Republicans will control the U.S. Senate
An exterior view of the U.S. Capitol on September 9.
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This story originally appeared as part of NPR’s live coverage of the 2024 election. For more election coverage from the NPR Network head to our live updates page.
Republicans have won enough seats to control the upper chamber of Congress.
Republicans were favored to flip control of the U.S. Senate, which Democrats currently control 51-49.
Democrats were defending seven seats in swing states or conservative states. The two races Democrats were targeting in Florida and Texas were both called for the Republican incumbents, Sen. Rick Scott and Sen. Ted Cruz.
As of midnight Tuesday, Republicans had secured one of the two Democratic targets for defeat — Republican Bernie Moreno won in Ohio over incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. The other race Republicans feel confident they can flip is Sen. Jon Tester’s seat in Montana.
Democrats were hoping that Tester’s strong personal brand in Montana would be enough to convince voters to split their ticket as they vote for Trump. But split ticket voting at the margin Tester would need is difficult. 68 of the 69 Senate races in the 2016 and 2020 elections mirrored the presidential result in their state, with GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine being the lone exception.
