U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
The Republicans on Tuesday flipped Sen. Doug Jones' Senate seat from Alabama.
The Democrat fell to former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville.
Tuberville was named the winner almost as soon as polls closed. He had been a heavy favorite in polling.
In the closing days of the race, Jones lashed out at both Tuberville and pollsters who said he'd lose.
At the same time, the Democrats also claimed their first flip: Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, apparently ousted Republican Sen. Cory Gardner.
Hickenlooper's reputation was tainted when he was found to have engaged in unethical behavior while governor of the Rocky Mountain State.
He was ordered to pay thousands of dollars in fines for gifts he took for himself – in violation of state rules – while governor.
He also was cited for contempt for refusing to appear before the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission, but faced no additional fine for that.
The state body found Hickenlooper allowed large corporations to pay for private jet trips to Italy – in one televised clip of his trial he said he couldn't remember how many times he accepted those – as well as a Maserati limousine ride and plush dinners.
Gardner had challenged Hickenlooper to "do the right thing: take full responsibility for violating the Colorado Constitution and pay back Colorado taxpayers over $127,000 for his taxpayer-funded attorney fees that came from a 9/11 economic recovery fund."
Hickenlooper also is a failed presidential candidate, having told reporters during that brief and unsuccessful effort that being a senator would be boring for him. Still, more than 1.2 million Colorado voters chose Hickenlooper over Gardner, who has successfully worked across the aisle with Democrats and has had more proposals written into law than most members of the Senate.
If the Democrats are to take control of the Senate they would need to flip about four seats, depending upon how two independents line up. In fact, the actual control of the body may not be known for some time, as one open seat likely will require a runoff election weeks from now.
Otherwise, multiple incumbents will return to their seats.
Democrat incumbents Chris Coons in Delaware, Richard Durbin in Illinois, Edward Markey in Massachusetts, Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, Cory Booker in New Jersey, John Reed in Rhode Island and Mark Warner in Virginia were victorious.
On the Republican side, Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, Jim Inhofe in Oklahoma, Tom Cotton in Arkansas, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina were winners. Republican Bill Hagerty in Tennessee won an open seat.
McConnell, the majority leader for Senate Republicans, had been specifically targeted by Democrats, but was declared the winner. He has played a key role in President Trump's effort to appoint Constitution-oriented judges to federal court benches, including three appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court.
There were races for 35 Senate seats, 33 that normally would be up for re-election as part of a rotation in the Senate that has about one-third of the seats re-elected every two years. There were two special elections.
One of those races, where Republican Sen. Sen. Kelly Loeffler had been appointed to a seat representing Georgia, had about 20 hopefuls, but early returns gave none of them the required percentage of 50% plus one.
The other special election is in Arizona, where Martha McSally was appointed to replace the late Sen. John McCain, and is facing a challenge from Mark Kelly.
The split in the Senate has been 53 seats held by Republicans and 45 by Democrats, with two independents who align with Democrats.
Republicans are defending 23 seats while the Democrats are defending 12.
In the 2014 election, the last time these same seats were up for election, Republicans won nine seats from Democrats and took over the majority in the Senate. They maintained their hold in 2016 and 2018.
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