The Republican Party has clinched control of the United States Senate, shifting the balance of power on Capitol Hill. In West Virginia, Governor Jim Justice won the race to fill the seat vacated by Senator Joe Manchin, who earlier this year quit the Democratic Party and said he would not seek reelection. Justice is a wealthy heir to a coal mining fortune with a net worth estimated at over a half-billion dollars. In 2022, Justice signed a near-total ban on abortion in West Virginia. In Montana, Republican Tim Sheehy is projected to have beaten incumbent Democrat Jon Tester, flipping another Senate seat for Republicans. In Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno has defeated Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, who’s held the seat since 2007. Before then, Brown served in the House of Representatives, where he opposed the Iraq War, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and became an early champion of marriage equality. Brown conceded defeat late Tuesday.

Sen. Sherrod Brown: “We believe in the power of people over corporate special interests. We always will. We believe if you love this country, you fight for the people who make it work. We always will. This is a disappointment but is not a failure.”

Senator-elect Bernie Moreno is a multimillionaire luxury car dealer and cryptocurrency entrepreneur who benefited from $40 million in campaign cash from crypto firms. Ohio’s Senate race was the most expensive such contest ever; some estimates put total spending at around a half-billion dollars. In Nebraska, Republican Senator Deb Fischer held off a challenge from independent Dan Osborn. And the Republicans could win several more Senate races. In Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick has a one-point lead over Senator Bob Casey. In Nevada, Republican Sam Brown has a slight lead over Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen. In Michigan, Republican Mike Rogers is leading Elissa Slotkin. In Wisconsin, incumbent Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin declared victory after it appeared her narrow lead over multimillionaire banker Eric Hovde will hold. In Arizona, Democrat Rubén Gallego has a lead over Republican challenger Kari Lake, a far-right election denier and Trump ally. The two are vying for Kyrsten Sinema’s seat after the Democrat turned independent announced she was not seeking reelection.

In other Senate news, for the first time in history, two Black women will serve in the Senate at the same time: Angela Alsobrooks in Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester in Delaware, both Democrats.