By Kaitlan Collins
Many of our senators breathed a sigh of relief after being re-elected in this week’s midterm election. Senators Thune, Rubio, Schumer, Padilla, Paul, and Lee all won their bids for re-election. Here’s what they had to say about achieving re-election:
Thune: “I’m very happy. I really hope to bring legislation to my constituents. With that being said, I have so far submitted three new pieces of legislation. One concerning the death to the death tax…I’m also trying to do an elimination of discrimination of the unborn.”
Schumer: “I am so excited. I feel so honored and blessed that I’ve been chosen again to represent New York in the Senate. I’m so excited to start working more and being more involved in Congress.”
Rubio: “Well I think the people of Florida spoke very loudly that they will not stand for radical leftism and the policies pushed by the Biden administration. I think it’s a resounding victory for us and it gives us a blueprint in future elections as well for the future of the Republican party.”
Padilla: “I am ecstatic to have won. It truly is an honor to officially become the first elected Latino to represent California and I want to thank everyone who helped me get to where I am today.”
We are still awaiting election results for Senators Cortez Masto, Murkowski, and Warnock. Due to Georgia’s election rules, Warnock’s race will likely go to a runoff election which will occur on December 6. Due to Alaska’s rank choice voting, Murkowski and her Trump-endorsed competitor Kelly Tshibaka will likely move on to a second round of voting with Alaska’s finalized election results likely being available on November 23.
Murkowski is currently behind Tshibaka for Republican support with only 42.8% of the votes compared to Tshibaka’s 44.2% (as of November 10, 8:45 p.m. pst). Murkowski did not seem worried about losing her race when she spoke with the Washington Watch on Wednesday. Murkowski said she was “absolutely not” worried about potentially losing re-election stating, “I think through the first round of voting it's going to be pretty even. Then when we go through the second round… I believe that I will prevail coming out on top. I love the spot we’re in. I’m confident in Alaskans. Alaskans are confident in me.” Murkowski likely is correct in not having much to worry about, as the 9.5% of voters who voted for Democrat Pat Chesbro are more likely to vote for Murkowski, who is a moderate Republican, over Tshibaka in the second round of voting.
The election results were a huge disappointment for many Republicans who theorized a ‘red wave’ in the midterms. While Democrats lost a significant amount of seats in the House, the Senate faired much better with Democrats gaining a seat. Senator Cortez Masto is currently trailing behind her competitor Adam Laxalt by a mere .88%. Nevada is still awaiting 10% of its votes to be counted, and the race will likely be called within the next week. Warnock’s runoff race will likely be the deciding election for which party will hold the majority in the Senate.
Democrats and Republicans will be sitting on the edge of their seats for the next month as the fate of the Senate’s majority will be decided following these key races. Democrats are only left to hope they can manage to hold on to their Senate majority for Congress’ next session.
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