US President Joe Biden’s Democrats have moved closer to retaining control of the Senate, with an expected win in Arizona after the midterm elections.
Three days after Americans voted, JEE News predicts Democrat Mark Kelly has beaten Republican challenger Black Masters.
That would leave 49 Democratic and 49 Republican Senate seats.
Nevada and Georgia are yet to be decided.
Vote counts in Nevada are neck-and-neck, while Georgia’s race will be decided by a runoff election next month.
If Democrats win either of the remaining two races, they will retain control of the upper house of Congress because the US vice president can cast the tie-breaking vote on their behalf.
Republicans could still take control of the U.S. House of Representatives as votes continue to be counted from a handful of districts after Tuesday’s election.
If Republicans win either or both houses of Congress, they could thwart much of Mr. Biden’s agenda.
Mr. Kelly, a former astronaut whose wife, Gabby Giffords, survived an assassination attempt while she was a US lawmaker, was first elected two years ago to serve out the remainder of John McCain’s Senate term.
In a statement, Mr. Kelly said: “From day one, this campaign has been about the many Arizonans — Democrats, independents, and Republicans — who believe in working together to address the critical challenges we face.
“That’s exactly what I’ve done in my first two years in office and what I’ll continue to do as long as I’m there.”
Mr. Masters, a 36-year-old venture capitalist with no political experience, was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. He had refused to accept the 2020 election results and repeated false claims of election rigging.
In an email to supporters Thursday, Masters’ campaign said it had seen “disturbing” problems during the election and asked for support, The New York Times reported.
“We expect a contentious road and legal battles,” he said.
The result is another blow to Republicans, who had been hoping for a “red tide” — an electoral defeat that would draw a sharp rebuke from President Joe Biden and Democrats.
Although the party has made modest gains and is favored to win the House of Representatives, the Senate was tightly contested and Democrats fared better than expected.
Mr Biden has said the election was a “good day” for American democracy.
Mid-term elections are for Congress, which consists of two parts – the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Congress makes nationwide laws. The House decides which laws are voted on, while the Senate can veto or approve them, confirm appointments made by the President and, more rarely, conduct investigations against him.
These votes are held every two years and when they fall in the middle of a president’s four-year term.
Each state has two senators, who serve six-year terms. Representatives serve two-year terms, and represent smaller districts.
All seats in the House of Representatives were up for mid-term elections, along with one-third in the Senate.
Many large states also hold elections for their governors and local officials.
