Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown defeated in Ohio, as Republicans approach Senate majority

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WASHINGTON — Democratic efforts to salvage their Senate majority slipped further out of reach Tuesday after Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio lost his reelection to Republican Bernie Moreno, a wealthy Trump-era newcomer.

Brown’s defeat to Moreno, an immigrant from Bogota, Columbia, who built a fortune as a luxury car dealer and blockchain entrepreneur, puts the Democrats on the edge of losing Senate control. A three-term senator, he is the first incumbent to lose reelection.

The Ohio race between Brown and Moreno, who was backed by Donald Trump, is the most expensive of the cycle, at some $400 million.

Already, Republicans have flipped one seat in West Virginia, with the election of Jim Justice, and Democratic efforts to oust Republican Rick Scott in Florida collapsed as the senator toppled his challenger.

The focus now turns to the Democratic “blue-wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, where Democrats are fighting to protect seats in what’s left of their slim hold on the Senate.

With control of Congress at stake, the ever-tight contests for the House and Senate will determine which party holds the majority and the power to boost or block a president’s agenda, or if the White House confronts a divided Capitol Hill.

In Nebraska, attention turned suddenly to a state that vaulted to importance with competitive races in both the House and the Senate, where independent newcomer Dan Osborn challenged incumbent GOP Sen. Deb Fischer.

In the end, just a handful of seats, or as little as one, could tip the balance in either chamber. With a 50-50 Senate, the party in the White House determines the majority, since the vice president is a tie-breaker.

With both chambers of Congress at stake, the results will determine how successfully the next president - Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris - will be able to govern over the next two years.

Republican Jim Justice was projected to win an open seat in West Virginia shortly after polls closed, which would put the party at 50-50 parity with Democrats in the 100-seat chamber. The seat was previously held by Joe Manchin, a Democrat-turned-independent.

The balance of power could shift over the night as results from other races come in.

Nonpartisan analysts say Republicans stand a good chance of taking back the Senate, where Democrats currently hold a 51-49 majority. But Republicans could also lose their grip on the House, where Democrats only need to pick up four seats to take back control of the 435-seat chamber.

As in the presidential election, the outcome will likely be determined by a small slice of voters. The battle for the Senate hinges on seven contests, while fewer than 40 House races are seen as truly competitive.

Democrats are playing defense as they try to retain their hold on the Senate, whose members serve six-year terms. Republicans only need to gain two seats to win control of the chamber, and Justice’s victory in West Virginia got them halfway there.

One of the most-watched Senate races, in Montana, may be among the last to be decided. Democrat Jon Tester, a popular three-term senator and “dirt farmer,” is in the fight of his political career against Trump-backed Tim Sheehy, a wealthy former NAVY Seal, who made derogatory comments about Native Americans, a key constituency in the Western state.

Republicans stand a chance to widen their Senate majority further if they win races in several competitive Midwestern states. That would allow them to block many of Harris’ initiatives and personnel appointments if she were to win the White House, or help Trump deliver on his promised tax cuts if he wins. But they are unlikely to end up with the 60-vote majority needed to advance most legislation in the chamber.

In Nebraska, Republican Sen. Deb Fischer faces a surprisingly strong challenge from an independent candidate, Dan Osborn, who has not said whether he would line up with Democrats in the Senate if he were to win.

And across the “blue wall” battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Republicans are depending on Trump as they try to unseat a trio of incumbent Democratic senators.

Outgoing Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has spent a career focused on seizing and keeping majority power, but other opportunities for Republicans are slipping into long shots.

In the Southwestern states, Arizona firebrand Republican Kari Lake has struggled against Democrat Ruben Gallego in the seat opened by Sen. Krysten Sinema’s retirement. In Nevada, Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen has been holding out against newcomer Sam Brown.

Democrats intensified their challenges to a pair of Republican senators — Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott in Florida — in states where reproductive rights have been a focus in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision rolling back abortion access. Cruz faces Democrat Colin Allred, the Dallas-area congressman, while Scott has poured millions of his own fortune into the race against Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former House lawmaker.

Already several states will send history-makers to the Senate.

Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester won an open seat in Delaware to become the third Black woman ever elected to Senate.

She could be joined by another Black woman, Maryland Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, who is in a tight race with the state’s Republican former governor, Larry Hogan. Never before have two Black women served together in the Senate at the same time.

And in New Jersey, Andy Kim became the first Korean American elected to the Senate, defeating Republican businessman Curtis Bashaw. The seat opened when Bob Menendez resigned this year after his federal conviction on bribery charges.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.