Republicans will regain control of the Senate for the first time in four years, the AP projects. In the current chamber, Democrats have a 51-49 advantage, but incumbents were playing defense Tuesday night in a number of competitive states. The GOP gained its first seat of the night when the AP called West Virginia for Republican Gov. Jim Justice. He easily defeated Democrat Glenn Elliott, mayor of Wheeling, and will take the seat of retiring independent Joe Manchin. They flipped a second seat when Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown was ousted by Republican Bernie Moreno in Ohio. Elsewhere:
- Cruz wins: GOP Sen. Ted Cruz avoided a flip in Democrats' favor by surviving a strong challenge from Colin Allred, per the AP.
- Florida stays red: GOP Sen. Rick Scott did the same by defeating Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in Florida.
- Nebraska, too: GOP Sen. Deb Fischer defeated the surprisingly strong independent candidate Dan Osborne.
The GOP now has at least 51 seats, and the party's advantage could grow depending on the outcome of other races:
- Arizona: Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego vs. Republican Kari Lake, vying for the seat of independent Kyrsten Sinema, who opted not to run.
- Michigan: Democrat Elissa Slotkin vs. Republican Mike Rogers, both vying for the seat of the retiring Democrat Debbie Stabenow.
- Montana: Democratic Sen. Jon Tester vs. Republican Tim Sheehy.
- Nevada: Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen vs. Republican Sam Brown.
- Pennsylvania: Democratic Sen. Bob Casey vs. Republican David McCormick.
- Wisconsin: Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin vs. Republican Eric Hovde.
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