Republicans seize control of US Senate for first time in four years

Republicans have seized control of the US Senate after flipping Democratic-held seats, wresting away the majority for the first time in four years.

The unexpected battleground of Nebraska pushed Republicans over the top. Incumbent Senator Deb Fischer brushed back a surprisingly strong challenge from independent newcomer Dan Osborn.

Democrats watched their efforts to salvage their slim majority slip out of reach as tallies rolled in across a map that favoured Republicans.

Early in the night, Republicans flipped one seat in West Virginia, with the election of Jim Justice, who easily replaced retiring Senator Joe Manchin.

Democratic efforts to oust firebrand Republicans Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida collapsed.

While Texas has not elected a Democrat statewide in almost 30 years, Colin Allred, a Dallas-area congressman and former NFL linebacker, positioned himself as a moderate and leaned into his support for reproductive rights amid Texas’ abortion ban, which is one of the strictest in the nation.

Mr Cruz’s victory came after Democratic efforts to salvage their Senate majority evaporated when Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio lost his re-election to Republican Bernie Moreno, a wealthy Trump-era newcomer.

Mr Brown’s loss to Mr Moreno, an immigrant from Bogota, Colombia, who built a fortune as a luxury car dealer and blockchain entrepreneur, put the Democrats on the edge of losing Senate control. A three-term senator, he was the first incumbent to lose re-election.

Voters elected two black women to the Senate, Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, in a historic first.

Ms Blunt Rochester won the open seat in her state while Ms Alsobrooks defeated Maryland’s popular former governor, Larry Hogan. Just three black women have served in the Senate, and never before have two served at the same time.

And in New Jersey, Andy Kim became the first Korean American elected to the Senate, defeating Republican businessman Curtis Bashaw. The seat opened when Bob Menendez resigned this year after his federal conviction on bribery charges.

Elsewhere, House candidate Sarah McBride, a Democratic state lawmaker from Delaware who is close to the Biden family, won her race, becoming the first openly transgender person elected to Congress.

Congress plays a role in upholding the American tradition of peacefully transferring presidential power.

Four years ago, Mr Trump sent his mob of supporters to “fight like hell” at the Capitol, and many Republicans in Congress voted to block President Joe Biden’s election. Congress will again be called upon to certify the results of the presidential election in 2025.

Billions of dollars have been spent by the parties, and outside groups, on the narrow battleground for both the 435-member House of Representatives and 100-member Senate.

Top House races are focused in New York and California, where Democrats are trying to claw back some of the 10 or so seats where Republicans have made surprising gains in recent years with star lawmakers who helped deliver the party to power.

Other House races are scattered around the country in a sign of how narrow the field has become. Only a couple of dozen seats are being seriously challenged, with some of the most contentious in Maine, the “blue dot” around Omaha, Nebraska, and in Alaska.

Vote counting in some races could extend well past Tuesday.

“We’re in striking distance in terms of taking back the House,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is in line to make history as the first black speaker if his party wins control, told The Associated Press during a recent campaign swing through Southern California.

But House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted Republicans will keep “and grow” the majority. He took over after Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the speaker’s office.