REPUBLICAN leader Kevin McCarthy remains confident that the GOP will take back the majority in the House, as several members of his party have admitted there was no "red wave" in the 2022 midterms.
The House Minority leader addressed supporters shortly before 2 am on Wednesday, vowing that Republicans would have the majority later in the day.
“When you wake up tomorrow, we will be in the majority and Nancy Pelosi will be in the minority,” the California Republican said at a "Take Back the House" victory party.
McCarthy celebrated several Republican wins from Tuesday night, including the ousting of Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney.
The New York Congressman also served as the Head of the Democratic campaign committee DCCC.
“We defeated the Democrat campaign chairman, which will be the first time in over 40 years a DCCC chair lost his re-election,” McCarthy said.
READ MORE NEWS
Chilling clues of Aaron Carter’s last moments as cops find compressed air cans
While the Minority leader rejoiced, several Republicans in Congress have admitted that the party did not take home as many as they anticipated.
"Definitely not a Republican wave, that’s for darn sure," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told NBC News Tuesday evening.
Sen. Ted Cruz — who predicted the "red wave" would be a "red tsunami" on Election Day — agreed.
"It hasn't been as big of a wave as I'd hoped it would be. We've had some close races go the other way so far," the Texas Republican said according to the Daily Mail.
Most read in The Sun
Real reason Olivia was forced to quit I'm A Celeb revealed for first time
Match ABANDONED after player crashes head-first into advertising board
I’m A Celeb bosses ‘in crisis talks’ over future of camp after Olivia’s exit
ITV axes popular drama after fourth series saying show has 'run its course'
"The RED WAVE did not happen. Republicans and Independents stayed home," Texas Republican Rep. Mayra Flores tweeted.
"DO NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT THE RESULTS IF YOU DID NOT DO YOUR PART!"
Outgoing Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois also agreed saying, "The red wave is not happening. Lots of wasted money by McCarthy. He cannot be a happy man tonight."
Still, many Republicans were confident House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be removed from her top seat.
"I can’t wait to get back to Washington, D.C. with some new Arizona congressmen," Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) said, according to NBC News.
"And we’re going to show Nancy Pelosi the door very shortly. Don’t let it hit you on the backside, Nancy!"
"Nancy is losing the gavel, but she is finding the hammer," the Republican added, referring to the recent violent assault on Pelosi's husband.
"Too soon? Is that too soon?"
Several races remained too close to call as of early Wednesday morning.
However, one key Democrat win was seen in Pennsylvania after a nail-bitingly close race between Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Trump-backed celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz who were both seeking a sought-after seat in the chamber.
Several outlets called the race in Fetterman's favor and the Democrat declared victory early Wednesday.
Oz has yet to formally concede.
Among the first big GOP winners were incumbents Ron DeSantis and Marco Rubio, who have clinched re-election for Florida's governorship and Senate seat respectively.
As DeSantis addressed a crowd after winning re-election, his supporters chanted "two more years," a likely nod to the looming prospect he'll run for president in 2024.
In another major victory, Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance secured his win against Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan for Ohio's Senate seat, NBC News projected.
Meanwhile, Trump's former press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders beat Democrat Chris Jones to become the governor of Arkansas.
In another sizable victory, Texas Governor Greg Abbot defeated challenger, and former candidate for Senator in 2018 and 2020 presidential hopeful, Beto O'Rourke, Fox News reported.
Senator Tim Scott, who is the only Black Republican seeking a seat in the upper chamber, defeated his Democratic opponent.
And another GOP win went to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp who faced off against Stacey Abrams, who eventually conceded to the incumbent.
However, the night was not solely a victory for Republicans.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez managed to secure her re-election, beating Tina Forte for New York's 14th District.
And in Virginia's District 7, Abigail Spanberger eked out a victory over Republican hopeful Yesli Vega by a slim margin of 10,000 votes.
In the tightly contested New Hampshire Senate race, Maggie Hassan bested Republican Don Bolduc, NBC News projected.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has also won reelection against her GOP opponent, CNN predicts.
The outlet also projects that Senator Michael Bennet will win re-election after fighting hard against Republican Joe O'Dea.
Election Day started out with early voting results showing that Republican Congressman James Moylan had secured the first GOP victory in Guam since 1993, sparking momentum for the party expected to take control of the House and Senate, according to some projections.
Moylan won Guam's delegate race by 1,648 votes at about 4am Wednesday local time, earning 52.19 percent of the U.S. territory's votes, the Pacific Daily News reported.
The position is non-voting, but the symbolic win had been an early glimpse of the night's Republican victories.
