Democrats have begun to rack up their first victories in the United States midterm elections, with the reelection of Senator Mark Warner in Virginia and Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Florida, according to results assigned by the Associated Press (AP). Both arrive during the first hours of the count, while Republicans and Democrats are fighting for control of Congress for the last two years of Donald Trump’s presidency.
The two victories correspond to seats that were already held by the Democratic Party, so for now they do not imply a net gain over Republicans. However, they allow the party to ensure representation in two states with very different electoral characteristics: Virginia, which has reinforced its Democratic orientation over the last decades, and Florida, where Republicans have expanded their political influence.
Mark Warner renews his Senate seat in Virginia
Warner has secured a new six-year term after defeating the Republican Bert Mizusawa, a retired general from the U.S. Army. The AP agency assigned his victory immediately after the closing of Virginia’s polling stations, at 7:00 p.m. on the U.S. East Coast, 1:00 a.m. in Spain.
The Democratic senator, who arrived in Washington in 2009 after having been governor of Virginia, is one of his party’s reference figures on national security matters. He currently serves as vice president of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
His reelection allows the party to keep an important seat for its ambitions to regain the majority in the Upper Chamber. Virginia, traditionally favorable to Republicans in presidential elections in the late 20th century, has undergone a political transformation driven, among other factors, by the growth of the suburbs near Washington D. C.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz keeps her seat in Florida
In Florida, Debbie Wasserman Schultz has also won reelection to the House of Representatives, after defeating Republican Brent Andersen in district 20, according to Associated Press.
Thus, the Democratic congresswoman, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, secures her twelfth term in the lower chamber. In these elections she ran in a new constituency, after changes introduced in Florida’s electoral map.
Her victory takes on relevance in a territory where the Republican Party has strengthened its electoral position over the past few years and where the delineation of legislative districts has been the subject of political and judicial controversy.
Unlike Warner’s election, which affects the Senate, Wasserman Schultz’s triumph contributes to the allocation of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives, whose majority is also decided this morning.
The battle for Congress remains wide open
Republicans arrive at the elections with control of both chambers. In the Senate, the Democratic bloc needs a net gain of four seats to reach a majority of 51, bearing in mind that a tie at 50 would allow Vice President JD Vance to break the tie in favor of the Republicans.
In the House of Representatives, the benchmark for reaching an absolute majority is the 218 seats. Democrats need to wrest at least three net seats from Republicans to regain control of the institution.
Warner and Wasserman Schultz’s victories are part of the first awards of the night, but do not yet allow anticipating who will control Congress. The outcome will depend especially on the districts and states where both parties compete for seats that currently belong to their adversaries.
Associated Press and the main U.S. networks will continue to assign winners as the count progresses. These journalistic decisions are made before the official certification of the results by the election authorities.