By Elizabeth Gresosky
As the final tallies trickle in, it’s abundantly clear that the Republicans have suffered a substantial setback.
The Democrats have effectively gained seven seats in the Senate and twenty-five seats in the House. Democrats officially have control of Congress.
Governor’s races
Democrats have also won gubernatorial races across the country, even in states like Texas, where Gina Hinojosa defeated incumbent Greg Abbott.
Amy Acton defeated Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio; Rob Sand, a Democrat, also won in Iowa along with David Crowley in Wisconsin. The Democrats also now control the executive branch in Georgia where Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Rick Jackson.
Republicans did securely win races in states like Arkansas (Sarah Huckabee Sanders), Idaho (Brad Little), South Dakota (Larry Rhoden), Wyoming (Eric Barlow) and Nebraska (Jim Pillen).
Races in other states were closer. Byron Donalds, Republican, appears to have won with about a 1.3% margin in Florida, with Marsha Blackburn winning with about a 2.5% margin in Tennessee.
In Congress, there are several notable seats that the Republicans have ceded to the Democrats.
Senate
Darline Graham, sister of the late Lindsey Graham, lost her inherited Senate seat to Democrat challenger Annie Andrews in South Carolina. In Georgia, Jon Ossoff decisively secured victory over Mike Collins.
Republican Susan Collins – though she has repeatedly bucked the party line – lost her Senate seat after nearly thirty years to Democrat Troy Jackson, and the race was not particularly close. Jackson garnered about 53% of the vote.
In Texas, Ken Paxton lost in astonishing fashion to James Talarico.
Up in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed – who President Trump just referred to yesterday as a lunatic – also won almost 53% of the vote.
In most of the states where Republicans won or kept their Senate seats, they won decisively. These include Alabama (Barry Moore over Everett Wess), Tennessee (Bill Haggerty), Kentucky (Andy Barr), Idaho (Jim Risch), South Dakota (Mike Rounds), Nebraska (Pete Ricketts), Wyoming (Harriet Hageman), West Virginia (Shelley Moore Capito), and others.
Republican Julia Letlow appears to have won by about 25,000 votes (less than a 2% margin) over Democrat Jamie Davis in Louisiana.
Tight races in Alaska and Mississippi are still waiting to be called.
House of Representatives
Many seats in the House were flipped from incumbent Republicans, including Ann Wagner’s seat in Missouri, Victoria Spartz’s seat in Indiana, and Rob Wittman’s seat in Virginia.
There are several races still waiting to be called.
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