Senate Results: Collins, Ernst, Graham, McConnell, Tillis Re-Elected; Gardner, McSally, Jones Defeated

Check back for updates throughout the night and election season!

UPDATE 11:15am - Wednesday 11/11/20

• DecisionDesk Call: Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) has secured another six year term representing "The Last Frontier" in the U.S. Senate. Sullivan is known for his weekly "Alaskan of the Week" presentations on the Senate floor, and he will be able to honor over 300 Alaskans of the Week in the upcoming term.
• Sullivan's victory means Republicans will control at least 50 seats and Democrats at least 48 seats.
• Georgia will hold a pair of run-off elections on January 5th for its two Senate seats, with Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) looking to hold off Jon Ossoff (D), and Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) trying to defeat Raphael Warnock (D) in a special election to serve the two remaining years of retired Sen. Johnny Isakson's (R-GA) term.

UPDATE 2:30pm - Tuesday 11/10/20

• DecisionDesk Call: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) has defeated former State Sen. Cal Cunningham (D), securing a second term in the Senate representing the Tar Heel State.
• Tillis's victory means Republicans will control at least 49 seats and the Democrats at least 48 seats. Control of three seats is yet to be determined.
• Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) is leading Independent Democrat Al Gross, but votes will continue to be counted through this week and a call isn't expected until Wednesday at the earliest.
• Georgia will hold a pair of run-off elections on January 5th for its two Senate seats, with Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) looking to hold off Jon Ossoff (D), and Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) trying to defeat Raphael Warnock (D) in a special election to serve the two remaining years of retired Sen. Johnny Isakson's (R-GA) term.

UPDATE 2pm - Friday 11/6/20

• Results have slowed on the Senate side, with a few races still uncalled.
• Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) is leading his race, but just below the 50% threshold he would need to avoid a run-off with Jon Ossoff (D) on January 5th. If the race does go to a run-off, it may decide control of the Senate in conjunction with the Peach State's other run-off between Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and Raphael Warnock (D).
• Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) is holding a lead over Cal Cunningham (D), with results in North Carolina unlikely to be finalized until November 12th after the state's deadline for mail-in ballots that were postmarked by Election Day.
• Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) is leading Independent Democrat Al Gross, although the race hasn't been called yet.

UPDATE 8:45pm - Wednesday 11/4/20

• DecisionDesk, Fox News Call: Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) has won re-election to the seat he won in 2014, holding off a challenge from John James (R) by about 60,000 votes based on current returns. Holding the seat denies Republicans their last opportunity to flip a second Democratic seat.

UPDATE 2pm

• Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has won re-election in Maine following the concession of Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon (D). Collins' victory makes it more likely that Republicans will hold their Senate majority.

UPDATE 3am

• AP, Fox News Calls: Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) has been defeated by former astronaut Mark Kelly (D), flipping a seat to give Democrats a net pick up of one seat (a 52-48 GOP advantage) based on the races decided so far tonight.

UPDATE 2am

• AP Call: Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) won re-election over Gov. Steve Bullock (D), denying Democrats an opportunity to flip a seat.

UPDATE 1:20am

• AP Call: Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) has won re-election, holding the seat she was appointed to following the resignation of Sen. Al Franken (D-MN).
• DecisionDesk Call: Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) has won election to the Senate, keeping retiring Sen. Tom Udall's seat in Democratic control.
• In nearby Arizona, Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) said she will not concede until all votes are tallied after some outlets called Arizona for Democrats at the presidential and Senate level.

UPDATE 12:20am

• AP Call: Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) has won re-election in Iowa over Theresa Greenfield (D), denying Democrats an opportunity to flip her seat.

UPDATE 11:10pm

• AP Call: Rep. Roger Marshall (R-KS) won election to the Senate seat that is being vacated by the retirement of Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS).

UPDATE 10:50pm

• Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) will advance to a run-off against Raphael Warnock (D) on January 5th, after Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) conceded from the top two primary.

UPDATE 10:15pm

• AP Calls: Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) lost his bid for re-election to Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), flipping a seat from Democratic to Republican control and keeping the net change so far in the number of seats controlled at zero. Elsewhere, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) won re-election over MJ Hegar (D).

UPDATE 10pm

• AP, Fox News Calls: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has secured re-election.

UPDATE 9:45pm

• AP, Fox News, NBC Calls: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has secured re-election over Amy McGrath (D). Whether he will remain majority leader will depend on the outcomes of the races detailed below.
• AP, DecisionDesk, Fox News Calls: Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) has lost his bid for re-election to former Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO), flipping his Colorado seat from red to blue.

UPDATE 9pm

• AP Calls: Republican Sens. Mike Rounds (SD) and Ben Sasse (NE) have won re-election, while Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) has won her race to succeed the retiring Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY).

UPDATE 8:30pm

• AP Calls: Republican Sens. Shelley Moore-Capito (WV), Tom Cotton (AR), and Jim Inhofe (OK), have won re-election, while Bill Hagerty won his bid for the seat that will be vacated by Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN).
• AP Calls: Democratic Sens. Cory Booker (NJ), Chris Coons (DE), Dick Durbin (IL), Ed Markey (MA), and Jeanne Shaheen (NH) have all won re-election.

What's the story?

