US Election 2024: Republicans won the US Senate majority and seized control of the chamber for the first time in four years on Tuesday with victories in West Virginia and Ohio, according to AP. This ensures Donald Trump's party will control at least one chamber of Congress in 2025.
According to the current projections, Republicans have 51 seats in the 100-member upper house of US Congress, while Democrats have 42. Notably, 28 seats held by Democrats and 38 seats held by Republicans didn't go to polls this time. The total of 538 electoral votes in the US College comprises 435 House of Representatives, 100 Senate seats and 3 seats from Washington DC. Along with the 435 seats of the lower house, 34 seats of the US Senate also went to polls. The entire House of Representatives will be re-elected, while one-third of the Senate will be renewed.
Neither party appeared to have a clear advantage in the battle for the House of Representatives, which Republicans now control by a narrow margin. But Tuesday's results ensured Republicans would be able to help Trump appoint conservative judges and other government personnel if he wins the presidential race, or block much of Democrat Kamala Harris's agenda if she prevails.
Republican Jim Justice projected to win
In a significant shift, Republican Jim Justice was projected to secure an open Senate seat in West Virginia, previously held by Joe Manchin, who had recently switched to independent status. Similarly, in Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno was expected to defeat incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown, securing a 51-49 Senate majority for Republicans, with potential for additional gains as more results come in from other competitive races.
Republicans also won several races that could allow them to expand their 220-212 majority in the House, though the final outcome may not be known for days. They won a Democratic-held district in Pennsylvania that includes Scranton, Democratic President Joe Biden's hometown, and picked up seats from Democrats in North Carolina, where they had redrawn district lines to their advantage.
Democrats won a Republican-held seat in upstate New York and a seat in Alabama that had been redrawn to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court order to create a Black majority district. Democrats now need to flip at least six seats to take control of the 435-seat chamber. In Delaware, voters made history by electing Democrat Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress.
(With agencies input)
Also Read: US Election 2024: Kamala Harris wins California, Donald Trump takes Iowa
