The votes are still being counted and the margins are, as ever, razor-thin. But the predicted ‘red wave’ of Republican victories across the political map of the United States appears not to have materialised. The party looks set to win the House of Representatives but the Senate, where Democrats picked up the crucial seat of Pennsylvania, remains on a knife-edge.
It has been a mixed night, too, for former president Donald Trump. Some of his favoured candidates — marked by extreme views including the false claim that the 2020 election was ‘stolen’ — have lost. Meanwhile, his biggest Republican rival, Ron DeSantis, was easily re-elected as governor of Florida.
