Nov. 6 (UPI) — The Democratic Party was projected to take control of the House while Republicans maintain control of the Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Democrats secured more than a dozen seats and were expected to pick up more than needed to have a majority in the lower chamber, NBC News and CNN projected.
The party picked up seats with wins from Donna Shalala and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in Florida; Colin Allred in Texas; Jennifer Wexton and Elaine Luria in Virginia; Haley Stevens in Michigan; Jason Crow in Colorado; Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey; Sharice Davids in Kansas; Dean Phillips in Minnesota; Max Rose in New York; and Conor Lamb, Chrissy Houlahan, Susan Wild and Mary Gay Scanlon in Pennsylvania.
With 16 percent of the vote counted, Stevens had a double-digit lead over her competitor, Lena Epstein. Stevens will become one of only a fewDemocrats to represent Michigan’s 11th District over the past 135 years.
In Texas, former NFL player Allred ousted Rep. Pete Sessions, who has served in the House since 1997.
Republicans picked up a House seat in Pennsylvania with Guy Reschenthaler.
Another tossup district, Kentucky’s 6th, went to Republicans. NPR and Bloomberg projected the race for incumbent Rep. Andy Barr over challenger Amy McGrath.
In the Senate, Republican challenger Mike Braun unseated Sen. Joe Donnelly in Indiana and Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer beat Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, ending Democrats’ hopes of turning the chamber blue.
CNN and ABC News also projected a win for GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, who faced stiff competition from Democratic challenger Rep. Beto O’Rourke.
Heading into Election Day, Republicans controlled the Senate with 51 seats to Democrats’ 49. The latter needed to pick up two seats to hope for control.
Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Bob Casey, D-Pa., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, secured re-election.
Republican Marsha Blackburn won the Senate seat left open by retiring Sen. Bob Corker. She becomes the state’s first female senator.
Meanwhile, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney returns to politics, this time representing Utah in the Senate. He defeated Democrat Jenny Wilson to replace retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican.
The Indiana Senate race was one of about eight Senate races considered to be tossups, including Democrat-held seats in Florida, Missouri, Montana and West Virginia, and Republican-held seats in Arizona, Nevada and Tennessee.
In Montana, Democratic incumbent Jon Tester was in a tight race to keep his seat against Republican challenger Matt Rosendale. With President Donald Trump‘s help, Rosendale has closed the gap on Tester, who had led the race by 9 points in a poll last month (47-38).
Other congressional wins of note include:
— Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose win in New York’s 14th District makes her the youngest woman elected to Congress.
— Democrats Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who will become the first Muslim women elected to Congress.
