Midterm elections 2022: Democrats exceed expectations

For now, the midterm elections in the US do not seem to yield a major victory for the Republicans. While they can still win the majority in the House of Representatives, the Senate seems to remain in the hands of the Democrats. Either way, President Joe Biden's party is doing much better than expected.

Much to the dismay of many Republicans and Trump supporters, President Biden's Democrats are doing better than expected. During the midterms, it is often the party of the incumbent president that suffers a defeat in the US House of Representatives. However, that does not seem to be the case for the Democrats this time. Currently, they still have a majority in the House and a narrow majority in the Senate.

It looks like the Republicans will not win their battle for the House of Representatives, at least not in the way they hoped. For now, only a handful of seats will go from the Democrats to the Republicans. The Democrats could also already capture two seats from the Republicans.

"It did not turn out to be the evening that Republicans had hoped and expected."

"It did not turn out to be the evening that Republicans had hoped and expected," VRT NWS correspondent Björn Soenens said. "The predicted red wave failed to materialise for the time being." Still, not all votes have been counted and dozens of seats remain to be filled. Therefore, a victory for the Republicans in the House is certainly still possible.

Yet about 100 supporters of former Republican President Donald Trump, who still do not recognise the 2020 election results, have been elected. They get federal, regional as well as local posts. "But the most extreme candidates among Republicans do not seem to have made it," Soenens noted.

In the Senate, Democrats still have a narrow majority because Senate President Kamala Harris has a casting vote. Currently, the 100 seats are evenly divided. To take control of the Senate, the Republicans had to capture one seat from the Democrats. That became two, as the Democrats snatched the seat from the Republicans in the swing state of Pennsylvania. ​

The final result for the Senate may not follow until 6 December, after the 'runoff' in Georgia. This state could be all-decisive, as it was in 2020 during the presidential election.

^{© Reuters / Quinn Glabicki}