On November 3rd, local time, voting began for the U.S. mid-term elections.
The U.S. Senate has 100 senators, with a term of six years. Approximately one-third of the seats are elected every two years. This year, there will be elections for 35 seats. Currently, the Republicans have 53 seats, and the Democrats have 47 seats. Therefore, the Democrats also need to gain four additional seats to take control. If the Senate ends up with a 50-50 distribution of seats, Vice President Vance will cast a decisive vote.
On the eve of the election, CNN ranked the 11 Senate seats that are most likely to change hands, with North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Maine, Alaska, Kansas, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Georgia coming in order.
According to predictions from American media and election analysts, as of 11:00 Beijing time, the Democratic Party has taken control of four key states. North Carolina and South Carolina have both switched from the Blue Party to the Democratic Party. According to statistics from The Hill, the Democratic Party currently has won 47 seats, just one seat away from achieving a majority of 51 seats.
According to predictions, the current Republican senator from South Carolina is expected to lose to the Democratic candidate Ann Anderson. The Republican Party will suffer a “shocking defeat” in that state.
In nearly 90% of the counted votes, Andrews led by nearly 4 percentage points, overturning the Republican-held seat that had been in control for nearly thirty years.
American media reports that this is a shocking accident. South Carolina is generally considered a stronghold of the Republican Party, having voted in favor of Trump with nearly 18 percentage points during the 2024 presidential election.
In July this year, Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, suddenly passed away. The governor appointed Darren Graham to complete her remaining term in office. Earlier, with the support of U.S. President Donald Trump, Darren finally won the competitive party primary and became the Republican candidate.
Graham siblings and US media
Jon Osoff (Democrat) is expected to win the Georgia Senate seat.
At the beginning of this electoral cycle, the Republican Party considered Georgia to be one of the most important targets for an attack. However, with only one day left before the election, the chances of the Republican Party winning the state's Senate elections seemed to have significantly decreased.
Federal Senator Jon Osov has carried out a strong campaign, and throughout the election process, his poll support was always higher than that of Republican Federal Representative Mike Collins. Trump supported Collins in the Republican primary elections.
Additionally, the discussion surrounding Osoff has shifted focus from whether he will be re-elected to whether he will decide to run for a higher position in 2028. He has repeatedly denied his intention to run for president.
Former Governor of North Carolina Roy Cooper (Democrat) will win the senatorial race in that state, defeating Republican candidate Michael Walteri and securing this seat that Democrats have long failed to secure.
Cooper will be the first Democratic North Carolina senator elected since 2008.
In the past few election cycles, North Carolina has always been known as a "red state". Last year, after Tom Tillis, a Republican senator from two terms, announced that he would not run for re-election, the state became a focus of attention for Democrats.
Democratic Congressman Chris Pappas defeated Republican candidate and former Senator John Sunnu, becoming the first openly gay person to be elected to the state’s Senate in history.
New Hampshire has supported Democratic presidential candidates for the past twenty years. However, before the election, the Republicans saw an opportunity in the state, as both the governor’s office and the state legislature were controlled by Republicans. Sen. Snowe served as a senator from 2003 to 2009, and he has been carefully balancing his position between the Republican roots of his party and keeping a distance from Trump.
Pappas tried to link Sununu with the Trump administration. But in the last few weeks of the campaign, Sununu released an advertisement emphasizing his separation from the Trump administration.
