Republicans are now expected to have at least 50 Senate seats come November following a flip to GOP from Democrat. If President Trump wins the national race, the GOP will hold a majority with Senator Vance serving as president of the upper chamber. 

The governor of the state, Governor Justice, who was seen as one of the best recruits of the 2024 cycle for Republicans, will be sworn in as a senator in January. He will succeed Senator Manchin, who opted to retire this year after partisan divisions in the nation’s capital became too much for him to handle. 

“I will finish my term while traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is interest in building a movement to mobilize the middle, find common ground, and bring Americans together,” Mr. Manchin said in a video statement in late 2023. 

If Republicans are able to hold on to all of their incumbents running for reelection, and they can pick off at least one more Democrat, then they will have an outright majority regardless of who ascends to the White House. Montana’s Senator Tester and Ohio’s Senator Brown — both Democrats — are facing uphill battles on Tuesday to win reelection. President Trump won both Montana and Ohio twice by large margins in 2016 and 2020.