Republicans are poised to maintain their majority in the U.S. Senate as of Wednesday morning, November 4.
The GOP began election day with a 53 to 47 margin over the Democrats (and two Independents who caucus with the Democrats) in the Senate.
As of 11:45 a.m. eastern time, the Democrats have picked up two Senate seats. One pickup is in Colorado, where Democrat John Hickenlooper has defeated incumbent Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) 53.9 percent to 44 percent, with 85 percent of precincts reporting. The other is in Arizona, where Democrat challenger Mark Kelly, the former astronaut, defeated incumbent Sen. Martha McSally by a 52.6 percent to 47.4 percent margin with 87 percent of precincts reporting.
Republicans have countered with a pickup of their own in Alabama, where Republican Tommy Tuberville, the former head football coach at Auburn University, has defeated incumbent Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) by a 60.4 percent to 39.6 percent margin with 98 percent of precincts reporting.
Republicans have held strong in several states that were thought to be contested.
In South Carolina, incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has defeated his well financed Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison by a 55.8 percent to 42.9 percent margin with 99 percent of precincts reporting.
In Iowa, incumbent Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) has defeated Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield by a 51.8 percent to 45.2 percent margin, with 100 percent of precincts reporting.
In Texas, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has defeated Democratic challenger Mary Hegar, 53.7 percent to 43.7 percent, with 89 percent of precincts reporting.
In Montana, incumbent Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) has defeated former Gov. Steve Bullock, the Democratic candidate who briefly ran for president, by a 54.6 percent to 45.4 percent with 93 percent of precincts reporting.
Democrats held firm in Minnesota, where incumbent Dem. Tina Smith 9D-MN) defeated GOP challenger Jason Lewis by a 48.9 percent to 43.5 percent margin, with 100 percent of precincts reporting.
At present, at least four incumbent Republican Senator appear to be well positioned to hold onto their seats in the Senate.
In North Carolina, incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) leads Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham by a 48.7 percent to 46.9 percent margin with 100 percent of precincts reporting. Tillis has declared victory, but Cunningham has not conceded.
In Georgia, Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) leads Democrat Jon Ossoff 50.8 percent to 46.9 percent, with 100 percent of precincts reporting.
In Alaska, incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) leads Democrat challenger Al Gross 63.1 percent to 31.8 percent with 50 percent of precincts reporting.
In Maine, incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) leads her Democrat challenger Sarah Gideon by a 51 percent to 42.4 percent margin with 93 percent of precincts reporting.
In Michigan, the GOP still has a chance to pick up a seat. Republican challenger John James holds a narrow 49.3 percent to 48.9 percent lead over incumbent Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) with 90 percent of precincts reporting.
If Perdue, Collins, Sullivan, and Tillis hold on to their leads, and the James upset bid fails in Michigan, the party affiliation in the Senate would stand at Republicans 51, Democrats 48, with one seat still in doubt.
The Georgia Special Senate Election is headed to a runoff between Democrat Raphael Warnock, who qualified for the runoff when he finished first and received 31.9 percent of the vote, and incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), who received 26.5 percent of the vote with 100 percent of precincts reporting. Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) finished third with 20 percent of the vote and failed to qualify for the runoff.
Should either Perdue, Collins, or Tillis falter, the balance in the Senate would become 50-49 Republicans, and all eyes will turn to the Georgia Special Senate Election.