Dan Newhouse held a close lead late last night in his battle against fellow Republican Clint Didier for Washington State’s vacant 4th District House seat, though the race was too close to call and could take several days before a winner is clear. Newhouse and Didier are vying to replace Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), who held the seat for more than two decades. As of late last night, Newhouse held a 51.7-48.3 percent lead with about 44 percent of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press. “We are very happy with the vote totals we have seen this evening,” Newhouse said in a statement. “I also want to thank my opponent for running a spirited campaign. We didn’t see eye-to-eye on everything, but we agreed on many issues.”
Nationally, Republicans grabbed control of the Senate with a wave of wins in the upper chamber, claiming victories in 10 of 13 tight Senate races as of early Wednesday morning. That includes a victory in Colorado, where Sen. Mark Udall (D) was ousted by Cory Gardner (R). Udall is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee. One race that is undecided involved Sen. Mary Landrieu, (D-La.), the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Landrieu will face Republican Bill Cassidy in a December runoff election because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote yesterday (Landrieu had about 42 percent and Cassidy 41 percent). Of course, Landrieu will lose her chairmanship on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee no matter what because the Republicans will take control of the Senate.
House incumbents across the weapons complex had an easy time in their races, with Reps. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Steve Pearce (R-N.M.), Michelle Lujan-Grisham (D-N.M.), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) cruising to victories in their respective races. In the Senate, incumbent Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) were also comfortably victorious. Notably, Alexander could be in line to take over as the chairman of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee with Republicans taking control of the Senate. Alexander is currently the ranking member on the panel.
