Republicans Flip Senate

The 2024 United States election brought the country a second Trump presidency and delivered control of the Senate to Republicans, the latter being an expected win for the right. Senate contests in several battleground states are still too close to call as of midday Wednesday, but Republicans have 52 seats in the upper chamber – enough to help Donald Trump install his Cabinet, enact his agenda, and take point in the confirmation of any future Supreme Court justices.

The Democrats had a near-impossible path to retain control of the Senate; they had a wafer-thin one-seat majority to begin with and were tasked with defending 23 seats, many of them in states Trump won on Election Night.

It was practically predestined that Republicans would gain at least one seat in West Virginia, given the retirement of independent Sen. Joe Manchin. Republican Jim Justice proved that to be true, cruising to victory and handing Republicans their 50th seat.

Then, shortly after midnight Eastern, networks called the Ohio Senate race for Republican Bernie Moreno, who defeated incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown. Republicans had officially succeeded in flipping the Upper Chamber.

“Tonight, we have a red, white, and blue wave in this country,” Moreno said in his victory speech. “We need leaders that put our interests above their own. We’re tired of leaders that think we’re ‘garbage.’ We’re tired of being treated like garbage.”

With six races – in Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Maine – yet to be called, it will now be a matter of just how large a majority the GOP will hold. They successfully flipped their third seat in Montana, where Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy ousted Democratic incumbent Jon Tester to bring the GOP’s total seat count to 52.

As of midday Wednesday, Republican candidates have razor-thin leading margins in Nevada and Pennsylvania. In Nevada, Republican Sam Brown holds a narrow edge over incumbent Jacky Rosen, with 84% of the vote reported. In Pennsylvania – which, when it broke for Trump, was the death knell for the Harris campaign – former hedge fund CEO David McCormick looks likely to triumph over Democratic incumbent Bob Casey, up 50,000 votes with less than 3% of the vote still to be counted.

Wisconsin and Michigan are reporting at 98% and 99%, respectively, but the races are still too close to call. In the Badger State, Democratic incumbent Tammy Baldwin is up a little over one point on Republican challenger Eric Hovde. In Michigan, the race is incredibly close – just 10,000 votes separate Democrat Elissa Slotkin from Republican Mike Rogers as they vie for the Great Lakes State open seat.

Only 60% of the vote has been reported in Arizona, but Democrats can be cautiously optimistic there, as Democrat Ruben Gallego holds a 2.5-point lead over Republican Kari Lake. Like Michigan, Arizona’s seat is open for the taking. Independent incumbent Sen. Angus King Jr. looks likely to win reelection in Maine as he has a healthy leading margin over Republican challenger Demi Kouzounas. King Jr., like other independents, caucuses with the Democratic party.

If three of these six races break for Republicans, it will be their largest majority since they reached a 55-seat mark in the 2004 election, when George W. Bush and Dick Cheney led the GOP to victory. It would be quite the feat, but very much in line with Republicans’ performance on Election Night. After all, Trump is poised to be the first Republican presidential candidate to win the popular vote since 2004. Though two years late, America finally saw its red wave.