WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans flipped one Senate seat to deadlock the chamber Tuesday, while House races unfolded in a state-by-state slog and polls closed in key states that could decide control of Congress . Early in the evening, West Virginia Republican Jim Justice won the Senate seat opened by Sen. Joe Manchin's retirement, and Republicans quickly dispatched a late challenge by Democrats in Florida as Republican Sen.
Rick Scott sailed to reelection after pouring millions of dollars of his own wealth into the campaign. In Ohio and the Democratic “blue-wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Democrats fought to salvage what’s left of their slim hold on the Senate. The Ohio race between Sen.
Sherrod Brown and wealthy Trump-backed Bernie Moreno is the most expensive of the cycle, at some $400 million. And in Nebraska, attention turned suddenly to a state that vaulted to importance with competitive races in both the House and the Senate, where independent newcomer Dan Osborn challenged incumbent GOP Sen. Deb Fischer.
With control of Congress at stake, the ever-tight contests for the House and Senate will determine which party holds the majority and the power to boost or block a president’s agenda, or if the White House confronts a divided Capitol Hill . In the end, just a handful of seats, or as little as one, could tip the balance in either chamber. With a 50-50 Senate, the party in the White House determines the majority, since the vice president is a.