President Joe Biden’s Democrats retained control of the Senate on Saturday, a remarkable midterms election result that defied predictions of a Republican win over both houses of Congress.
Democrats defied historical trends and defeated several candidates backed by former president Donald Trump to keep control of the Senate, providing enormous relief for President Joe Biden.
“I think is a reflection of the quality of our candidates,” Biden told reporters in Cambodia shortly after CNN and other news outlets projected Democrats would keep their Senate majority.
“They’re all running on the same program. Wasn’t anybody who wasn’t running on what we did,” Biden went on.
The battle for the House, meanwhile, remains too close to call.
The picture in the Senate became clear late Saturday after Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, narrowly defeated Republican Adam Laxalt to win to win re-election, putting her party over the threshold, NBC News projected Saturday.
“Thank you Nevada!” Cortez Masto said in a Tweet Saturday evening after its two most populous counties, Clark Washoe, finished counting mail-in ballots.
Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona won his re-election contest in Arizona. Both Laxalt and Masters were endorsed by Donald Trump and promoted his false claims about the presidential race he lost.
“I feel good for the country. Because so many people worried – I did- about this democracy,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said at a news conference late Saturday.
“America showed that we believe in our democracy. That the roots of our democracy are dep and strong, and that it will prevail as long as we fight for it.”
He added that Republicans were hampered by “flaws challengers who had no faith in democracy, no fidelity to the truth and honour.
One Senate race remains up in the air- a runoff in Georgia set for December.
Two parties had been neck-and-neck at 49 seats each after Democrat Mark Kelly was projected to win a tight Senate race on Friday evening.
Source: CNN, NBC News, Eyewitness News, The Guardian, image from Twitter: @dougmillsnyt