WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans notched a pivotal victory Tuesday in the race for Senate majority Jim Justice notched easily West Virginia The seat remains deadlocked in the chamber with a 50-50 split for now if Sen. Joe Manchin’s retiring is to be successful.

Justice, the state governor who often appears with English bulldog “Babydog” It was expected to yield results in favor of Republicans trying to wrest control from Democrats. Republican Donald Trump is popular in the state and ManchinLeaving the Democratic Party to become an independent, he refused to seek another term.

West Virginia is the first of many states where Democrats see their tenuous hold in the legislature at serious risk. In a 50-50 split, the majority goes to the party in the White House because the vice president can cast tie-breaking votes. We have more races ahead of us.

under congressional control in danger, always tight competitions for House and Senate It will determine which party has the majority and the authority to support or block the president’s agenda or whether the White House is running into trouble. divided Capitol Hill.

After all, just a handful or even one small seat can shift the balance in both compartments.

Since this date, there have been important conflicts with the first presidential election. January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitolbut also in unexpected corners of the country most chaotic congress sessions in modern times.

Voters said the economy and immigration were the most important issues facing the country, but the future of democracy was also a primary motivation for many Americans to vote in the presidential election.

AP VoteCast, comprehensive survey More than 110,000 voters nationwide found a country mired in negativity and desperate for change at a time when Americans face a stark choice between the former President and two presidents. Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Congress plays a role in continuing America’s tradition of peaceful transfers of presidential power. Four years ago, Trump sent his mob of supporters to “fight like hell” at the Capitol, and many Republicans in Congress voted to block it. President Joe Biden vote. Congress will be asked to certify the results of the 2025 presidential election.

The top House races focus on: new York And CaliforniaDemocrats are trying to take back some of the roughly 10 seats where Republicans have made surprising gains in recent years with star lawmakers who helped bring the party to power.

Other House races are scattered throughout the country, a sign of how narrow the field has become. Only a few dozen seats are seriously challenged; some of the most contentious are the “blue dot” in Maine, Omaha, Nebraska and Alaska.

In some races, vote counting could extend into Tuesday.

‘We are within striking distance of taking back the House,’ House Democratic leader says Hakeem Jeffriesnext with whom Make history as the first Black speaker If his party gains control, he told the Associated Press During a recent campaign event in Southern California.

But the Speaker of the Parliament mike johnsondrawing closer to Trump He predicts Republicans will “preserve and grow” the majority. He took over after Kevin McCarthy was fired from the speaker’s office.

Billions of dollars have been spent by parties and outside groups in the narrow battleground for both the 435-member House and the 100-member Senate.

Republicans have put Senate Democrats on the defensive in a wide map of many states favoring the GOP, with little control over the House.

In Ohio, Trump-backed Republican Bernie Moreno, a Cleveland businessman, is seeking to unseat three-term Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Approximately $400 million was spent on the race.

One of the most watched Senate races in Montana may be among the last to be decided. Democrat Jon Tester, a popular three-term senator and “dirt farmer,” is fighting for his political career against Trump-backed Tim Sheehy, a former NAVY Seal who has made derogatory comments about Native Americans, a key Western constituency. situation.

Beyond the “blue wall” battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Republicans are banking on Trump as they try to unseat three incumbent Democratic senators.

Outgoing Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell He has spent a career focused on seizing and maintaining majority power, but other opportunities for Republicans are shifting toward long shots.

In the southwestern states, Arizona’s firebrand Republican Kari Lake ran against Democrat Ruben Gallego in the seat opened by the retirement of Sen. Krysten Sinema. In Nevada, Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen is holding out against newcomer Sam Brown.

Democrats intensify their challenges a pair of Republican senators — Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida — in states where reproductive rights are in focus following the Supreme Court’s decision to roll back access to abortion. Cruz is facing Democrat Colin Allred, a Dallas-area congressman, while Scott poured $10 million of his own fortune into the race against former House lawmaker Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

What started as a lackluster race for control of Congress transformed instantly When Harris stepped in to replace Biden at the top of the ticket, she mobilized Democrats with massive fundraisers and volunteers; lawmakers said it reminded them of the Obama-era euphoria of 2008.

Congress has the opportunity to achieve many history-making milestones as it is reshaped by American voters and more representative of a diverse nation.

It could be not one but two black women They could go to the Senate, something never seen before in the US

Delaware Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester is favored in the Senate race against Republican Eric Hansen.

And in Maryland, Harris ally Angela Alsobrooks is in a highly competitive race against Republican Larry Hogan, the state’s popular former governor.

Americans have elected two Black women, including Harris, as senators since the nation’s founding, but never at the same time.

parliamentary candidate Sarah McBridea state lawmaker from Delaware who is close to the Biden family, is set to become the first openly transgender person in Congress.

The consequences of redistricting also change the balance of power within the House of Representatives, as states redraw their maps for congressional districts; Republicans are poised to take several seats from Democrats in North Carolina, with Democrats picking up a second black-majority Republican-dominated seat. Alabama

While lawmakers in the House of Representatives appear before voters every two years, senators serve longer terms of six years.

If the two chambers do indeed engage in reverse party control, which is possible, it would be rare.

Records show that if Democrats take the House of Representatives and Republicans take the Senate, the halls of Congress will turn to opposing political parties for the first time.

— By LISA MASCARO and MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press. Associated Press writers Stephen Groves, Kevin Freking and Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report.