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Will Democrats or Republicans control Congress? These key races will decide

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(NEXSTAR) — Election Day is over, but control of Congress still hung in the balance Wednesday morning. Which party will end up with a majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate for the next two years will come down to a few key undecided races.


Here’s a breakdown of numbers so far, as called by the Associated Press.

U.S. Senate races

Going into Election Night, Democrats were at a disadvantage: while Republicans only needed to flip one seat to take control, Democrats needed to hold on to 50 seats to keep control. Thirty-six Democratic seats and 29 Republican seats were not up for election this year.

Early Wednesday morning, four Senate races – in Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin and Georgia – were still undecided. Republicans need to win three of the four races to take control of the Senate, while Democrats only need to win two (as Vice President Kamala Harris can cast a tie-breaking vote).

In Arizona, Sen. Mark Kelly had a slim lead over Republican venture capitalist Blake Masters. However, mail-in votes in the state’s largest county, Maricopa, were still being counted and those results weren’t expected until Wednesday night, county officials said.

In Nevada, Republican Adam Laxalt led over incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez as of 3 a.m. local time. Republican incumbent Ron Johnson was beating challenger Mandela Barnes by less than one percentage point in the Wisconsin race as of 5 a.m., and that race also remained too close to call.

The race in Georgia, between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker, looked primed for a December runoff. If neither candidate wins more than 50% of the vote (thanks to votes for a third-party candidate), they will square off again on Dec. 6. The Associated Press had not called the race as of 6:30 a.m.

Pennsylvania’s Senate race was called late Tuesday night. Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman defeated Republican challenger Dr. Mehmet Oz. The race was among the most-watched Senate races in the country due to the unlikely candidacy of Oz, who hosted a popular daytime TV show until earlier this year.

One of the earliest called races was out of South Carolina, where Sen. Tim Scott (R), won re-election, beating his Democratic challenger State Rep. Krystle Matthews. Other early calls include victories for Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Peter Welch (D-VT).

Former presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) both won re-election.

In Vermont, Democrat Peter Welch has won the election to U.S. Senate. He defeated a little-known Republican challenger, Gerald Malloy, for the Senate seat being vacated by Patrick Leahy, the longest-serving member of the upper chamber. 

Other early Senate race calls included Katie Britt (R-AL); Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT); Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL); Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK).

U.S. House races

Going into Election Night, Democrats controlled the House with 220 seats to the 212 occupied by Republicans. Three seats were completely empty going into Nov. 8. In total, 435 seats will be decided by voters.

Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy told supporters early Wednesday morning he believed his party would take the House, but several key races remained to be called.

“When you wake up tomorrow, we will be in the majority, and Nancy Pelosi will be in the minority,” McCarthy said. He would become Speaker, replacing Pelosi, if Republicans win the House majority.

In battleground Virginia, Republican state Sen. Jen Kiggans, a former Navy helicopter pilot, defeated Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria, a former Navy commander who had touted her work on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.

But elsewhere, Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger prevailed over Trump-backed Yesli Vega in a suburban Virginia district Republicans hoped to flip. And Democrats held House seats in Rhode Island, Ohio, Kansas and New Hampshire that Republicans wanted, and they flipped some, including a suburban Illinois district from Republicans.

A surprise potential upset came in Colorado, where incumbent Rep. Lauren Boebert lagged behind Democratic opponent Adam Frisch with about 77% of ballots counted as of 11:20 p.m. local time. While the race had not been called just yet, the possibility of a Boebert defeat was one of the night’s sole shockers.

One of the early calls was for Democrat Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a 25-year-old gun reform and social justice activist, who has defeated Republican Calvin Wimbish for a Florida U.S. House seat.

Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene won re-elected to the U.S. House in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. Meanwhile, other U.S. House victories include Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Austin Scott (R-GA) and Neal Dunn (R-Florida).

The Associated Press contributed to this report.