Republicans have picked up three Senate seats, Fox News projects, bringing them halfway to the six seats needed to take the majority.
In the latest pick-up, Fox News projects that South Dakota Republican Mike Rounds will beat Democrat Rick Weiland and independent Larry Pressler to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson.
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GOP Rep. Tom Cotton also will unseat two-term Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor in Arkansas and Shelley Moore Capito will beat Democrat Natalie Tennant for an open Senate seat in West Virginia, Fox News projects.
In another key win, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell won re-election to his Kentucky seat.
It’s a strong start to the night for Republicans as returns continue to come in.
In Kentucky, McConnell defeated Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky’s secretary of state. This is a big win for Republicans because Kentucky was one of the few states where Democrats thought they had a chance of flipping a Senate seat from red to blue. It’s also significant because if Republicans take control of the Senate, McConnell will likely seek to replace Democrat Harry Reid as the next Senate majority leader.
In his victory speech, McConnell seemed bullish about his party’s chances.
“Tomorrow, the papers will say I won this race, but the truth is … tonight we begin another one, one that’s far more important than mine — and that’s the race to turn this country around,” McConnell said in Louisville.
He said some things won’t change next year, but lawmakers and the White House don’t have to be in “perpetual conflict” and “have an obligation to work together.”
The West Virginia seat won by Capito is being vacated by retiring Democrat Jay Rockefeller.
The closely watched race in New Hampshire between Democratic incumbent Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Republican challenger Scott Brown, meanwhile, remains too close to call.
Polls have closed in several other states, but key races there are too close to call — most notably, in Virginia, where Republican Ed Gillespie is running a late-surging campaign against Democratic Sen. Mark Warner.
According to Fox News exit polls, this race is looking much closer than it did in pre-election polling, in which Warner, a former Virginia governor, held a months-long, 20-point lead over Gillespie, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. Gillespie eventually cut that lead in half, but the race now appears even closer.
Polls are also closed in North Carolina, but the crucial Senate race between Democratic incumbent Kay Hagan and Republican challenger Thom Tillis is too close to call.
In the Colorado Senate race, Republican Rep. Cory Gardner has a slight lead over first-term Democratic Sen. Mark Udall. But it is too early to project a winner in that race. The same goes for Kansas, where the Senate’s most vulnerable Republican incumbent Pat Roberts is facing independent Greg Orman, who has a slight lead.
It is also too early to project whether the Louisiana Senate race will go to a runoff on Dec. 6, although it may be headed in that direction. In Georgia, likewise it is too early to call a winner in the closely fought race between Republican businessman David Perdue and Democrat Michelle Nunn. If neither candidate exceeds 50 percent of the vote, the election will drag on for another two months, with a runoff set for Jan. 6.
Republicans are aiming for a big election night as polls continue to close in other states — hoping that two years of intensive campaigning will net them the six seats they need to take over the Senate, even as top Democrats vow their ground game ultimately will keep the Senate in their hands.
At stake are 435 House seats, 36 Senate seats, and another 36 gubernatorial races.
The U.S. Senate battle, with control of Capitol Hill at stake, is the most closely watched. If Republicans win (and keep the House), it gives them full control of Congress during President Obama’s last two years in office.
Fox News also projects that the following Republican incumbents will win re-election: Sen. Thad Cochran in Mississippi; Sen. Lamar Alexander in Tennessee; Sen. Susan Collins in Maine; Lindsey Graham in South Carolina; Sen. John Cornyn in Texas, Sen. Jeff Sessions in Alabama; and Sen. James Inhofe in Oklahoma. Fox News also can project that Republican James Lankford will win the seat being vacated by Republican Tom Coburn, and serve out the remaining two years of his term. And Sen. Tim Scott, appointed to the seat vacated by Jim DeMint in December 2012, will now serve out the final two years of that term.
Fox News also projects university president Ben Sasse, a Republican, will beat Democrat David Domina for an open Nebraska Senate seat.
Fox News can project, based on exit polling, that the following Democratic senators will win re-election: Sen. Dick Durbin in Illinois; Sen. Cory Booker in New Jersey; Sen. Al Franken in Minnesota; Sen. Ed Markey in Massachusetts; Sen. Chris Coons in Delaware; and Sen. Jack Reed in Rhode Island.
In Michigan, Democrat Gary Peters is projected to win an open seat.
The Obama factor may weigh heavily over the vote Tuesday night. Fox News Exit Polls show more than a third of voters — 34 percent — said they voted to show they’re opposed to Obama’s policies. That number was a bit higher in 2010.
By contrast, just 20 percent voted to show support for Obama. Forty-five percent said it was not a factor.
The economy is by far the biggest issue for voters; 43 percent said it was the most important issue. Of those worried about the direction of the economy, they voted for the Republican candidate by a 20-point difference, exit polls show.
Most the campaigning and the big money in recent months have concentrated on roughly 10 competitive contests. Seven were for seats held by Democrats: in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, New Hampshire and North Carolina.
Three were for seats held by Republicans: in Georgia, Kansas and Kentucky.
Surprise developments colored the elections in several states — most notably, the Democratic candidate’s decision to drop out of the race for Senate in Kansas.
His decision immediately boosted independent Greg Orman in his race against longtime GOP Sen. Pat Roberts, who until that race shakeup was leading in the polls.
In Kentucky, Grimes also suffered a PR blow after she repeatedly refused to say whether she voted for Obama. In the final days of the race, both campaigns turned to accusing each other of putting out inappropriate mailers.
There’s a possibility America won’t even know the outcome on election night.
Late-tallied votes from rural Alaska and a likely runoff in Louisiana between Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and Republican challenger Rep. Bill Cassidy – and a possible runoff in the Georgia race, where a nominee must get 50 percent of the votes to win — could keep control of the Senate undecided for days, or even until next year.
On the House side, all 435 House seats are on the ballot. Of them, 233 are held by Republicans and 199 held by Democrats. The other three races are for vacant seats. Democrats would need 17 seats to take the majority, an unlikely possibility. Rather, Republicans are expected to pick up at least five more seats.
At the state level, nearly a dozen U.S. governors are considered in political peril, making it one of the toughest years for incumbent governors in decades.
Article source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/11/04/republicans-aim-for-senate-takeover-democrats-look-to-dash-gop-hopes/
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