US midterms: Contours of new Congress still unclear

Washington, Nov 9 (IANS) US voters have spoken, but the control of the US Congress remains unclear. Republicans have done well in the Tuesday's midterm elections, but not as well as expected. And Democrats have not done as badly as anticipated. Key races remain up in the air.

In one of the most closely watched races, John Fetterman won the open Pennsylvania senate seat boosting Democrats' chances of holding on to the US Senate. Other close contests such as Georgia and Nevada remain undecided.

Republicans improved their showing in the race for the US House of Representatives, but they are still far short of the 218 mark they need to wrest control of the chamber from Democrats, who have shown a better performance defying expectations.

Among winners and projected winners were Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Rand Paul and Republican Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis, who is also expected to run for the White House in 2024. Also among the winners were Sarah Sanders Huckabee, spokesperson for former President Donald Trump, who became the first woman Governor of Arkansas, and Wes Moore, a Democrat who has become the first African American elected Maryland Governor.

At stake is control of US Congress - all 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs, 35 of the 100 in the US Senate as well as 36 governorships. Republicans are widely expected to wrest control of the House from Democrats - the party in control of the White House is historically known to lose the first midterm election in the incumbent President's first term.

The critical races that could determine the outcome of the race for control of the House and the Senate remained open or too close to call. Senate races in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Ohio, for instance, were too close to call as polls closed around the UA across three time zones.

Counting in some constituencies could typically take days, especially in the ones with close races. But broad outlines will begin to emerge in a few hours based on projections by media outfits, which are fairly accurate.

President Joe Biden is not on the ballot but midterm elections are a referendum on the sitting President and he is likely to be hit hard, mostly on account of an obstinate inflation that has dogged his presidency for months now. But an adverse midterm outcome does not necessarily diminish re-election chances -- Democrats lost 54 seats in 1984 but Bill Clinton was re-elected, and the party lost 63 in 2010, but Barack Obama was re-elected two years later in 2012.

If Republicans pick up the House as expected, President Biden's legislative agenda over the remaining two years of his term will be severely impacted. And, as the Republicans have already threatened, there will be a host of inquiries and investigations against Biden officials.