GOP incumbents hang onto Senate seats

Sara Gideon conceded to Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who captured just more than 51 percent of the vote. Republican Sens. Joni Ernst in Iowa and Steve Daines in Montana also defeated their challengers. And former football coach Tommy Tuberville ousted Democratic Sen. Doug Jones in Alabama. But Democrats had some gains: Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper defeated incumbent GOP Sen. Cory Gardner, astronaut Mark Kelly defeated GOP Sen. Martha McSally in Arizona, and Sen. Gary Peters defeated GOP challenger John James to retain his seat in Michigan.

Are any seats still unknown? Republicans can maintain control of the Senate if incumbents Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and David Perdue of Georgia win their races. Each is in the lead, but only half of the vote is known in Alaska. In a special Senate election in Georgia, Sen. Kelly Loeffler is headed for a Jan. 5 runoff against Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock.

Dig deeper: Read my story on how Republicans performed better than expected in the House, though Democrats are poised to hang on to their majority.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated this report since its initial posting.