US midterm elections: Democrats retain Arizona Senate seat

Status: 12.11.2022 09:06 AM

In the United States, incumbent Democrat Kelly defeated his Republican rival in Arizona, thus defending his seat in the US Senate. In Nevada, Democrats won three seats in the House elections.

Democrats led by US President Joe Biden have an increased chance of retaining a slim majority in the Senate after the midterm elections. After days of counting, Democrat Mark Kelly was able to defend his seat in the Arizona Senate. Former astronaut Kelly defeated Republican challenger Blake Masters. This puts Democrats just one seat away from a potential majority in the Senate.

While Biden congratulated former astronaut Kelly on his re-election in Arizona, his Republican challenger did not initially concede defeat. Even former Republican President Donald Trump spoke of “election fraud” late in the evening, without providing any evidence.

And congressional elections took place on Tuesday already. In the midterms of Biden’s four-year term, all 435 of the House of Representatives seats and 35 of the 100 Senate seats were up for election. 36 states and other important state offices have also been filled.

Doubts about Trump’s leadership role in the party

The 36-year-old Masters, a tech investor with very conservative views, had the support of former Republican President Donald Trump during the election campaign. The Masters’ defeat in Arizona joins the failures of several other Republican candidates who have backed Trump. Their poor performance reflects on the former president and casts doubt on his leadership of the Republican Party.

Before the elections, a wave of success for Republicans and disaster for Democrats were predicted. But neither of them happened. Democrats have fared much better than expected — even if it’s not yet clear who will have a say in Congress going forward.

Three states for Democrats in Nevada

The Nevada Democrats also succeeded: In the House elections, they won three states, one went to the Republicans. As of Friday evening, Democrats had 201 seats and Republicans 211 seats in the Washington Capitol.

Republicans still hope to take the Nevada Senate seat from Democrats. It’s a choppy race between Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and Republican candidate Adam Laxalt. But late on Friday evening, Laxalt was ahead by just 800 votes. If the Democrats defend the seat, their Senate majority will be secured.

It takes longer to count in Nevada than in other states because since the election law change in 2020, absentee ballots with Election Day postage stamps arriving four days later have also been counted. It’s “one of the most important elections of our lives,” said Stephen Horsford, one of the Democrats defending their seats. One defeated Republican, Mark Robertson, said he doesn’t doubt the outcome of the 2020 election as much as former President Donald Trump did in 2020.

Runoff in Georgia

In Georgia on December 6, there will be a run-off between Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger, Herschel Walker, because neither of them got more than 50 percent of the vote on the first try.

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