Republicans make gains in midterms but no ‘red wave’

The Georgia State Capitol building is seen behind a “Vote” sign, a day after the US midterm election, in Atlanta, Georgia yesterday. The US Senate contest in Georgia that could determine which party controls the upper chamber of Congress is headed for a December runoff, media projections show. (AFP)

Chris Lefkow with Gerard Martinez in Atlanta and Romain Fonsegrives in Phoenix Republicans appeared poised yesterday to eke out a slim majority in the US House of Representatives but their hopes of a “red wave” in midterm elections were dashed as President Joe Biden’s Democrats outperformed expectations.It was a disappointing night for Donald Trump, who was counting on a powerful Republican showing to boost his expected 2024 run to return to White House.He also saw his main rival for the party’s presidential nomination, Ron DeSantis, record a thumping victory to remain governor of Florida.With three key races yet to be called after Tuesday’s vote, the Senate remained in play but it was leaning Democratic and control may hinge on a runoff election in the southern state of Georgia in December.Republicans seemed on track to reclaim the 435-member House for the first time since 2018, but by a handful of seats, a far cry from their predictions.Top Republican Kevin McCarthy, who had forecast a pickup of as many as 60 House seats, put on a brave face after the underwhelming showing.“It is clear that we are going to take the House back,” said McCarthy, who hopes to be the lower chamber’s next speaker.While the night saw wins by more than 100 Republicans embracing Trump’s “Big Lie” that Biden stole the 2020 election, several high-profile acolytes of the former president came up short.“Many of the candidates he endorsed underperformed and cost their party a chance at picking up seats that should have been winnable,” said Jon Rogowski, a political science professor at the University of Chicago.“Not only did voters reject many of Trump’s candidates, but they also rejected his policies,” Rogowski said, citing abortion as an example.Aiming to deliver a rebuke to Biden against a backdrop of sky-high inflation and bitter culture wars, Republicans needed just one extra seat to wrest control of the evenly divided Senate.But by yesterday the only seat to change hands went to the Democrats, with John Fetterman, a burly champion of progressive economic policies, triumphing in Pennsylvania over Trump-endorsed celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz.South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a top Trump ally, bluntly conceded to NBC that the election is “definitely not a Republican wave, that’s for darn sure.”