Donald Trump took credit for pulling a handful of vulnerable Senate Republican candidates who embraced him across the finish line, and taunted those who failed to get with the program.
The president used his Twitter account to laud those who cooperated and send a signal to any others who might try to forge their own path, after an election night that saw some House Republicans who tried to keep their distance from the volatile president losing their seats.
‘Those that worked with me in this incredible Midterm Election, embracing certain policies and principles, did very well,’ the president wrote Wednesday morning.
‘Those that did not, say goodbye!’ he taunted them.
‘Yesterday was such a very Big Win, and all under the pressure of a Nasty and Hostile Media!’ he added.
Earlier, Trump wrote: ‘Thanks, I agree’ in response to a post by David Asman after the Fox Business anchor suggested victorious GOP candidates owe Trump ‘their political career’.
Asman had tweeted: ‘How do the Democrats respond to this? Think of how his position with Republicans improves – all the candidates who won tonight. They realize how important he is because of what he did in campaigning for them. They owe him their political career’.
Republican senators are celebrating a growing majority and hold out hope of picking up even more Democratic scalps in a series of nailbiters.
In Montana, the race between Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and Republican challenger Matt Rosendale is too close to call.
Donald Trump (pictured) has this morning highlighted his own influence in expanding the Republican Senate majority
The US President tweeted ‘Thanks, I agree’ in response to a post by David Asman after the Fox Business anchor suggested victorious GOP candidates owe Trump ‘their political career’
It comes after the defeat of at least three Democratic incumbents – Joe Donnelly in Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota, Claire McCaskill in Missouri – and the apparent defeat of Bill Nelson in Florida.
In Texas, Sen Ted Cruz staved off a tough challenge from Democrat Beto O’Rourke, whose record-smashing fundraising and celebrity have set off buzz he could be a credible 2020 White House contender.
Three of the Democratic losses all came in heavily Republican states carried by President Trump in 2016 – while Nelson’s Florida has consistently been won or lost by tiny margins.
Donnelly and McCaskill were running competitive races as gauged by opinion polls; Heitkamp was not.
Nelson did not concede in public but made a statement through a spokesman, the Tampa Bay Tribune reported which suggested he could challenge the outcome and threw the race into confusion until he speaks.
‘This is obviously not the result Senator Nelson’s campaign has worked hard for. The senator will be making a full statement tomorrow to thank all those who rallied for his cause,’ the spokesman said.
The margin for a recount in Florida is 0.5 per cent of the total. With 99 per cent reporting, Republican Rick Scott was on 50.3 per cent, and Nelson on 49.7 – meaning he could be in the zone for a recount.
The defeat of the three ensures Republicans will have of a margin to push through President Trump’s judicial and executive appointments, as several more centrist Republicans retire – though the loss of the House to Democrats delivers a blow to any prospect of a Trump legislative agenda.
Leading political prognosticators had already anticipated the likelihood of Republican gains in the Senate. Nevertheless, with close polling and great uncertainty about the electorate that would show up, there was still a chance Democrats would take over the Senate.
That would have brought an even more dramatic reordering of the balance of power than what occurred Tuesday with the GOP’s loss of the House.
Donnelly’s loss came in first, taking the wind out of Democrats’ hopes they might be able to defy polls and recapture the Senate.
Republican Mike Braun was leading Donnelly by 54 to 42 per cent, with half the vote counted Tuesday night, when ABC News and NBC both called the race.
Donnelly’s defeat was followed by the defeat of Heitkamp, who was trying to hang on in a seat President Donald Trump carried by 35 percentage points. Republican Kevin Cramer defeated her, ending her Senate service at a single term.
NBC called Heitkamp’s defeat. She was trailing Carmer 58 to 42 with 35 per cent of the vote counted.
DEFEATED: Red state Democratic senators Joe Donnelly was defeated in Indiana and Claire McCaskill in Missouri
PRICE PAID: Heidi Heitkamp (pictured) went down in North Dakota after voting against Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation
McCaskill was trailing Josh Hawley, the Missouri state attorney general.
