US midterms: Democrats control Senate, election deniers falter

The Democrats will retain control of the Senate, while Republicans are likely to take the House of Representatives. 

• By Ned Parker and Joseph Ax Reuters : RENO, NEV.

A slate of conspiracy theorists seeking to take over key U.S. election posts lost races in battleground states, after months of warnings from election experts and Democrats that their ascension could threaten American democracy itself. 

The final nail in the coffin arrived on Saturday in Nevada, where Republican Jim Marchant, who helped organize candidates under the “America First” banner, lost his bid to become the state’s top election official to Democrat Cisco Aguilar, Edison Research projected.

Marchant and like-minded candidates echoed former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged and promised to overhaul the voting apparatus in pivotal states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona with an eye toward 2024, when Mr. Trump is expected to seek the White House once again.

Their defeats were a sign of voters rejecting anti-democratic tendencies in tight midterm elections. President Joe Biden’s Democrats also held their majority in the Senate, Edison Research projected on Saturday, while officials continue to count ballots in 20 races that will determine control of the House of Representatives.

But the “red wave” that Republicans had expected to give them wide congressional majorities and position them to sway the outcome of the 2024 White House race, did not materialize.  ReadMore