Control of Senate may come down to Nevada, where a slow ballot count entered its final act in the nail-biter contest between Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and Republican challenger Adam Laxalt.
Democrats are just one seat away from majority control of the US Senate next
year, as vote-counting in deeply divided Nevada continued
following Tuesday’s midterm elections and campaigning kicked off
for a December 6 runoff in Georgia.
The processing of ballots in Clark County, Nevada, which encompasses Las Vegas and is heavily Democratic, was advancing with over 22,000 additional votes possibly counted by late on Saturday, said Joe Gloria, the county registrar.
Such a large new number of votes in the statewide tally opened the possibility that this Senate race could be decided by late on Saturday.
If incumbent Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto
manages to fend off Republican Adam Laxalt in Nevada, her party
would then control 50 of the Senate’s 100 seats.
A Democratic victory in Georgia next month would then give
the party outright majority control of a 51-49 Senate. A
Democratic loss in Georgia and a win in Nevada would still put
Democrats in charge of a 50-50 Senate, as Democratic Vice
President Kamala Harris can break tie votes.
The Senate currently is split 50-50 between Democrats and
Republicans. The newly-elected Senate will be sworn in on Jan.
3.
As of Saturday morning, with nearly 97 percent of the vote counted in
the Nevada Senate race, Laxalt was leading by around 800 votes.
However, uncounted votes from Cortez Masto strongholds could
vault her to victory.
READ MORE:
Control of US Senate up for grabs in close-fought midterm elections
Trump is now claiming the Democrats are trying to “steal” the Nevada Senate race. In other words, Trump just called the Nevada Senate race for the Democrats.
*Trump’s election calls are not considered official results
— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) November 12, 2022
Outcome of House races
At a press conference, Gloria was asked whether his office
had received any complaints of fraud or other irregularities
from either campaign. “We haven’t heard anything from any
campaign related to fraud or questioning” of the process or
results so far, he responded.
Suspense over control of the Senate came as it also was
still unknown which party will hold the majority in the US
House of Representatives for the next two years. Republicans
continued to have an edge, but returns were still flowing in for
several races, including many in liberal-leaning California.
It could take at least a few more days before the outcome of
enough House races are known to determine party control of that
435-seat chamber.
Democrats got an important boost late on Friday when
Democratic Senator Mark Kelly was projected to hold onto his
seat in Arizona, defeating Republican Blake Masters, who has not
yet conceded the race.
Kelly, a former Navy combat pilot and astronaut, delivered a
short victory speech to his supporters in Phoenix on Saturday
with his wife, former Democratic Representative Gabby Giffords,
at his side. His remarks focused on working in Congress in a
bipartisan manner.
Tuesday’s midterm elections saw many Republican candidates,
including Masters, echo former president Donald Trump’s contention that he lost the 2020 election to Biden because of
massive voter fraud.
No winner was projected yet in the race for Arizona
governor, where Democrat Katie Hobbs holds a narrow lead over
Republican Kari Lake.
READ MORE:
Explained: 2022 US midterm elections
Source: Reuters
US Democrats await Nevada results that could seal their Senate majority
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