The US midterm elections took place last week, and with the votes nearly all but counted, the results are in.

The US midterm elections took place last week, and with the votes nearly all but counted, the results are in

The Senate

The Democrats narrowly kept control of the Senate, winning 50 sets to the Republican party’s 49. The Democrats win was marginally secured by flipping a seat in Pennsylvania. 34 of the 35 seats up for election have been called; the remaining seat in Alaska will likely be Republican. But even with a 50-50 tie, the Democrats retain control due to the Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie breaker vote.

However, the thorn in the side of a clean Democrat win is the state of Georgia. Georgia will have a runoff election on 6 December 2022 for the Senate seat. A runoff happens when none of the candidates in the general election receive a required percentage of votes, and this varies from state to state. In Georgia, a primary candidate must receive 50% of the vote, and if they don’t a runoff is held nine weeks after the first primary. Raphael Warnock (D) received 49.42% of the votes to his Republican challenger Herschel Walker’s 48.52%. The candidates will face off again in December.

Rapheal Warnock’s campaign has sued the state of Georgia this week after the state said it would not offer Saturday early voting for the runoff. The suit challenges the state’s interpretation of a law that prohibits early voting on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, arguing that the voting prohibition only applies to primary and general elections, not runoffs. Last year, Georgia Republicans passed a law shortening the runoff period from nine weeks to four, but the shortened runoff period is coming into conflict with the state law that bars early voting around holidays (Thanksgiving is a state holiday in Georgia). Warnock’s campaign, which has the support of the Georgia Democratic Party and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said that the state “misreads” and “cherry-picks” provisions of the law that do not apply to runoffs. The suit reads, “The secretary’s insistence that counties may not hold advance voting on November 26 therefore has no support in the law and conflicts with [the statute’s] requirement that counties begin advance voting for the December 6 runoff as soon as possible.” 

Separately, a group of civil rights organisations - ACLU Georgia, Southern Poverty Law Center, Legal Defense Fund and NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund - sent a letter to all of Georgia’s 59 counties urging them to offer at least three additional days of early voting from 7am-7pm, which is allowed under Georgia law at the counties’ discretion. Georgia’s runoff system has been associated with a history of voter suppression and racism. It was implemented in 1963 by Denmark Groover, who lost a 1958 election and blamed it on Black voters. He allegedly believed runoffs would prevent it in the future by allowing white voters to rally around white candidates. Many argue runoffs continue to promote racial barriers by adding confusion to the process that already has disproportionate barriers on Black and ethnic-minority voters. 

The House of Representatives

The Republican party has won back control of the House. It won the crucial 218th seat to the Democrat’s 211. 427 of 435 races have been called, with Republicans winning California’s 27th Congressional district, taking it over the line. The full scope of the Repbublican’s majority will become clear as the final races are called. US President Joe Biden congratulated McCarthy on the victory and expressed he is “ready to work with House Republicans to deliver results for working families.”

Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi will likely hand over her post to Republican leader Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy tweeted a clip of himself speaking on Fox News, saying, “One party Democrat rule is finished. We have fired Nancy Pelosi.” McCarthy is anti-abortion, opposed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act 2021 (Covid bill), voted against same-sex marriage and prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation, voted to reduce corporate tax rates from 35% to 21%, supports the death penalty, generally voted against green climate measures and votes in support of less EPA regulation, is harsh on immigration and is pro-Second Amendment (right to bare arms).

Some results came as a surprise. The Republicans were predicted a “red wave” before the midterms began, but this did not materialise. The Democrats held up more seats than expected and some high-profile Trump-backed candidates such as Mehmet Oz and Doug Mastriano lost their races. A Republican controlled House means Biden will face more legislative pushback and the potential for Republican launched investigations into Biden’s administration and family. Given the Democrats retained Senate control, the next two years will likely see a divided government and Congress. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump announced his bid for the White House again on Tuesday. 

(The Guardian, League of Women Voters, Reuters, On The Issues, AP)