> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Democrats Secure Senate Control With Nevada Win, Reaching 50 Seats as House Count Remains Unresolved - URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/taq-historical-2022-11-12-us/ - Published: 2022-11-13T04:59:00.000Z - Updated: 2022-11-13T04:59:00.000Z - Description: Catherine Cortez Masto’s projected Nevada victory gave Democrats the 50 Senate seats needed to retain control through the vice president’s tie-breaking vote, with Georgia still headed to a runoff. - Author: TAQ Staff - Tags: US, #Import 2026-08-31 18:54 Democrats secured control of the U.S. Senate late Saturday after Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto was projected to win reelection in Nevada, giving the party the 50 seats it needs to retain the chamber through Vice President Kamala Harris's constitutional power to break ties. The [Associated Press called](https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/nevada-senate-race-results-democrats-republicans-congress-20221112.html?ref=theamericanquorum.com) the Nevada race shortly before 10 p.m. Eastern, after a new batch of Clark County ballots pushed Cortez Masto ahead of Republican Adam Laxalt and left too few favorable votes for him to overcome her advantage. The Nevada result followed Sen. Mark Kelly's projected reelection in Arizona on Friday night. An [Associated Press analysis](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/mark-kelly-wins-senate-race-in-arizona?ref=theamericanquorum.com) of the Arizona count said Kelly's edge held as Maricopa County released an additional batch of roughly 80,000 ballots, giving Democrats their 49th seat. With Nevada, the party reached 50\. The Georgia Senate race will still proceed to a December 6 runoff, but it is no longer required to determine which party controls the chamber. ## Late-counted Nevada ballots decided the majority Nevada's slow count reflected the state's extensive use of mail voting and its rules allowing eligible ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive later. Through much of the week, Laxalt held a narrow lead while election officials processed ballots from Clark County, home to Las Vegas, and Washoe County, home to Reno. Those later-counted ballots increasingly favored Cortez Masto. A Saturday [breakdown of the count](https://www.ktnv.com/news/why-ap-called-the-nevada-senate-race-for-catherine-cortez-masto?ref=theamericanquorum.com) showed the decisive pattern. In a late Clark County batch of roughly 23,000 ballots, Cortez Masto won about 61% to Laxalt's 36%, moving ahead by about 5,000 votes. A later Washoe batch also favored the senator. The trend matched prior batches from both urban counties and made the remaining rural vote insufficient to reverse the result. Local reporting similarly showed how narrow the margin remained. Reno station [KTVN reported](https://www.2news.com/news/nevada-sen-cortez-masto-wins-reelection-democrats-retain-control-of-senate/article%5F6b0030b2-605d-11ed-bf09-3fb9573ae5e9.html?ref=theamericanquorum.com) that after Saturday evening's batches Cortez Masto led statewide by 6,556 votes. That was a small margin in a race with close to a million votes counted, but the remaining ballot composition was favorable enough for the major election desks to project the outcome. ## Arizona removed one path for a Republican majority The Senate math tightened a day earlier in Arizona. Kelly's victory over Republican Blake Masters meant Republicans could not take control simply by winning Nevada. A [Washington Post account](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/11/senate-control-arizona-nevada/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) Friday night described Democrats as one seat away from retaining control after Kelly's projection, with both parties then sitting at 49 seats. The Arizona result also illustrated a broader pattern in the midterms: several incumbent senators in closely watched states held their seats even as inflation and President Joe Biden's approval ratings created difficult national conditions for Democrats. Masters ran as a challenger aligned with former President Donald Trump, while Kelly emphasized a more independent image and focused on abortion rights, border policy and economic issues. In Nevada, Cortez Masto faced similarly strong economic headwinds. The state's tourism-heavy economy suffered deeply during the pandemic, and inflation has weighed heavily on household costs. Laxalt, a former Nevada attorney general, sought to make the race a referendum on Biden and Democratic control in Washington. Cortez Masto centered abortion rights, organized labor and prescription-drug costs while arguing that Laxalt was too closely aligned with Trump's efforts to challenge the 2020 election. ## The vice president's tie-breaking power becomes decisive again A 50-seat Democratic caucus is enough for control because the vice president presides over the Senate and may break tie votes. That arrangement has governed the current 50-50 Senate, allowing Democrats to organize committees and advance legislation or nominations when their caucus remains united. The Saturday [AP projection carried by PBS](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/catherine-cortez-masto-wins-senate-race-in-nevada-giving-democrats-majority?ref=theamericanquorum.com) noted that Democrats would retain the majority regardless of the Georgia runoff because Harris could continue to cast tie-breaking votes. The practical importance extends beyond floor votes. Senate control determines committee leadership and agendas and gives the majority substantial authority over judicial and executive-branch nominations. The chamber has been a central venue for Biden's judicial appointments, and keeping the majority allows Democrats to continue processing nominations without needing Republican agreement on organization or scheduling. The Georgia runoff still matters. A 51st Democratic seat would reduce the leverage any single senator has over party-line votes and could alter committee ratios. Republican Herschel Walker and Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock will meet again because neither cleared the state's majority threshold on Election Day. But the runoff now determines the size of the Democratic majority, not the identity of the majority party. ## The House remains unsettled Control of the House of Representatives was still unresolved Saturday, with ballot counting continuing in several western states and competitive districts. The uncertainty means the final structure of divided or unified government is not yet known. Republicans remain positioned to make gains in the House, but the sweeping midterm wave many in the party anticipated has not materialized at the scale forecast before Election Day. Saturday's [Nevada count reporting](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/12/elections-2022-nevada-senate/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) showed just how long the Senate outcome remained in doubt: earlier in the day Laxalt's lead had shrunk below 900 votes while tens of thousands of Clark County ballots were still being processed. Another [Associated Press report](https://www.wsls.com/news/politics/2022/11/11/nevada-count-enters-day-4-with-senate-governorship-on-line/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) detailed the fourth day of counting and the heavy attention on mail ballots in the state's two largest counties. The result is therefore both consequential and exceptionally close. Democrats will enter the next Congress with the Senate majority preserved, a result that gives the Biden administration continued influence over federal appointments and a defensive position against legislation emerging from a potentially Republican House. For Republicans, Nevada closes the most direct path to Senate control this year and shifts immediate attention to why several high-profile candidates failed to convert a favorable national environment into a chamber majority.