Republicans seize control of the Senate for the first time in four years in major blow to Democrats
6 November 2024, 05:50 | Updated: 6 November 2024, 06:07
Republicans have won back control of the Senate after flipping two Democrat-held seats.
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The unexpected battleground of Nebraska pushed Republicans over the top. Incumbent Senator Deb Fischer brushed back a surprisingly strong challenge from independent newcomer Dan Osborn.
Democrats watched their efforts to salvage their slim majority slip out of reach as tallies rolled in across a map that favoured Republicans.
Early in the night, Republicans flipped one seat in West Virginia, with the election of Jim Justice, who easily replaced retiring Senator Joe Manchin.
Read More: US Election 2024: Results in Full
Democratic efforts to oust firebrand Republicans Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida collapsed.
While Texas has not elected a Democrat statewide in almost 30 years, Colin Allred, a Dallas-area congressman and former NFL linebacker, positioned himself as a moderate and leaned into his support for reproductive rights amid Texas' abortion ban, which is one of the strictest in the nation.
Mr Cruz's victory came after Democratic efforts to salvage their Senate majority evaporated when Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio lost his re-election to Republican Bernie Moreno, a wealthy Trump-era newcomer.
Mr Brown's loss to Mr Moreno, an immigrant from Bogota, Colombia, who built a fortune as a luxury car dealer and blockchain entrepreneur, put the Democrats on the edge of losing Senate control. A three-term senator, he was the first incumbent to lose re-election.
Voters elected two black women to the Senate, Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, in a historic first.
Ms Blunt Rochester won the open seat in her state while Ms Alsobrooks defeated Maryland's popular former governor, Larry Hogan. Just three black women have served in the Senate, and never before have two served at the same time.
And in New Jersey, Andy Kim became the first Korean American elected to the Senate, defeating Republican businessman Curtis Bashaw. The seat opened when Bob Menendez resigned this year after his federal conviction on bribery charges.
Elsewhere, House candidate Sarah McBride, a Democratic state lawmaker from Delaware who is close to the Biden family, won her race, becoming the first openly transgender person elected to Congress.
