2022 United States Senate elections

2022 United States Senate elections

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35 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51[a] seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Chuck Schumer Mitch McConnell Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 3, 2017 January 3, 2007 Leader's seat New York Kentucky Seats before 48 + VP[b][c] 50 Seats after 49[d] 49 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 46,208,845[e] 43,850,241[e] Percentage 50.0% 47.4% Seats up 14 21 Races won 15 20   Third party   Party Independent Seats before 2[b] Seats after 2 Seat change Seats up 0 Races won 0
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      No election Rectangular inset (Oklahoma): both seats up for election
Majority Leader before election Chuck Schumer Democratic Elected Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Democratic

The 2022 United States Senate elections were held on November 8, 2022, concurrently with other midterm elections at the federal, state, and local levels. Regularly scheduled elections were held for 34 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate, the winners of which will serve 6-year terms beginning with the 118th United States Congress. 2 special elections were held to complete unexpired terms. While pundits considered the Republican Party a slight favorite to gain control of the Senate, the Democrats outperformed expectations and expanded the majority they had held since 2021,^[2][3] gaining a seat for a functioning 51–49 majority.

Senators are divided into 3 classes whose terms are staggered so that a different class is elected every other year. All 34 Class 3 Senate seats, last elected in 2016, were up for election in 2022. Before the elections, Class 3 consisted of 14 Democrats and 20 Republicans. Special elections were concurrently held in California, to fill Vice President Kamala Harris's unexpired Senate term ending in 2022,^[4] and in Oklahoma, to fill the remaining 4 years of Jim Inhofe's unexpired term.^[5] 5 Republican senators and 1 Democratic senator retired instead of seeking re-election; 15 Republicans and 13 Democrats ran for re-election. Before the elections, Democrats had held a majority in the Senate since January 20, 2021. There were 48 Democratic and 2 Independent senators who caucused with them; Harris's tie-breaking vote as vice president gave Democrats control of the chamber.^[2]

While Republicans appeared slightly favored in several competitive races, a red wave election did not materialize.^[6][7][8] Democrats gained a seat, in Pennsylvania where Democrat John Fetterman won the election to succeed retiring Republican Pat Toomey.^[9] All incumbents won re-election, and all other open seats besides Pennsylvania were held by the same party as the retiring senator. For the first time since the ratification of the 17th Amendment, no incumbent lost a U.S. Senate primary or general election.^[10][f]

The better-than-expected performance of Democrats has been attributed to several factors,^[11] including the issue of abortion after Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization,^[12] the role of Donald Trump, and alleged extremism or election denialism among Republicans.^[13][14][15] The 2022 election cycle was the first time in U.S. history in which multiple Senate races in the same year were contested between two Black nominees (Georgia and South Carolina).^[16][g]

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