The U.S. Senate and House will remain under GOP control for another two years, as a red tide swept the country Tuesday night to preserve a gaggle of endangered incumbents. Missouri's Roy Blunt was the clincher with his narrow win. From the Class of 2010, Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey and Wisconsin's Ron Johnson held on against many predictions. North Carolina's Richard Burr and Florida's Marco Rubio were other crucial incumbent triumphs.
The news was not all bad for Senate Democrats, as Catherine Cortez Masto became the upper chamber's first ever Latina with victory in Nevada. And Tammy Duckworth took out incumbent Republican Mark Kirk in Illinois.
As of early Wednesday, the split was 51 Republicans to 47 Democrats. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., could be headed to a recount against Maggie Hassan. Louisiana will hold a December runoff in which Republican John Kennedy will be heavily favored.
In the House, Democrats never stood much of a chance of reinstalling Nancy Pelosi as Speaker, but they fell far short of expectations picking up only a few seats. As of early Wednesday, the New York Times was projecting about 239 Republican seats, compared to 246 in the current Congress.
As it turned out, Donald Trump was not a drag on the Republican ticket --- quite the opposite. And now he'll have a red Congress. One party will control the White House and both chambers for the first time since 2010.
Check out our other election night coverage:
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2016/11/09/elated-republicans-party-in-buckhead-as-donald-trump-racks-up-wins/
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2016/11/08/breaking-donald-trump-wins-georgia/
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2016/11/08/battleground-blog-ohio-goes-to-donald-trump/
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2016/11/08/johnny-isakson-cruises-to-third-term-in-u-s-senate/
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