WASHINGTON (AP) Nov. 9, 2016 — Democrats’ chances of retaking the Senate majority were slipping away early Wednesday as Republicans hung onto key seats in Wisconsin, North Carolina, Indiana and Florida. Democrats kept their seat in Nevada, where Catherine Cortez Masto’s win will make her the first Latina U.S. senator.
Democrats also grabbed a Republican-held seat in Illinois, but the outcome in Wisconsin was a surprise as both parties had expected it to flip for the Democrats. Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson’s victory over former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold forecast a grim night for the Democrats, who could be consigned to minority status on Capitol Hill for years to come.
Races in GOP-held Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Missouri remained too close to call as Republicans defended a slim 54-46 majority in an unpredictable election year. But Democrats would have to win all of those, and could then only claim majority status if Democrat Hillary Clinton wins the White House. The vice president casts tie-breaking votes in a 50-50 Senate.
The outcome in Nevada was a victory for Minority Leader Harry Reid, whose retirement after five terms created a vacancy. Reid maneuvered to fill it with his hand-picked successor, Cortez Masto, Nevada’s former attorney general who spoke often of her family’s immigrant roots in a state with heavy Latino turnout.
Cortez Masto beat Republican Rep. Joe Heck, who struggled with sharing the ticket with Donald Trump, first endorsing and then un-endorsing Trump to the disgust of some GOP voters.