House and Senate Majorities Still in Question as Votes Still Being Counted

Despite crushing inflation and a stagnant economy teetering on recession, the long-expected political red wave hit a blue wall this week. The still-incoming results from Election Day prove while Republicans still could take control of the House, it will only be by a small margin. There are still races that have yet to be called leaving both Capitol Hill majorities in question.

The White House is reacting to Tuesday's results with glee and giddiness as Democratic House and Senate candidates performed far better than anticipated.  

"While the press and the pundits were predicting a giant red wave, it didn't happen," President Joe Biden declared Wednesday. 

He acknowledged the House is likely to flip to Republican control and said he will work with Republicans while laying down some red lines.

"I'm prepared to work with my Republican colleagues," Biden said. "And I'm not going to walk away from some of the historic commitments we just made to take on the climate crisis…I will veto any attempt to pass a national ban on abortion."

Biden also said the results of the election have no impact on whether or not he'll run again in 2024, telling reporters he'll likely officially make that announcement in early 2023.  "Our intention is to run again, that's been our intention, regardless of what the outcome of what this election was," said Biden. 

 Although 44 House races are still in the balance, Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is already at work securing votes to become speaker of the House in January.  

"Republicans are probably going to be in control of the House when all is said and done, but it's not going to be nearly the kind of margin that they had hoped, not nearly the kind of midterm election that they once had visions of," ABC News Political Director Rick Klein told CBN News' Faith Nation on Wednesday. 

Control of the Senate still hangs in the balance. Neither Nevada or Arizona have been called yet, and Georgia is heading to a December runoff.  

With both the gubernatorial and Senate races up in the air, Arizona election officials say they will provide daily updates, although final results are likely days away.  
   
"We have anticipated that we would have 95 to 99% of all of the ballots counted and reported by Friday," Bill Gates (R), chair of Arizona's Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, told reporters Wednesday. 

The current count indicates a sizable number of Arizonans voted split parties on statewide races. That trend was also seen in New Hampshire, which elected a Senate Democrat and Republican governor. It also played out in Georgia where incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp defeated Stacey Abrams by 8%, but Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker trailed Democrat incumbent Raphael Warnock by about 1%, with neither candidate reaching the 50% needed to avoid a runoff.
  
"If Nevada goes to Republicans, Arizona to Democrats, we're sitting there right on the precipice of a tied Senate, and that means that the runoff a month from now, Herschel Walker verse Raphael Warnock, is going to be for control of the Senate," Klein said.   
 
Perhaps the biggest story of the day was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis beating Democrat Charlie Crist by almost 20%.

"Thank you for honoring us with a win for the ages," DeSantis told an enthusiastic audience in Tampa Tuesday night. 

Exit polls indicated 45% of GOP voters there want DeSantis to lead the party in 2024, while just 33% chose former President Trump.  

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Nationwide, however, dozens of candidates only won by razor-thin margins, leading neither party to feel like ringing the victory bell.  

"To me, it feels like America telling our political system that we're done trying to hate each other," Christian author and speaker Carlos Whittaker said in an Instagram post. "We're exhausted from hating each other on a daily basis. 

Whittaker shared this perspective on the results.  

"People like us that are ready to be curious about people that aren't like us, we're going to win in the end. Why? Because I feel like that's who we were created to be," he said.

With results still trickling in, politicians are already preparing for 2024.  Former President Trump had teased a major announcement for next week, but after several of his candidates lost and with the Senate still in question, there is word that his close advisors are calling on him to put it off.  As new GOP party leaders emerge, too, there's a growing possibility if he runs, he'll face a stronger challenge from within his own party.