PHOENIX, Nov. 11 (Reuters) – Election workers in Arizona and Nevada toiled on Friday to count hundreds of thousands of votes that could determine control of the U.S. Senate and the future of President Joe Biden two-year term. Officials in the two battleground states warned that this could continue for days.
After Tuesday’s midterm vote, either Democrats or Republicans could win a Senate majority with a full contest in both states. The split will change in December. 6 Georgia Senate runoff enters into the House of Representatives fight.
Political analysts expect campaign money to pour into Georgia as Republicans and Democrats prepare for the final battle in the 2022 midterm elections.read more
On Tuesday, Democrats blocked a “red wave” expected by Republicans, who had criticized Biden for soaring inflation and rising crime. Biden’s tenure since taking office in 2021 has been marked by the economic scars of the COVID-19 pandemic after a tumultuous four years under former President Donald Trump.
In the race for the House, Republicans are getting closer to wresting control of the House from Biden’s Democrats. House control would give Republicans veto power over Biden’s legislative agenda and allow them to launch a potentially damaging investigation of his administration.
Edison Research projected late Thursday that Republicans won at least 211 of the 218 House seats needed to secure a majority, while Democrats won 197, not counting the two Democrats competing against each other. an uncalled election. The remaining 27 games are yet to be determined, including several close games.
Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy has already announced his intention to run for speaker if a Republican takes over, which he says is an inevitable outcome.
Biden told reporters on Thursday that he and McCarthy had spoken, but said he had not given up hope that Democrats could win in the House, albeit a good one.
“It’s still alive,” he said of their chances.
Biden described the vote as a fight to save democracy after the Republican nominee touted Trump’s false claim that Biden’s 2020 election was fraudulent. His Democrats have called Republicans extremists, noting they want legislation to ban abortion nationwide and cut spending on social programs targeting the elderly and the poor.
(Live election results from across the country are here)
uncounted ballots
Democratic incumbents are trying to fend off Republican challengers who say the uncounted mail-in ballots may not be counted until next week, officials overseeing vote counting in the Arizona and Nevada Senate races said.
Their work has been slowed by the need to match signatures on mail-in ballots with voter registration signatures, especially in Arizona after a flood of such ballots were discarded on Election Day.
A senior election official in Arizona’s most populous county said Thursday that workers there have a backlog of more than 400,000 uncounted ballots.
“We’re going to work Friday, Saturday and Sunday and pass those ballots. The staff here is working 14 to 18 hours a day. We’re doing what we can,” Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, told reporters.
Some of Trump’s most high-profile support candidates lost key races on Tuesday, hurting his status as a Republican kingmaker and leading some Republicans to blame the party’s disappointing performance. His divisive brand.
The results could increase Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s chances of defeating a Democratic challenger on Tuesday who chose to challenge Trump for the 2024 presidential nomination.
While Trump has yet to officially launch his third White House campaign, the former president has strongly suggested he will, and plans to make a “special announcement” at his Florida club on Tuesday.
Trump slammed DeSantis in a statement Thursday, crediting him for the governor’s political rise, while attacking critics on his social media site, Truth Social.
Even a narrow Republican majority in the House could demand concessions next year in exchange for votes on key issues such as raising the state’s borrowing limit.
But with few votes to spare, Republican spokespeople may struggle to hold the caucus together — especially the far right, who largely aligns with Trump and has no interest in compromise.
Reporting by Tim Reid in Phoenix and Joseph Ax and Makini Brice in Washington; Writing by Rami Ayyub, Joseph Axe and Richard Cowan; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Alistair Bell
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