Republicans Hit Hard in Midterms: Democrats on Course for the House and Closing In on the Senate

The Democratic Party is on course to take control of the House of Representatives after dealing a major blow to the ruling Republican Party in the US midterm elections. At the same time, by pulling off stunning victories in Republican strongholds such as Texas, Ohio and South Carolina, the Democrats have also reached the threshold of a majority in the US Senate. The projections were reported by Reuters and US media outlets.

According to the results, the Democrats have taken at least eight Republican seats in states including Kentucky, New Jersey and North Carolina, putting them in a strong position to win control of the lower chamber. They have also built strong positions in areas traditionally known as conservative.

In a major Senate upset in Ohio, Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown has defeated Republican Senator John Husted to return to the Senate. In Texas, Democratic lawmaker James Talarico has beaten Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton amid fierce competition and heavy spending by opponents.

In South Carolina, paediatrician and Democratic candidate Annie Andrews has defeated Darlene Graham, who had taken over the seat of former Senator Lindsey Graham after his death. Earlier, Democrat Roy Cooper also won the Senate race in North Carolina.

If the Democrats hold their seats in Michigan and Minnesota, the equation for the four additional seats they need to win control of the Senate is already complete. They have also held their seats in Georgia and New Hampshire.

After winning in Georgia, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff sharply criticised Trump at a rally, saying, “Through a sweeping and decisive victory, the American people have rejected the decline, corruption and incompetence of the man named President Donald J. Trump.”

After the risk of Republicans losing their dominance in Congress became clear, Trump wrote on social media, “My name was not on the ballot. If it had been, we would have won by a huge margin! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

According to analysts, voters’ intense anger over the country’s economic situation and the rise in fuel prices following the Iran war, which began in February, has been reflected in this election. An exit poll conducted by the Associated Press together with major US media outlets found that more than half of voters used this election as a tool to express their discontent with Trump.

In the survey, 75 percent of voters expressed anger or dissatisfaction with the country’s overall current situation, and 70 percent said they wanted Congress to exercise more control and balance over the president.

Even in the strong Republican bastion of Florida, Republican Senator Ashley Moody managed to hold her seat by a margin of only 3 percent of the vote after a neck-and-neck contest with Democratic rival Angie Nixon.

Meanwhile, for the sake of overall election security and monitoring, the US Department of Justice deployed about one thousand observers across 50 states, described as the largest oversight operation in history. The Democrats, however, alleged that this was an attempt to influence and intimidate voters.