Republicans Win the Senate in Midterm Elections

5 minute read
Updated: | Originally published: ;

Republicans won the Senate for the first time in almost a decade Tuesday night, giving the party control over both chambers of Congress, and setting the stage for even more political confrontation with President Barack Obama during his final two years in office.

The GOP needed to pick up at least six seats to recapture the majority and as of late Tuesday night it had netted seven, with the possibility of winning one more when the Louisiana Senate race goes to a runoff next month. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell prevailed in one of the hardest-fought reelection fights of his career, and will almost certainly be selected by his colleagues as Majority Leader.

MORE: See all the election results

“The truth is tonight we begin another [fight], one that is far more important than mine, and that is to turn this country around,” McConnell told cheering supporters in Louisville after dispatching Alison Lundergam Grimes, Kentucky’s Secretary of State. Looking ahead to dealing with Obama as a lame duck, McConnell, who famously described the GOP’s top political priority as making him a one-term president, opened the door just a crack to compromise.

“We do have an obligation to work together on issues where we can agree,” he said. “Just because we have a two-party system doesn’t mean we have to be in perpetual conflict.”

Photos: Meet America's 10 Newest Senators

Republican Senate Candidate Jodi Ernst Campaigns Throughout Iowa
Joni Ernst A Lieutenant Colonel of the Iowa Army National Guard, Ernst has served on the Iowa State Senate since 2004. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images
David Perdue
David Perdue A businessman from Macon, Ga., Perdue makes his political debut in the seat of retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss.David Goldman—AP
Representative Tom Cotton Campaigns For Arkansas Senate Seat
Tom CottonA U.S. Army Veteran and lawyer, Cotton has served as Representative for Arkansas's 4th district since 2012 and now moves on to the Senate.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images
Cory Gardner
Cory Gardner Gardner formerly served in the Colorado House of Representatives and U.S. House of Representatives. He beat incumbent Sen. Mark Udall.David Zalubowski—AP
GOP Senate Candidate Thom Tillis Greets Voters In Cornelius
Thom Tillis Tillis is the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives and has served there 2006. Davis Turner—Getty Images
Senate Election South Dakota
Mike Rounds From Huron, S.D., Rounds served as South Dakota governor from 2003 to 2011.Michael Conroy—AP
Shelley Moore Capito
Shelley Moore Capito The daughter of former West Virginia Gov. Arch Alfred Moore, Jr., Capito has served as a U.S. Representative for West Virginia's 2nd District since 2001. Tyler Evert—AP
Steve Daines
Steve DainesA businessman with Procter & Gamble for 13 years, Daines became a member of the House of Representatives in 2013.Michael Albans—AP
James Lankford election
James LankfordLankford has served as Representative for Oklahoma's 5th District since 2011. Sue Ogrocki—AP
Ben Sasse, Elizabeth Sasse, Alexandra Sasse, Breck Sasse
Ben Sasse The President of Midland University in Fremont, Neb., since 2010, Sasse won the Senate seat vacated by Sen. Mike Johanns. Nati Harnik—AP

Current Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who will now have to yield the top spot to McConnell in December, congratulated his colleague—and often nemesis.

“The message from voters is clear: they want us to work together,” Reid said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Senator McConnell to get things done for the middle class.”

MORE: The challenge for the new Republican majority

Republicans won competitive Senate races in Iowa, North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas and Colorado, and held off a wealthy independent candidate who almost brought down longtime Republican Sen. Pat Roberts in Kansas. The GOP prevailed in a multi-candidate Senate race in South Dakota where Democrats had hoped an independent candidate would split the vote, and picked up a Montana Senate seat vacated by a retiring Democrat as expected.

In New Hampshire, Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen held off Republican Scott Brown, a former Massachusetts senator who moved to the Granite State to challenge Shaheen. The Senate race in Louisiana headed to a Dec. 6 run-off after neither Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu nor Republican challenger Bill Cassidy mustered the majority support needed to win outright. But when Republicans knocked off the Democratic incumbent in North Carolina, the GOP had the seats it needed for the majority.

Republicans expanded on their majority in the House as expected.

