Control of the House of Representatives may still be unclear, but Republicans have reclaimed the Senate, possibly with a solid majority. 

The Associated Press projects Republicans will win at least a 51-seat majority in the upper chamber after four years in the minority. 

Heading into the election, the map looked brutal for Democrats, as they were defending several seats in typically conservative states such as Montana, West Virginia, and Ohio.

Republicans needed to pick up just two seats to win an outright majority. And early in the night, the governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, was projected to win his bid for Senate.

Additionally, businessman Bernie Moreno unseated Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio. And the Republican Senate candidate in Montana, Tim Sheehy, was expected to unseat incumbent Senator Jon Tester. 

Republicans also had to fend off several tough challenges to their incumbents, and they did. In Texas, Senator Cruz defeated Congressman Colin Allred after polls showed a razor-thin race. And in Nebraska, Senator Deb Fischer fended off a surprisingly strong challenge from union leader Dan Osborn. 

By midnight, there were still several Senate races yet to be called in states that could further expand Republicans’ majority.

In Wisconsin, the Republican candidate, bank executive Eric Hovde, was leading Senator Tammy Baldwin. In Pennsylvania, businessman Dave McCormick was leading Democratic Senator Bob Casey.  

In Michigan, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin was trailing a former congressman, Mike Rogers. 

The outstanding question is how large of a Senate majority Republicans will have.

If they walk away with a 51 or 52-seat majority, it will likely empower more moderate senators such as Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, who could hold up legislation much as Senators Manchin and Sinema (both leaving the Senate) did during the Democrats’ brief return to the majority.  

Most significantly,  Mr. Manchin and Ms. Sinema blocked President Biden’s attempt to eliminate the filibuster, depriving him of a simple majority to abolish the procedural hurdle. During the 2024 campaign, Vice President Harris suggested she would support eliminating the filibuster to pass legislation guaranteeing the right to have abortions.

If Republicans pick up a Senate majority of 53 or 54 seats, it would give them more breathing room to approve presidential nominees and get them closer to the 60-vote threshold required to pass legislation.