for the U.S. Senate remained undecided late election night, while Democrats appeared to secure a tighter grip on the House of Representatives.
Republicans are defending 23 seats in their slim 53-47 majority in the Senate. The nonpartisan, nonprofit election tracking organization Ballotpedia predicted there would be 16 Senate battleground elections, which included races in Colorado, Alabama, South Carolina and Kentucky. Flipping those four Senate seats would be enough to give Democrats a majority — as long as they keep the 12 seats they already have.
Former Democratic Colorado governor John Hickenlooper defeated Republican incumbent Sen. Cory Gardner. But that was offset in Alabama, where former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville unseated Sen. Doug Jones.
University of Utah political science professor James Curry said Hickenlooper’s win for Democrats was instructive for other races around the country.
“Colorado’s flip is reflective of the Democrat’s continued gains — nationally — among suburbanites and whites with more years of formal education,” Curry said.
There wasn’t much to learn in the Alabama flip to Republican by former football coach Tommy Tuberville, he added.
Will those gains of suburbanites and higher educated whites help Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden?
“The continued gains for Democrats, including Biden’s in the suburbs, will help them in a number of states,” Curry told the Deseret News Tuesday evening. “But the final outcomes are still too close to call right now.”
In other races, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., each won their respective races.
The races each garnered national attention. McConnell was running against retired United States Marine Corp combat aviator Amy McGrath. In South Carolina, Graham defeated Jamie Harrison in what was the most expensive senate race ever in that state, according to The Associated Press.
Republicans held their own in Texas, Kansas and Iowa, where incumbent Sen. Joni Ernst defeated Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield. But races in other Senate battleground states of Maine, Michigan, Montana and Arizona were not finished counting Tuesday night.
In Georgia, both Senate seats were expected to lead to a Jan. 5 runoff, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s — recently appointed to her seat — will face Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock. Incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue’s race with challenger Democrat Jon Ossoff was also still too close to call because the winner of these races needs to capture a majority.
Republicans aren’t the only ones hoping to avoid losing their share of seats in the Senate. Democrats successfully defended their seat in New Hampshire, but battleground states of Minnesota and Michigan were still too close to call Tuesday night.
“We don’t know which party will control the Senate,” McConnell said from Louisville, according to The Associated Press. “But some things are certain already. We know grave challenges will remain before us, challenges that could not care less about our political polarization. We know our next president will need to unite the country, even as we all continue to bring different ideas and commitments to the table.”
The Democratic Party appeared poised to seal its majority in the House Tuesday, although they are projected to lose two freshmen incumbents in Florida.
Democrat Donna Shalala lost her bid for a second term to Republican Maria Elvira Salazar, and Republican Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez defeated freshman Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, according to The Associated Press.
In Utah’s 4th Congressional District, first-term incumbent Democrat Rep. Ben McAdams was leading Republican challenger Burgess Owens late Tuesday 51% to 45% in one of the most competitive congressional races in the country.
In other House races, President Donald Trump’s former White House physician, Republican Ronny Jackson, has won a House seat in West Texas.
And The New York Times reported that the conspiracy theory following of QAnon scored its first national political victory when Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene won a House seat in Georgia.
The makeup of Congress can be important to a president in helping drive an administration’s agenda. If a president’s own party controls both chambers it could make it easier to get legislation and nominations through, but it’s not a guarantee, Curry explained.
“It’s better to control both houses of Congress,” Curry explain. “But, it’s also not true that you can do whatever you want if you do control Congress or can’t do anything without it.”