By Mike Dorning
It is increasingly likely that US lawmakers will return to Washington next week without knowing who will wield majority power as both parties prepare for leadership elections and a lame-duck legislative session.
Three days after Americans voted, Republicans appear to have an edge in the House. In the Senate, Mark Kelly, the Democratic incumbent in Arizona, won the race there, according to the Associated Press, so the party needs just one more victory to keep a narrow majority.
Even so, control of both chambers remains very much in play.
Disappointment and finger-pointing among Republican lawmakers who had expected a wave of victories heading into the election also threatened to inflame tensions between populists loyal to Donald Trump and establishment Republicans, complicating the task of unifying the party in Congress.
The Associated Press called five tight House races for Democrats on Thursday and Friday, declaring as winners Pat Ryan of New York, Jahana Hayes in Connecticut, Eric Sorensen in Illinois, Gabe Vasquez in New Mexico and Kim Schrier in Washington, underscoring the slender margin the GOP would have if it takes over the House.
With 218 members needed for a majority in the House, Republicans by Friday evening had won 211 seats and Democrats 199, according to the AP. Republicans would need to win seven more seats to gain a majority.
The bulk of the uncalled races were in West Coast states, particularly California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, where heavy use of mail-in voting slows counting.
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy sought to project confidence, on Thursday appointing a transition team for a GOP takeover and sending a memo instructing House administrative personnel to make preparations to fulfill a Republican promise to drop coronvavirus measures restricting public access in time for the new Congress starting on January 3.
Some conservative House Republicans already were making rumblings about opposing McCarthy’s bid to be House speaker, which just a few Republicans could deny him under a slim majority. Florida Republican Matt Gaetz said during a Thursday video chat that McCarthy “is not my first choice and even quite frankly in my top 100” to be speaker.
To win the Senate, one party needs to win two out of two contests still not called: Nevada and Georgia.
The Arizona race was called for Kelly over his Republican opponent, Blake Masters, on Friday night.
In Nevada, Republican Adam Laxalt led Democratic incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto but by a very narrow margin on Friday night as more than 27,000 votes were reported from Clark County, which includes the Las Vegas area and is more friendly to Democrats. Tens of thousands of uncounted ballots remain in Clark and more in the Reno area, a swing region.
The Georgia Senate race between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican candidate Herschel Walker is headed for a December 6 runoff.
That runoff is likely to bring influential surrogates from each party to Georgia and a flood of television advertising. President Joe Biden told reporters as he left for overseas summits that he would do “whatever he wants me to do” to help Warnock campaign in the runoff election.