Democrats to control the US Senate after Masto wins Nevada

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Democrats will take control of the US Senate after Senator Catherine Cortez Masto won re-election in Nevada, according to Edison Research projected on Saturday, giving a major victory to incumbent President Joe Biden.

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Results of the midterm elections showed how close Republicans came to winning a majority in the US House of Representatives as officials continued to count ballots in Tuesday's US midterm elections. 

Cortez Masto defeated Republican challenger Adam Laxalt, a former state attorney general backed by former US President Donald Trump. 

Democrats will be controlling at least 50 Senate seats: "America showed that we believe in our democracy, that the roots of democracy are deep and strong."

The Senate is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans; the newly elected Senate will be sworn in on January 3.

The Democrats' continued control in the Senate means they will able to approve of Biden's nominees, such as federal judges.

If Raphael Warnock, a Democratic Senator, were to win in the Georgia runoff on December 6 in his runoff against Republican match Herschel Walker, that would expand the Democrats' majority to 51-49, enabling the Democratic Party to pass bills - though a few of them - that would go through with a simple majority of votes.

Speaking in Cambodia, Biden said that his party will be focused on winning the Georgia Senate race. 

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AOC blames Democrat loss on corruption, slander, Big Money

In an interview with The Intercept, New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez expressed frustration with the Democratic Party over its self-hating attitudes, submission to Big Money, corruption, and finally – its “catastrophic performance” in the midterm elections. Ocasio-Cortez even went as far as to demand the head of the New York State Democratic Party, Jay Jacobs, to resign.

Upon being asked whether she thought the Democrats could have done better in the midterms, she noted that there are a number of issues pertaining to the Democrats’ approach in the elections which did more harm than good. One of the issues was policing, where Democrats would “validate” and “amplify” Republican narratives on crime and policing, even running ads on the narratives, which ended up hurting their cause. The key issues included defunding the police, abortion, and more.

A redistricting ballot measure proposed in 2021 that would have won more Democratic seats this year was blocked by the Republican Party, who, according to Ocasio-Cortez, “put millions of dollars against this ballot measure,” arguing that they “organized against it, and the New York State Democratic Party didn’t drop $1 in making sure that we got this thing passed.”