With media now calling Sen. Dan Sullivan the winner in Alaska, Republicans have 50 seats in the chamber and need to win only one of two runoffs in Georgia to maintain their majority.
If Joe Biden prevails, a Republican majority could block efforts to raise taxes and pass radical plans such as the Green New Deal.
The Washington Examiner reported NBC and CNN called the race for Sullivan, who has a 3-2 margin.
Currently, Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate. The Democrats lost Doug Jones’ seat in Alabama, but they took GOP seats in Arizona and Colorado.
The Democrats’ only hope to have the majority would be to win both of the Georgia races and the White House, making the vice president the tie-breaker.
The two Georgia runoffs are between incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock, and incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossof.
On Monday, Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham conceded the North Carolina Senate race to Republican incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis, giving the GOP its 49th seat.
In the Georgia races, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer already has given Republicans a huge talking point. He promised to “change the world” if voters in the Southern state give his party both of its Senate seats.
RedState.com noted Fox News analyst Brit Hume and others called Schumer’s comments an accidental gift to Senate Republicans.
“Sensing momentum was on the left’s side, Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer took to the streets in his home state of New York Saturday during a Biden-Harris ‘victory’ rally to proclaim total domination was within reach. ‘Now we take Georgia, then we change the world,’ he declared. In the very next sentence, which he uttered after putting his mask on, Schumer promised, ‘Now we take Georgia, then we change America.'”
It probably did not help the Dems’ cause in Georgia that Schumer was out Saturday saying that if his party wins the Georgia seats “We will change America.” GA may have acted to change the occupant of the White House, it’s doubtful they wish to “change America.”
— Brit Hume (@brithume) November 8, 2020
Republicans wasted no time in taking advantage of Schumer’s gaffe.
.@ChuckSchumer said it best: “Now, we take Georgia. Then we change America.”
Help us defend America by chipping in here ➡️ https://t.co/1Q0jAyjS3z pic.twitter.com/NQfI7i6bai
— The Senate Majority (@NRSC) November 7, 2020
There were 33 Senate seats up for election this year and two special elections. The Republicans were defending 23 seats while the Democrats were defending 12.
On the Republican side, incumbents Susan Collins of Maine, Steve Daines in Montana, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Bill Cassidy in Louisiana, Cynthia Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Jim Risch in Idaho, Roger Marshall in Kansas, Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, Jim Inhofe in Oklahoma, Tom Cotton in Arkansas, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, John Cornyn of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina were winners.
Republican Bill Hagerty in Tennessee won an open seat, and Republican Tommy Tuberville took away Democrat Sen. Doug Jones’ Senate from Alabama.
Democrat incumbents Tina Smith of Minnesota, Chris Coons in Delaware, Richard Durbin in Illinois, Edward Markey in Massachusetts, Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, Cory Booker in New Jersey, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, John Reed in Rhode Island, Gary Peters of Michigan and Mark Warner in Virginia were victorious.
In Arizona, Democrat Mark Kelly upset incumbent Republican Sen. Martha McSally. And Democrat Ben Ray Lujan won the open seat in New Mexico.
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, defeated Republican Sen. Cory Gardner. Hickenlooper convinced the long-liberal Colorado voting populace to support him despite having been fined for ethics failures during his time as governor in the state. He was not only fined, but found in contempt for refusing to meet with a state ethics oversight board. He had accepted freebies such as free transportation during a trip to Italy in a Maserati limousine.
In the 2014 election, the last time these seats were up for election, Republicans won nine from Democrats and took over the majority in the Senate. They maintained their hold in 2016 and 2018.
