Dems retain Senate control as House hangs in balance

Go Up 50-49 With Nevada Win; GOP Struggling To Reach 218 In House

- Chidanand Rajghatta

Washington: The Democratic Party has retained control of the US Senate, winning two close contests in Arizona and Nevada to go up 50-49, with one seat (Georgia) going into a runoff election in December because no candidate could hit the 50% vote required under state laws. With the vice-president having a tie-breaker vote, Democrats have once again edged out Republicans who were tipped by pollsters to win both the Senate and the 435-member House. Winning Georgia would, a distinct possibility now, would be the icing on the cake, freeing vice-president Kamala Harris from babysitting the Senate.

For that matter, even the House results remain on knife’s edge with Republicans struggling to reach the 218 majority mark. With results in 20 seats, mostly from the Democrat-leaning west coast still due, the GOP is leading 211-204. It is now expected to win only a very narrow majority, possible of only one or two seats rather than the 25-50 seat lead it was projected to take.

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