Democrats falling short in bid for control of US Senate
- Ex-astronaut gives Democrats US Senate win in Arizona
- Democrats lose only Senate seat in Deep South
A handful of undecided seats in the US Senate meant that neither side of the political divide could claim control of the upper house of the US legislature yet as vote-counting continued into Wednesday.
Analysts had started the year convinced that the centre-left Democrats had little chance of claiming the Senate, which must approve all legislation, but also has the power to confirm judges and high-ranking government officials. Republicans have had the majority since the 2014 election.
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US presidential elections 2020: Still too close to call
Democrats already control the House of Representatives. Thus, if Trump wins again, he will still need to find ways to compromise on legislation, although he will have a freer hand with nominations.
However, if Biden wins, but his Democrats do not control both houses, he will not be able to push through much of the agenda he promised American voters.
As Wednesday dawned in America, most attention was on races in Maine, North Carolina and Georgia, where Democrats were hoping to pick up seats, and Michigan, where a Democratic incumbent was facing more trouble than expected.
Republicans have already won one seat from the Democrats, with Tommy Tuberville winning against Doug Jones in Alabama. It was the Democrats‘ only seat in the conservative Deep South and Jones had been expected to lose.