“This is possibly the worst possible group of states for Democrats since Dwight Eisenhower,” President Barack Obama told a Connecticut radio station earlier in the day of the political map facing his party. “There are a lot of states that are being contested where they just tend to tilt Republican. And Democrats are competitive, but they tend to tilt that way.”

Obama, whose middling approval ratings are dragging down Democratic candidates across the country and who has exclusively campaigned for candidates in safe Democratic territory, mostly stayed out of sight Tuesday. He held meetings with Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and officials handling his Administration’s Ebola response, but he didn’t campaign. Exit polls indicated voters felt deep dissatisfaction with Obama and both parties in Congress, with two-thirds saying the country was headed on the wrong track.

The President famously declared the 2010 election a “shellacking” the day after Democrats lost the House to Republicans, and a White House official said late Tuesday that he had “invited bipartisan, bicameral congressional leaders to a meeting” for Friday. The Administration sought to downplay the idea that the race was about Obama. “Ultimately it’s the quality of these candidates that are going to be the driver in this election,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said. Early Wednesday, Earnest said Obama would hold a news conference in the afternoon.

The Republican Party now faces the challenge of governing with full control of Congress, and will surely continue to face competing pressures from conservatives who want to challenge Obama by passing ideologically “pure” legislation and forcing him to veto it, and from moderates who see cutting big deals on immigration and other issues as the better path toward winning back the White House in 2016. The obstacles facing McConnell were again on display just moments after Republicans emerged victorious when Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a staunch Tea Party conservative and possible 2016 candidate, again won’t commit to backing McConnell for Majority Leader.

“That’ll be a decision for a conference to make,” Cruz said on CNN. Tonight “was a powerful repudiation of the Obama Administration,” Cruz said.

The only potential bright spot for Democrats was supposed to be gubernatorial races, where some Republicans elected during the GOP wave of 2010 looked poised to go down in defeat. But in Florida, Republican Gov. Rick Scott held off Democrat Charlie Crist, a party-switching former Republican governor of the state himself. And Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who has been a top target for Democrats ever since he pushed through legislation that stripped public employees of collective bargaining rights, beat his Democratic challenger.

— With reporting from Jay Newton-Small, Alex Rogers and Maya Rhodan

Read next: The weirdest moments of Election Day 2014

Photos: On the Road with Rand Paul

Senator Rand Paul
Senator Rand Paul talks to voters at the Horry County Republican Party in Myrtle Beach, S.C. on Sept. 30th, 2014. Charles Ommanney for TIME
Senator Rand Paul
Senator Rand Paul talks with students at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. on Sept. 30th, 2014.Charles Ommanney for TIME
Senator Rand Paul
Senator Rand Paul's boots are seen as he talks with students at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. on Sept. 30th, 2014.Charles Ommanney for TIME
Senator Rand Paul
Senator Rand Paul bows his head in prayer before talking to voters at the Horry County Republican Party in Myrtle Beach, S.C. on Sept. 30th, 2014. Charles Ommanney for TIME
Senator Rand Paul
Senator Rand Paul and GOP Senatorial candidate Thom Tillis meet with diners at Big Ed's restaurant in Raleigh, N.C. on Oct. 1st, 2014.Charles Ommanney for TIME
Senator Rand Paul
Senator Rand Paul attends a BBQ event at the Donnelly Barn in Bowling Green, Ky. on Oct. 12th, 2014. Charles Ommanney for TIME
Senator Rand Paul
In a back tent, Senator Paul manages to have five minutes alone to go over his speech at the Donnelly Barn in Bowling Green, Ky. on Oct. 12, 2014. Charles Ommanney for TIME
Senator Rand Paul
Senator Rand Paul and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell attend a BBQ event at the Donnelly Barn in Bowling Green, Ky. on Oct. 12th, 2014. Charles Ommanney for TIME
Senator Rand Paul
Senator Rand Paul speaks at a BBQ event at the Donnelly Barn in Bowling Green, Ky. on Oct. 12th, 2014. Charles Ommanney for TIME
Senator Rand Paul
The BBQ event's band at the Donnelly Barn in Bowling Green, Ky. on Oct. 12, 2014. Charles Ommanney for TIME

More Must-Reads From TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com