Republicans Have at Least 50 Senate Seats in Next Congress: Projections

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) speaks in Washington on Sept. 11, 2019. Zach Gibson/Getty Images

Republicans will hold at least half of the Senate seats in the next Congress, according to projections.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) will win his race for reelection, according to a Decision Desk projection on Nov. 11.

That gives Republicans a 50–48 edge, with both Georgia U.S. Senate seats heading to runoff elections in January 2021.

Voters will decide between filmmaker Jon Ossoff and Sen. David Purdue (R-Ga.) in one race and pastor Raphael Warnock and Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) in the other.

The GOP now needs to win just one of those races to maintain control of the Senate for the third consecutive two-year period of time.

Republicans hold a 53–47 majority in the current Congress.

If Democrats win both of the Georgia races, there would be a 50-50 tie.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) speaks to reporters after the Senate Republican luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 9, 2020. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

The vice president can break ties in his or her position as president of the Senate.

That prospect makes control of the White House even more important.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Nov. 7 declared victory in the presidential race but President Donald Trump says he won, as his campaign is engaged in litigation in multiple battleground states.

The Epoch Times won’t declare a winner until the legal battles play out.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 2 Republican in the upper congressional chamber, told reporters this week that Senate Republican leadership expects to keep control of the body.

Republicans held a number of seats widely expected to be competitive, including seats representing Maine, Montana, and Texas.

Democrats flipped two seats, one in Arizona and one in Colorado, while Republicans won a seat representing Alabama that was held by Democrats.

Sullivan, 55, a former Marine, will serve a second six-year term. Sullivan was described on his campaign website as one of the Senate’s “most effective lawmakers,” with priorities including rebuilding the military, promoting responsible resource development in Alaska, and helping society’s most vulnerable.

Sullivan’s campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment on Nov. 11 on the projected win, nor did the campaign of Dr. Al Gross, 58, the Democratic nominee.

Dr. Al Gross (C) pauses for a photo with supporters during a sign-waving along Seward Highway, on Election Day in Anchorage, Alaska, on Nov. 3, 2020. Michael Dinneen/AP Photo

Gross campaign manager David Keith told Alaska Public Media on Nov. 6 that he considered a Gross win “very realistic.”

“I consider it just a matter of math,” Keith said. “Dan Sullivan got a very large number of votes on Election Day. We anticipate getting a very large number of votes after Election Day.”

Gross wrote on Twitter on Nov. 10: “More than 100,000 ballots left to count. 30% of the vote not counted out there! We can win this.”

According to unofficial results from the Alaska Division of Elections, Sullivan received nearly 150,000 votes, more than 52,000 more than his challenger.

John Wayne Howe of the Alaska Independence Party drew the remaining votes, almost 13,000.

Alaska workers are still counting ballots, primarily those mailed in. Workers resumed tallying the ballots on Nov. 10. At the time of resumption, they had more than 156,000 left to count.