Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) gestures, walking out of the Senate Chamber, celebrating the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act at the U.S. Capitol on Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Kent Nishimura | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
Democrats will hold their razor-thin majority in the U.S. Senate, NBC News projects, staving off a full-bore effort by Republicans to leverage economic volatility and public discontent into control of the upper chamber of Congress.
The party will hold at least 50 seats in the Senate in the next Congress, after incumbents held their ground in key races and Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman flipped Pennsylvania’s GOP-held seat. One uncalled race, where Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia is defending his seat against Republican Herschel Walker, will be decided in a Dec. 6 runoff. Democrats currently control the Senate split 50-50 by party through Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote.
While the GOP held some key advantages over Democrats throughout the cycle, analysts considered the battle for the Senate to be a virtual toss-up heading into Election Day. Incumbent Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada both prevailed in their closely contested races, NBC projected after days of counting in both states, clinching the chamber for Democrats.
In a tweet, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the election results “a victory and vindication for Democrats.”
Republicans had hoped, and…