The defeat of a the Democratic incumbents, along with Cruz’s survival, ensured Republicans would pad their 51-seat Senate majority, even as the results came in for other outstanding Senate races.
Another Democratic hope that had been fading for days was finally extinguished when Rep. Marsha Blackburn defeated Phil Bredesen in Tennessee.
However West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who cast a vote in favor of Trump’s nominee Brett Kavanaugh, managed to hang onto his Senate seat. He was on the cusp of 50 per cent of the vote with 93 percent of precincts reporting.
The GOP majority was 51 to 49 when the night began.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz held off a stiff challenge from Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke and declared victory in Houston
Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke voted in El Paso Tuesday morning with his wife, Amy, three kids – Ulysses, 11, Molly, 10, and Henry, 7, and members of the media in tow
To prevail, Democrats already faced high odds of having to take down Republican incumbents by holding virtually all of the seats they are defending. Democratic incumbents were already endangered in North Dakota and Missouri.
President Donald Trump identified Indiana as a critical pickup opportunity, traveling to the state twice in the four days in the final days of the campaign. He attacked Donnelly by linking him to the national party and gave face time to Braun with his appearances.
Braun led throughout the night as the results came in. The president held his final campaign rally of the cycle in Missouri, signaling the importance the GOP placed on taking down McCaskill, who came into office by defeating a weak opponent, former Rep. Todd Akin.
Donnelly was considered one of the nation’s most vulnerable incumbents, representing a state that voted heavily for Trump, who beat Hillary Clinton by 19 percentage points in 2016.
Braun, a GOP businessman, blasted Donnelly as under the sway of national Democratic Party leaders like Nancy Pelosi, and made the link relentlessly in TV ads. Donnelly hit back in TV ads that highlighted the health plans Donnelly provided to his employees that included a $10,000 deductible.
Trump used his Twitter account to rip Donnelly in the final stretch.
‘Rumor has it that Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana is paying for Facebook ads for his so-called opponent on the libertarian ticket. Donnelly is trying to steal the election? Isn’t that what Russia did!?’ Trump wrote.
The tweet drew outrage from the Indiana Democratic Party chair, John Zody, who responded that the ads ‘are perfectly legal, factual and accurately represent [independent] Lucy Brenton’s anti-tax record.’
Donnelly sought to position himself as a centrist, having come into Congress by defeating a Tea Party-backed candidate, Richard Mourdoch.
MEET THE NEW REPUBLICAN SENATORS
Indiana: Mike Braun
Joe Donnelly’s defeat was to Mike Braun, 64, a heavily Donald Trump backed businessman and former member of the state’s House of Representatives. He voiced strongly socially-conservative positions on abortion and gay marriage and spoke for the repeal of Obamacare
Missouri: Josh Hawley
Claire McCaskill was beaten by Josh Hawley, a 38-year-old who was the state’s attorney general. The youngest new entrant to the Senate backed Trump vocally on trade and immigration
North Dakota: Kevin Cramer
Heidi Heitkamp’s defeat by 67-year-old Kevin Cramer means the veteran North Dakota Republican politician moves from the House to the Senate. He strongly associated himself with Trump – and was rewarded by the president who spoke at a campaign fundraiser in Fargo in September
Tennessee: Marsha Blackburn
Retiring Republican Bob Corker’s open seat goes to Marsha Blackburn – who defeated Taylor Swift’s call for people to vote against her on the way to a 26 point win. A veteran Republican, the 66-year-old won a Congressional seat in 2002. She was briefly a member of the House Freedom Caucus, and has generally been conservative.
Florida: Rick Scott
With an estimated net worth of $255 million, ex-GOP Florida governor Rick Scott becomes one of Washington’s wealthiest as soon as he is sworn in in January. A controversial healthcare executive whose firm Columbia/HCA was found to have defrauded Medicare and Medicaid, he became governor in 2010. Term-limited, he spent his own money heavily and was boosted by Donald Trump aggressively campaigning in Florida.