Sen. Susan M. Collins claimed victory Wednesday in her race in Maine, leaving Republicans within grasp of holding on to their Senate majority, surmounting a tough map and a staggering onslaught of Democratic money.
Ms. Collins had been rated a goner by most analysts, and every major public poll showed Democratic nominee Sara Gideon prevailing. But the Republican cruised to a fifth term, winning by nearly 9 percentage points.
For her victory speech Wednesday, she emerged to Elton John’s 1983 hit “I’m Still Standing.”
The pattern repeated in races across the country, where Republican incumbents defied predictions and easily held seats from Montana, Iowa and South Carolina.
As of Wednesday night, Republicans were projected to control at least 48 seats and were leading in three more races that had yet to be called in Georgia, Alaska and North Carolina — though Sen. Thom Tillis, the Republican incumbent in North Carolina, was claiming victory.
Another race in Georgia will go to a runoff that Republicans were confident they would hold.
For the final outstanding seat, in Michigan, incumbent Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat, held a slim lead over Republican John James.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in Kentucky earlier in the day that Republican control likely hinged on the Maine and North Carolina results.
“I don’t know if I’m going to be the defensive coordinator or the offensive coordinator,” he said, referring to the positions of minority leader — whose job amounts to obstruction — and majority leader, who controls the Senate’s agenda.
But Democrats were conceding failure.
“Kind of every candidate we had for the Senate lost,” veteran strategist James Carville said on The Ringer’s “The Bakari Sellers Podcast.”
Democrats did oust a Republican incumbent in Colorado, where Sen. Cory Gardner lost to former Gov. John Hickenlooper. Democrats also appeared to have ousted a Republican in Arizona, though Sen. Martha McSally hadn’t conceded as of Wednesday evening, saying there were enough outstanding votes that she could close the gap with Democrat Mark Kelly.
Republicans did counter with their own flip in Alabama, where Democratic Sen. Doug Jones was trounced by political newcomer Tommy Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach.
Whatever the details of the final makeup of the Senate, it seems clear there won’t be enough support next year to eliminate the filibuster or pursue court-packing, ideas that liberal Democrats pushed in the wake of last week’s confirmation of President Trump’s third Supreme Court justice.
Over the next two months, the Senate’s agenda is clear: pass spending bills and try to find agreement on a coronavirus relief package.
Mr. McConnell said a financial rescue bill is desperately needed.
“That’s ’job one’ when we get back,” he said.
Feverish negotiations in October failed to break a monthslong logjam among Senate Republicans, House Democrats and Mr. Trump.
While Congress is wrapping up business for this year, politicos will be looking to Georgia, where at least one Senate runoff election will take place.
Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a Republican named to the seat of retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson late last year, will face off against Democrat Raphael Warnock after, as expected, nobody cleared 50% of the vote in Tuesday’s all-candidate “jungle primary.”
In Georgia’s other Senate race, a regular-cycle race for a six-year term, incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue led Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff by more than 140,000 votes and 3 percentage points, but at 50.3%, it remained uncertain Wednesday night whether he would get the required majority to avoid a runoff.
Republicans were salivating over the prospect of that fight, particularly if Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden is headed for the White House. They vowed to make the race an early referendum on Mr. Biden’s agenda.
Heading into the election, Republicans controlled 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats. Of the 35 seats up for election, 23 were held by Republicans, creating a massive map to defend.
Democrats sought to make many of those races a referendum on Mr. Trump — and that seemed to backfire.
In Iowa, Sen. Joni Ernst, whom polls showed struggling, posted a 6-point victory. In Montana, Sen. Steve Daines defeated Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, by 9 points.
Sen. Lindsey Graham also won a fourth term in South Carolina, Sen. John Cornyn emerged victorious in Texas, and Rep. Roger Marshall held on to a seat of a retiring Republican in Kansas.
In Kentucky, Democrats once again mounted a fierce effort to oust Mr. McConnell, with donors pouring about $90 million into Democrat Amy McGrath’s campaign as of mid-October. Mr. McConnell trailed with just $50 million, but he walked away with a 21-point victory.
Mr. Graham, meanwhile, was outraised in his South Carolina race by about $40 million, yet he emerged with an 11-point win over Democrat Jaime Harrison.
“To all the liberals in California and New York, you wasted a lot of money,” Mr. Graham said at his victory party. “This is the worst return on investment in the history of American politics.”
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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