Republicans had been expected to gain a majority in both the House and the Senate as more than 120milllion voters were anticipated to cast ballots, according to a previous analysis by RealClearPolitics.
The outlet had predicted the GOP will earn a 53-47 majority in the Senate after Democrats were in power for two years – but the races in states like New Hampshire, Georgia, and Pennsylvania were extremely tight.
In Congress, Republicans were expected to regain power by winning at least 227 seats, according to the projection.
Polls started to close on the East Coast at 6pm, and results were announced throughout the night.
President Joe Biden spoke to Democratic leaders throughout the day with no public events on his schedule, the White House announced.
However, this isn't abnormal for presidents as Trump also kept a low profile during midterms, only leaving the White House to attend a private election results watch party, the New York Times previously reported.
Republicans could use a majority in either chamber to bring Biden's agenda to a halt and launch potentially politically damaging investigations into Biden's administration and family.
They claim the public is tired of his policies amid rising inflation and concerns about crime.
The president seemed to mumble as he made his final appeals to voters on Monday, insisting his party would "surprise the living devil out of a lot of people."
At an evening rally in Maryland, he warned: "We know in our bones that our democracy is at risk."
But Biden patronized the crowd as he opened his speech at the historically black university by telling them they were just as "smart" and "just as bright."
"You’re just as good as any college in America," he said.
He told the rally that the government had put aside nearly $6billion for historically black colleges and universities.
VOTING DRAMA
Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for Arizona governor, begged voters to stay in line after officials said a fifth of vote tabulation machines were faulty in Maricopa County.
Technicians responded to voting locations after Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer announced the glitch.
Described as a "hiccup," it actually took hours before a solution to the issue was found Tuesday afternoon, NBC reported.
"The people of Arizona would walk over hot coals, and they would walk over broken glass to vote today," Lake told reporters after she said she planned on encouraging voters to stay in line.
"And I know that they can stand in line for a couple hours if they have to. I know they'll stand in line for eight hours."
On top of that, an emergency request by Republicans to keep the polls open another three hours was denied by a judge with just minutes before they were set to close.
A Georgia voting location also made headlines after two poll workers were fired for questionable social media posts 15 minutes before polls opened, Fulton County election officials said.
Laura Kronen, a Johns Creek resident, claimed on Twitter that she and her son were removed from working, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Fulton County spokesperson Regina Waller reportedly confirmed the two were "relieved of their duties due to questionable social media posts."
However, she did not clarify the nature of the post that led to the firing.
ELON'S VOTE
Billionaire and new owner of Twitter Elon Musk told his 110million followers he was opposing Joe Biden's party.
Elon Musk called on "independent-minded voters" to take heed of his words as he endorsed the Republican party's bid for Congress.
It is the first time the head of a major social media platform explicitly supported a U.S. political party.
The tweet read: "Shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties, therefore I recommend voting for a Republican Congress, given that the Presidency is Democratic."
The diehard free speech advocate traditionally was an independent who voted for Democrats – and hasn't ruled out returning.
But he has found fault with the Biden administration for their proposals to tax billionaires and give more tax incentives to union-made electric vehicles.
It was a direct blow for the Tesla boss as his U.S. factories do not have unions.
In a follow-up tweet, the SpaceX founder added: "Hardcore Democrats or Republicans never vote for the other side, so independent voters are the ones who actually decide who’s in charge!"
'MORE DIFFICULT'
Republicans have not only made gains with Latinos but also with Black voters.
According to a poll by the Wall Street Journal, the GOP was in a better position with both voter groups heading into the midterms than they were in 2020 or 2018.
In 2020, eight percent of Black voters voted for former President Donald Trump, but in recent polling, 17 percent of Black voters said they would vote Republican in the midterms.
And while Latino voters favored Biden over Trump by 28 points, Democrats only have a five percent lead over Republicans with this electorate for the midterms, per the Wall Street Journal.
It seems Biden opted to focus on his party's strengths instead of weaknesses by visiting strongholds during the campaign trail.
He said he was confident Democrats would win the Senate, but admitted that he thinks "the House is tougher."
The president suggested the reality of a Republican win would make governing the country "more difficult."
Despite his huge audience, experts have rubbished claimed Elon Musk's comments could influence the election's outcome.
Read More on The US Sun
Midterm elections see big wins for Republicans DeSantis, Rubio & Vance
Kyle Kondik, from the University of Virginia' Center for Politics, said: "It's hard to expect any sort of celebrity 'endorsement,' as this basically is, to have much if any effect on voter behavior."
But former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich described Musk's comments as "very encouraging."
Source: Read Full Article
