November 12, 2022
Democrats will keep control of the US Senate after incumbent Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto was called as the projected winner of the extremely close race for the Nevada Senate seat. This comes after incumbent Senator Mark Kelly was projected to win his re-election race to keep his job as Senator from Arizona.
I know the math online may be confusing because the AP still says 48-48. Here’s what’s going on. You have to +2 with Democrats because the TWO independents (Senators Bernie Sanders & Angus King) both caucus with the Democrats so you count them to the Democrat side.
As for the Republicans, you have to +1 for Alaska. Because of the new Rank Choice Voting in that state the race hasn’t been called yet. But the top two vote getters are BOTH Republicans so the question isn’t whether Republicans will hold the seat. The question is WHICH Republican will get the seat.
Now, Georgia’s run off is still scheduled for December 6th. If the Republican, Herschel Walker wins, the Senate will be 50-50 with the Democratic Vice President breaking the tie giving Democrats the slight majority (exactly like it is now). But if Democrats win, that puts Democrats at 51 and Republicans at 49.
