Democrats increasingly confident of winning key Senate seats

US president Joe Biden’s Democratic Party is increasingly confident it can hold Senate seats in Arizona and Nevada which would allow it to retain control of the chamber following this week’s midterm elections.

Both contests are still too close to call. Results released in the early hours of Friday (Irish time) showed the Democrat senator in Arizona, former astronaut Mark Kelly, increasing his lead over his Republican opponent Blake Masters.

In Nevada, results showed serving Democratic senator Catherine Cortez Masto gaining on her Republican opponent Adam Laxalt.

Democratic strategists believe outstanding votes favour Ms Cortez Mastro. However, a lot of votes remain to be counted and a final result could take a number of days.

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If Democrats win in Arizona and Nevada, the party will retain control of the Senate irrespective of what happens in a run-off election in Georgia to take place in early December.

Republicans are confident that they will take control of the House of Representatives, although any majority is likely to be small.

Democratic strategists maintain there is a very narrow path which could see the party hold on to the House of Representatives as some key constituencies in western states seem to be leaning in their favour, although final results have not been declared.

Even in advance of any confirmation of a Republican victory in the House of Representatives there appears to be some infighting between members of the party over who should be elected to the prestigious position of speaker, which is in the line to succession to the president and the vice-president.

The speaker also controls which legislation gets to the floor of the House and can influence who serves on powerful committees.

The failure of the anticipated Republican landslide to materialise and the tightness of the contest for control of the House of Representatives has complicated attempts by current minority leader Kevin McCarthy to secure the speaker’s post.

A narrow Republican majority will provide a right-wing faction, known as the freedom caucus, greater leverage within the party.

Within the caucus some are seeking concessions on rules which would allow for future challenges to the speaker.

On Friday Matt Gaetz, a right-wing congressman who is strongly allied to former president Donald Trump, tweeted that Mr McCarthy was “not a speaker for these times”.

Mr Gaetz pointed out that Mr McCarthy had told other Republican Party members that Mr Trump should resign in the immediate aftermath of the attack of the US Capitol on January 6th last year by supporters of the former president.

Another Republican congressman, Bob Good, said Mr McCarthy had “done nothing” to earn the speakership while congressman Chip Roy of Texas said no one as yet had the 218 votes in the House of Representatives which would be needed to become speaker.

Separately on Friday, the Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, a strong critic of Mr Trump who was ousted by Republican voters in an election for the party’s nomination to run in Wyoming, described losses by far right candidates this week as “a clear victory for team normal”.

Speaking at a summit on anti-Semitism in New York she said: “I think that you saw in really important races around the country people coming together to say, ‘We believe in democracy. We believe in standing up for the constitution and for the republic,’ and a real rejection of the toxicity and the hate and the vitriol and of Donald Trump.”