(Photos by Mariah Temprendola/Cronkite News and courtesy of Ruben Gallego for Arizona | Photo illustration by Anastasia Smith/Cronkite News)
By Phineas Hogan | Cronkite News
WASHINGTON – Republicans secured control of the U.S. Senate with wins in Ohio, West Virginia and Montana. In Arizona, Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego held a slim lead over former news anchor Kari Lake, an ally of Donald Trump who couldn’t match the former president’s support in the state.
By mid-morning on Wednesday the race had not been called yet and Lake had not conceded. Gallego voiced optimism late Tuesday.
“When all those ballots are counted, and every Arizonan’s vote is counted, a poor Latino boy who grew up sleeping on the floor will be headed to the floor of the United State Senate,” he told supporters.
Gallego would be Arizona’s first Latino senator, and only the 12th ever.
Democrats have been clinging to a 51-49 majority and faced uphill prospects on Tuesday, playing defense in numerous states that shifted rightward in the past six years. Their first setback was apparent shortly after polls closed in West Virginia, where Republicans nabbed a seat long held by Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat-turned-independent.
Republicans will have at least 52 seats when the new Congress opens in January.
Arizona, though, has become more purple. In March, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced she would not seek a second term. Elected as a Democrat in 2018, she renounced the party in late 2022, joining three other independents who caucus with Democrats to give them a majority.
