US Senate election in the balance as Republicans edge to House majority

The opposition Republican Party remains on course to secure a small majority in the United States House of Representatives as counting continues in the midterm elections held earlier this week.

On Thursday, Republicans had won or were leading in 220 constituencies across the country. US president Joe Biden’s Democratic Party had secured victory or was leading in 214 seats. The parties need to secure 218 seats to obtain a majority in the chamber.

Some Democrat strategists maintain the party has a narrow path by which it could retain control of the House of Representatives. The results of about 30 contests for seats in the House remain undecided. Some Republican operatives have suggested their party could win in areas where Democrats are currently ahead, bringing their total to more than 220 seats.

Speaking on Thursday, Mr Biden said the election on Tuesday was “a good day for America” and a good day for democracy. He said it was the first national election since the attack on the US Capitol in Washington on January 6th last year by supporters of Donald Trump and that “democracy met the test”. The president described the election results as “extraordinary”. He again said he was prepared to work with the Republicans, and the public wanted them to work with him.

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The election results overall were disappointing for Republicans who had hoped to secure far more seats given the unpopularity in the polls of Mr Biden and the economic difficulties, including high inflation levels, affecting the country.

Counting also continued in two contests for Senate seats in Arizona and Nevada, but the outcomes could be a number of days away. There are an estimated 400,000 votes to be counted in Arizona and about 135,000 in Nevada. The Democratic candidate Mark Kelly is leading his Republican rival Blake Masters in the Arizona Senate election. Republican Adam Laxalt is ahead in Nevada against Catherine Cortez Masto of the Democrats.

A run-off election is to be held in Georgia in early December after the candidates failed to secure more than 50 per cent of the vote. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said on Thursday it would spend $7 million in a bid to mobilise voters to support its candidate, serving senator Raphael Warnock, in the run-off. The Republican candidate, former football star Herschel Walker, is being strongly backed by senior party figures. On Thursday Republican senator Ted Cruz campaigned with Mr Walker in Georgia. The White House said the president would do whatever was helpful to the Democratic candidate “whether that was campaigning with him, raising money, whatever Senator Warnock would like the president to do”.

The run-off will add to the estimated $250 million already spent between Republicans, Democrats and outside supporters on the Georgia Senate campaign in the midterm elections.

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In the House of Representatives, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has declared a bid to become the next speaker if his party secures control. However, a right-wing group of Republican members of congress – known as the freedom caucus – are understood to be considering voting against Mr McCarthy unless they secure concessions from him. A narrow majority for the Republicans in the House of Representatives – which seems likely at present – will increase the leverage of the right-wing faction.

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Meanwhile the White House said on Thursday that Mr Biden will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping before the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia next week. It said the two men would “discuss efforts to maintain and deepen lines of communication between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, responsibly manage competition, and work together where our interests align, especially on transnational challenges that affect the international community. The two leaders will also discuss a range of regional and global issues.” Those issues will include tensions over Taiwan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.