US Senate 49-49 with Arizona poised towards Democrats

After incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly’s win over Republican Blake Masters, the US Senate has gone into a 49-49 tie on Friday with two more seats to be decided. Kelly’s win in Arizona means that the Democrats now need only one more seat to take control of the House.

“I’m humbled by the trust our state has placed in me to continue this work,” Kelly said on Twitter, reacting to his win. 

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Kelly, a former astronaut, became a Senate member from Arizona in the 2020 special election in which he defeated then-senator Marta McSally of the GOP. He served for the remaining two years in the Senate, and then contested again in the 2022 midterms.

With Arizona decided now, all eyes will now be on Georgia and Nevada where the contest is yet to be decided. However, the GOP now needs to win both these seats to take control of the Senate, as Vice President Kamala Harris can cast a tie-breaking vote if the House is tied at 50-50. 

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The Democrat performance in the 2022 midterms was unexpected as they could overturn historical losses in many states, as opposed to the strong gains that Republicans were anticipating. 

Reports say that law enforcement in Arizona is on high alert and they are anticipating potential protests. Barricades and security fencing have been erected around the Maricopa Country elections department where officials are still working to verify and tabulate the remaining ballots.

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The Republicans have criticised the election officials in Maricopa with candidate Kari Lake leading the way. She has accused the officials of deliberately delaying the counting and called them “incompetent” and “despicable”.

However, Bill Gates, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chairman and a Republican himself, hit out at Lake and asked her to calm down. “Everybody needs to calm down a little bit and turn down the rhetoric. That’s the problem with what’s going on with our country right now,” he told the press.