[US Midterm Elections] Senate Vote Count Still Neck-and-Neck... Arizona and Nevada in Focus

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] As the counting of the November 8 U.S. midterm elections continues for several days, the majority party in both the House and Senate has not been officially confirmed. While the Republican Party is likely to become the majority in the House, the Senate remains in an ultra-close race. Among the three 'too-close-to-call' states where Senate election winners have not been decided?Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia?Georgia has confirmed a December runoff election, while in Arizona and Nevada, the Democratic and Republican candidates are currently leading, respectively.

Local U.S. media including CNN reported on the 11th (local time) that out of the 100 Senate seats, the Democrats and Republicans have secured 48 and 49 seats respectively. Due to delays in counting early votes and the confirmed ultra-close Senate race, no definitive reports on the winners have been released yet.

The House shows a Republican advantage. CNN reported that the Democrats and Republicans have secured 198 and 211 seats respectively. ABC reported 204 and 211 seats, and The Washington Post (WP) reported 191 and 211 seats. NBC projected Republicans to hold 220 seats and Democrats 215 seats. Although the numbers vary slightly, all agree that the Republicans are expected to hold the majority. Since the anticipated red wave did not materialize as expected, the seat difference between the two parties is not large. Even if the Republicans become the majority, they are expected to have to watch out for a small number of dissenting votes.

The key is the Senate. Winners have not yet emerged in the three states of Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia. Among these, Georgia requires a December runoff election as no candidate secured a majority. Currently, the Democratic candidate is leading in Arizona, and the Republican candidate is leading in Nevada. In Arizona, with 80% of votes counted, Democratic Senator Mark Kelly (51.7% of votes) is ahead of Republican Blake Masters (46.1% of votes) by 5.6 percentage points (about 115,000 votes). In Nevada, with 88% of votes counted, Republican Adam Laxalt (49.0%) is narrowly ahead of Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (48.0%) by just 1 percentage point (8,988 votes).

If this trend continues, the Democrats will have 49 seats and the Republicans 50 seats. Ultimately, the Senate majority is expected to depend on the outcome in Georgia.

Locally, considering the tendency for Democratic supporters to flood early voting, there is also analysis that the Democrats could control the Senate before the Georgia runoff election. In Arizona, the Democratic candidate's lead is expected to continue, but in Nevada, the gap is about 1 percentage point, so the Democrats could overturn the result at any time. Additionally, in the Senate, when the number of seats is tied between the two parties, the Vice President, who holds the casting vote, gives an advantage to the ruling party. Arizona and Nevada election authorities have stated that the counting of mail-in ballots could continue until next week.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.