[US Midterm Elections] Democrats Retain Senate Majority... Secure 50 Seats with Nevada Victory (Comprehensive)

Major Media and Edison Research Predictions
House Likely to See Narrow Republican Victory

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Myung-hwan Lee] The U.S. Democratic Party maintained its majority status in the Senate in the midterm elections held on the 8th (local time).

On the 12th, AP News, CNN, and Edison Research predicted that Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada would defeat Republican candidate Adam Laxalt. Accordingly, major foreign media such as The Washington Post (WP) and The New York Times (NYT) collectively reported on the 12th that the Democrats had retained control of the Senate.

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate Majority Leader, posted on Twitter, "Your Senate Democratic Majority!" and declared victory by saying, "The Democrats will be the majority in the Senate again."

Nevada remained a battleground state in this Senate election. Laxalt was leading until the middle of the vote count, but Senator Masto overturned the lead at the last moment, creating a comeback. If Senator Masto ultimately wins in Nevada, the Senate seat count will be 50 for the Democrats and 49 for the Republicans.

Earlier, on the previous day, Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona secured his election victory over Republican candidate Blake Masters, bringing the Senate seat count to a tie at 49 seats each for Democrats and Republicans.

The last remaining state, Georgia, did not have a candidate with a majority vote, so a runoff election is scheduled for the 6th of next month. Regardless of the outcome, the Democrats will be able to maintain their majority status in the Senate. Even if Republican candidate Herschel Walker wins in Georgia, resulting in a 50-50 split, Vice President Kamala Harris, as the ex officio Senate President, can cast the deciding vote.

If the Democrats control the Senate, it will facilitate President Biden's appointment process for federal judges, including the Supreme Court. The Senate has authority over committee coordination and investigations and oversight of the Biden administration, and it can reject legislation passed by the House, which is expected to be controlled by the Republicans. However, there are also views that the Democrats will still face limitations as they fall short of the 60 votes needed for major legislative decisions.

In this midterm election, Republicans are expected to win the House, but the margin is not large, and with the Democrats maintaining their majority in the Senate, it is considered that the Democrats performed better than expected.

Regarding the House, NBC predicts that the Republicans have secured 219 seats, surpassing the majority threshold of 218 seats, ahead of the Democrats' 216 seats. CNN reports predict 211 seats for Republicans and 204 for Democrats. However, the House election vote count is also extremely close, so the final seat count may change.