Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, who won his reelection bid Tuesday night, said Wednesday morning he is unsure if the GOP will maintain control of the U.S. Senate when all the votes are counted.
“I don’t know whether I’m going to be the defensive coordinator or the offensive coordinator,” McConnell told reporters, with several states still undecided in their Senate election results. The at-least-for-now Senate majority leader said he will likely know the results of the Maine and North Carolina Senate races by the end of Wednesday.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins was in a tight reelection battle against Democrat Sara Gideon, while North Carolina was undecided between incumbent Thom Tillis and Democrat Cal Cunningham.
About 1 p.m., Collins said Gideon conceded the race in a “very gracious call” to her. About 1:45 p.m., Fox News projected Collins to win her reelection bid.
In Michigan, President Donald Trump tweeted the state “has now found the ballots necessary to keep a wonderful young man, John James, out of the U.S. Senate.” James was running against Democrat Gary Peters in a razor-tight contest.
In Georgia, at least one of the two Senate seats up for grabs is headed to a January runoff, between U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock. Incumbent David Perdue is holding a narrow lead over Democrat Jon Ossoff, but the race is still too close to call.
Democrats picked up two seats Tuesday night: one in Colorado, where former Gov. John Hickenlooper defeated Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, and one in Arizona, where Democrat Mark Kelly has unseated Republican Sen. Martha McSally.
In Alabama, Trump-backed Republican Tommy Tuberville, the former head coach of the Auburn football team, defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Doug Jones.
McConnell defeated Democratic challenger Amy McGrath. In Iowa, Republican Sen. Joni Ernst survived a challenge by Theresa Greenfield.
In Mississippi, Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith defeated Democrat Mike Espy. In South Carolina, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham defeated Democrat Jaime Harrison in the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history.
McConnell also told reporters he is “disturbed” by loss of support for the Republican Party in the suburbs and said “we need to do better” with college-educated voters and women."
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