(NEXSTAR) – While the race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris took up a sizable share of the spotlight, down-ballot races will decide who wields legislative power next year.
Control of Congress in the House of Representatives and Senate was hanging in the balance with this election. Every single seat in the House was up for grabs in 2024 as were 34 Senate seats.
In the current Congress, Republicans have control of the House and Democrats hold the Senate – but each by an extremely slim margin. And that could change when new members are sworn in next year.
Who will win the House of Representatives?
As races around the country are called, the interactive tracker below will show which party is gaining more seats.
As of Thursday, Republicans had more House seats called in their column, and were marching closer toward a House majority. However, a couple dozen races were yet to be called.
Control of the House was expected to come down to the wire. Fourteen incumbent Republicans were considered to be in “toss-up” races, The Hill reported about a week out from Election Day. Eleven House Democrats found themselves in the same position. A lot of attention was also on a handful of completely open seats created by redistricting and retirements.
To gain control of the House, Democrats need to flip four seats from Republicans, while holding all of their own, a tall task, especially in congressional districts where Trump has won.
Who won the Senate?
Republicans will take a majority in the Senate, flipping the legislative body into their control, according to multiple election projections.
As races around the country are called, the interactive tracker below will show which party is gaining more seats:
The Senate map this year was favorable to Republicans, analysts said. Republicans only needed to pick up two seats to capture a surefire majority, and one of those — West Virginia — was called for Republican Jim Justice shortly after polls in the state closed.
Later Tuesday night, when Decision Desk HQ on NewsNation called more key Senate races for Republicans. Incumbent Ted Cruz was projected to hold his seat in Texas (over Democratic challenger Colin Allred) and challenger Bernie Moreno defeated Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in Ohio. Those two defeats officially killed Democrats’ hope of maintaining control of the Senate.
In Montana, Republican Tim Sheehy bolstered the GOP’s newly acquired Senate majority with a victory over three-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester in a contest of national importance that featured a record-setting torrent of spending by the two sides.
Close races in Arizona and Nevada were yet to be called as of Thursday. Democratic incumbent Tammy Baldwin was able to hold her seat in Wisconsin in a close race and Democrat Elissa Slotkin also squeaked out a win in Michigan’s open race.
Both parties have dumped a lot of money into just a handful of Senate races in attempts to gain control of the body. In three races alone — Ohio, Pennsylvania and Montana — more than $1 billion was projected to be spent by Nov. 5.
If the two chambers do in fact flip party control, as is possible, it would be rare.
Records show that if Democrats take the House and Republicans take the Senate, it would be the first time that the chambers of Congress have both flipped to opposing political parties.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
