Democrats’ hopes of regaining control of the U.S. Senate have faded after two Republican senators from South Carolina, Lindy Graham and Johnny Ernst of Iowa, won re-election battles.

Democrats ousted Arizona and Colorado but won a Republican candidate in Alabama, leaving Joe Biden’s party still one seat with several key races.

Republicans currently control 53 seats in the 100-member Senate. Democrats set their sights on overturning several closely contested seats, including Iowa and South Carolina, where their defeat gave a significant push.

The results for the battlefield states of North Carolina, Georgia and Maine were not released Wednesday morning.

Democrats need a three-seat net gain to win the Senate if Joe Biden is elected president. If the Democrats fail to take the upper house, it would undermine the power of any Biden administration to appoint federal judges and reconstitute the Supreme Court, which Mr. Trump has given a conservative majority.

Democrats will need a four-seat net gain to control the Senate if U.S. President Donald Trump is re-elected, as U.S. vice-presidents can cast a tiebreaking vote in the chamber.

Joe Biden’s team won Senate goals in Colorado, where former Governor John Hickenlooper defeated Republican incumbent Corey Gardner and Arizona, where astronaut Mark Kelly defeated Martha Maxley in attendance.

In South Carolina, Mr. Graham, a one-time Trump critic who became a staunch ally of the U.S. president by defeating Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison in the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history.

Mr Harrison, a 44-year-old former state party chairman, raised his record of ১০ 109 million to expel Mr Graham, who called Mr Trump a “xenophobic, religious fanatic” ahead of the 2011 Trump election. Later his tune changed.

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In Iowa, Mrs. Ernst received a challenge from Democrat Theresa Greenfield. In Alabama, current Democrat Doug Jones lost to a former football coach from college against Republican challenger Tommy Tuberville.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell defeated his Democratic challenger Amy McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot, to win re-election in Kentucky. The McGraw campaign has raised an affordable ৮৮ 8 million compared to Mr. McConnell’s 55 million campaign.

Many states could take days or even weeks to finalize their vote count from Tuesday, and at least one Senate race will not be decided until January.

In Georgia, Republican Kelly Lofler will run in the second round of a special election, scheduled for Jan. 5, to decide whether to retain the seat she was hired to fill last December.

Mrs Loffler, a former executive on the Intercontinental Exchange, will face Democrat Rafael Warnock, a pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, in the second round.

Mr. Warnak and Mrs. Laughler won first and second place, respectively, in a “Jungle Primary” on Tuesday, where there were 20 candidates on the ballot.

Georgia is the only state in the United States where both Senate seats hold this cycle. The results are still being counted in another nation, where 33-year-old Democrat John Osof challenged current 70-year-old Republican David Perdy. If no one garners more than half the votes – a Libertarian party candidate is also running – the contest will also go to the run-off on January 5.

Democrats are expected to retain control of the 435-seat House of Representatives.