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Democrats have now won control of the US Senate, according to the Associated Press.
The Guardian reports that with historic wins in Texas, Iowa, Kansas, and South Karolina, the party now has 51 seats – the magic number needed to win the upper chamber of Congress.
Democrats are also poised to take control of the House.
“What a night for Ohio!” Sherrod Brown said as he took the stage at the Ohio Democrats’ election watch party.
Brown’s comeback victory in the Ohio race brings Democrats closer to taking control of the Senate and proves that Ohio can’t be written off as reliably red.
Democrat Peggy Flanagan won her US Senate race in Minnesota, defeating Republican Michele Tafoya.
Flanagan, a member of the White Earth band of Ojibwe, is currently the state’s lieutenant governor. She will succeed Democratic senator Tina Smith, who did not seek reelection.
Amy Klobuchar has been elected governor of Minnesota.
A Democrat, Klobuchar has represented the state in the US Senate since 2007 and announced her bid for governor after the incumbent governor, Tim Walz, dropped out of the race in early January.
Democrat Ilhan Omar has won re-election to the House of Representatives in Minnesota’s fifth congressional district.
Omar has been subject to many attacks by Donald Trump over the course of her career in Congress, with federal agents raiding her residence last month.
Alaska is one of Democrats’ key pickup opportunities. Former Congresswoman Mary Peltola has led Republican incumbent Dan S Sullivan in recent polls as frustration with the Trump administration has grown and voters contend with soaring energy prices in the wake of the Iran war.
The race has drawn scrutiny from the Trump administration and the president himself, who have accused Peltola and Democrats of recruiting a namesake candidate to siphon votes from Sullivan. The justice department even sought to delay certification if the Trump-backed Sullivan lost,though a federal judge recently rejected that effort. Peltola’s campaign denied recruiting Dan J Sullivan, but a recent New York Times report suggested otherwise.
