Democrats and Republicans rage for congressional majority after first election results

The battle for control of the US Congress – both the House and Senate – is coming down to a dwindling number of key races, with Democrats dashing Republicans’ hopes of a red wave and both parties hoping to win. narrow majorities.

Republicans kicked off the night with a major result in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis won in heavily Latino, historically Democratic regions, as he headed for a landslide victory that could serve as a launching pad for a 2024 presidential race.

But in the hours that followed, Democrats fought back. In Pennsylvania, Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman defeated Republican Mehmet Oz for the seat of Republican Senator Pat Toomey – reversing a seat that could be decisive in the race for the House majority.

Meanwhile, the battle for the House majority — which favored Republicans who had hoped to benefit from high inflation, historic trends and new district definitions — remains shaky.

Here are some key takeaways as votes continue to be counted in major races:

Democrats have a long way to go in protecting their Senate majority:

Republicans were not intimidated by the importance of the Senate race in Pennsylvania: “This is a mandatory race. We believe that if we win in Pennsylvania, we will win the majority,” said Steven Law, chairman of the Republican Senate’s prominent super PAC. In the early morning of this Wednesday (9), the CNN projected that Fetterman would be Pennsylvania’s next senator, defeating Oz in the country’s most expensive and high-stakes Senate campaign. Fetterman’s victory was a bang for the Democrats.

Democrats and Suburbs:

Suburban areas across the country greatly helped Democrats avoid a significant red wave. Republicans may still win the House, but if the 2022 election was a red wave, it was likely to come through suburban victories that have yet to materialize.

Republicans have achieved some suburban victories – the CNN projected Brandon Ogles as a winner in a district around Nashville, Tom Kean Jr. winning in a suburban New Jersey district and Rich McCormick winning in a district that included Atlanta’s northern suburbs — but it was their defeats that spoke volumes about the size of the GOP wave.

Another member of the committee investigating the Capitol invasion loses:

Luria, a member of the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol, lost his Virginia Beach House seat, designed the CNN 🇧🇷 She had defeated former GOP Representative Scott Taylor in 2018 and 2020. But the district became slightly more favorable ground for Republicans in redistricting: Biden took the previous race by 5 points and would have lost the new district by 2. spots.

DeSantis and 2024:

Governor Ron DeSantis has led a dominant Republican ticket in Florida — delivering historic margins in Democratic territory in his victory over Democratic Representative Charlie Crist on a night that provides him with a powerful argument if he seeks the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.

Easy wins for DeSantis, who led by nearly 20 percentage points with 92% of the estimated votes counted, and Senator Marco Rubio, who was 17 points higher, were enough to cast doubt on Florida’s status as a national benchmark.

The GOP makes gains on Florida’s Latinos:

Republicans were hoping to capitalize on Trump’s inroads among Latino voters in 2020, a trend that could reshape political landscapes in several key states if it continues.

The strongest early sign that the GOP continued to make gains came in Miami-Dade County, home to a large Cuban population. But it will take time to fully assess whether these GOP gains occur outside of Florida.

Victory for the right to abortion:

In Michigan, Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer — who staked her re-election campaign on her successful efforts to thwart enforcement of the 1931 state law banning abortion in nearly all cases — defeated Republican challenger Tudor Dixon, who had made a campaign focused on cultural battles. Michigan voters also approved a Whitmer-backed amendment to the state constitution that will eliminate the 1931 law and guarantee the right to abortion. Voters in California and Vermont also passed constitutional amendments enshrining the right to abortion.