The Democratic candidate prevailed in the race for senator from Arizona and progressives are now one seat away from controlling the Senate, according to projections issued by the main US media.
After three days of scrutiny, Democrat Mark Kelly achieved, with 83% of the votes counted, enough advantage over his Republican rival, Blake Masters, and thus won re-election in this key state.
The conservative Masters had the explicit support of former President Donald Trump, which adds a new defeat to the candidates supported by the controversial former president.
Kelly, a former astronaut, is the winner according to projections by the Associated Press and CNN and CBS.
His victory brings the number of Democratic senators to 49. Two seats are still up for grabs: Nevada, where counting is still underway, and Georgia, where the runoff is scheduled for Dec. 6.
Trump alleges fraud again
If both parties ended up with 50 seats each and thus maintained the status quo, Democrats would retain control of the Senate thanks to the vote of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Masters, the defeated candidate in Arizona, has yet to concede defeat and on Friday night, Trump wrote on his social network that some voting machines had not worked in Arizona, and that the result was “a scam and a voter fraud.” “Redo the elections!” he urged.
Several days after Tuesday’s vote, control of Congress remains uncertain. Republicans appeared poised to win a majority in the House of Representatives but still had seven seats short.
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