• Control of the U.S. Senate is on the line, as voters around the country will elect 35 senators to the upper chamber, where Republicans currently control 53 seats to Democrats’ 47 seats. Republicans are defending 23 seats they currently control, while Democrats are hoping to hold 12 seats that are in their column.
• Of the 35 Senate elections, 33 are regular elections for senators in class II, while two are special elections to a partial term. Incumbents are seeking re-election in all but four races, and three senators will look to hold seats they were appointed to. 
• With many elections expected to be close, it’s possible that control of the chamber could change hands or result in a 50-50 split. Here’s a look at some of the races that are expected to be the most competitive or could result in a change of control.

ALABAMA

• Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) is looking to hold onto the seat he narrowly won in a 2017 special election against Roy Moore, a Republican who was accused of sexual misconduct. His opponent this time is Tommy Tuberville, a former head football coach at Auburn University who defeated former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the GOP primary for this seat, which Sessions held before he joined the Trump administration.

ALASKA

• Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) is looking to hold the seat he won in 2014 by about 6,000 votes over incumbent Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK). His main opponent in 2020 is Al Gross, an Independent endorsed by the Democratic party.

ARIZONA

• Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ), a former fighter pilot, is defending the seat she was appointed to in 2019 following the death of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). Her main opponent is Mark Kelly (D), a former astronaut who is the husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ). The winner of this election will serve through 2022, when it will come up for a full six year term.

COLORADO

• Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) is looking to hold the seat he won in 2014 when he claimed 48.2% of the vote. His main challenger, former two-term Gov. John Hickenlooper (D), pursued the Democratic presidential nomination this cycle but dropped out before the first primary. After Hickenlooper’s presidential campaign ended, he was fined and held in contempt by an independent state ethics panel for accepting improper gifts while he was governor. 

GEORGIA

• Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) is seeking re-election to the seat he won in 2014 with 52.9% of the vote. His main opponent is Jon Ossoff (D), who lost a 2017 special election in Georgia’s 6th congressional district that became the most expensive House race in history. If neither candidate wins at least 50% of the vote a run-off will be held in January.
• Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) is looking to retain the seat vacated by the retirement of Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), and is competing against several candidates in a top-two primary that includes leading challengers Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), and Raphael Warnock (D), a reverend and community activist. If no candidate wins at least 50% a run-off between the top two candidates will occur in January. The winner of this seat will serve through 2022, when it will come up for a full six year term. 

KANSAS

• This seat is being vacated by Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), who is retiring from the Senate at the end of this term. The leading contenders for the seat are Rep. Roger Marshall (R-KS), who has served in the U.S. House since 2017, and State Sen. Barbara Bollier (D), who has served in the Kansas Legislature since 2010.

KENTUCKY

• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who has served as the Republican leader in the Senate since 2007 and majority leader since 2015, is seeking re-election to a seat he first won in 1984. His challenger, Amy McGrath (D), a veteran pilot, fell about 10,000 votes shy of winning a House seat in 2018 and has raised more than $84 million over the course of her Senate campaign. 

IOWA

• Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), a former fighter pilot, is the first woman to represent Iowa in Congress and is seeking re-election to the seat she won by nearly 10 percentage points in 2014. Her main competitor is Theresa Greenfield (D), who attempted to launch a House campaign in 2018 only to find that her campaign manager falsified some of the signatures needed for ballot qualification, causing her to withdraw.

MAINE

• Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has represented Maine in this seat since 1997 but is facing her toughest re-election campaign after she earned over 58% of the vote in 2002, 2008, and 2014. Her challenger is Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon (D), who has held the gavel in the state house since 2016.

MICHIGAN

• Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) is seeking re-election to the seat he won in 2014 with over 54% of the vote after he served two terms in the U.S. House. His main challenger is Republican John James, a West Point graduate and former attack helicopter pilot who ran for the Senate in 2018, falling to Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). If elected, James would be the first Black senator to represent Michigan. 

MINNESOTA

• Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) is looking to hold the seat she was appointed to in 2018 following the resignation of Sen. Al Franken (D-MN). Her competitor, former Rep. Jason Lewis (R-MN), represented Minnesota’s 2nd congressional district for one term before he lost re-election to Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN).

MONTANA

• Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) is seeking re-election to the seat he won in 2014 with over 57% of the vote. His main contender is Gov. Steve Bullock (D-MT), who sought the Democratic presidential nomination this cycle but dropped out before voting began in the primaries.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

• Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the first woman to serve as a governor and senator for New Hampshire, is seeking re-election to the seat she first won in 2008. Her main competitor is Corky Messner, a West Point graduate, veteran, and businessman.

NEW MEXICO

• This seat is being vacated by Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), who is retiring at the end of this term. The contenders are Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), who has represented New Mexico’s 3rd congressional district since 2009 and serves as Assistant House Speaker, and Republican Mark Ronchetti, the chief meteorologist of an Albuquerque news network. 

NORTH CAROLINA

• Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) is seeking re-election to the seat he won by about 45,000 votes in 2014. His main challenger is former State Sen. Cal Cunningham (D), an Army Reservist whose campaign has been plagued by the revelation of extramarital affairs.

SOUTH CAROLINA

• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is seeking re-election to the seat he won in 2002. His main challenger is Jaime Harrison (D), a former leader of the South Carolina Democratic Party.

TEXAS

• Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is running for re-election to a seat he won in 2002. MJ Hegar (D), an Air Force veteran who lost a House race for the Texas 31st congressional district in 2018.

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: McConnell: Gage Skidmore via Flickr / Creative Commons | Schumer: AFGE via Flickr / Creative Commons)