2022 United Senates Elections (The Future)

Summary
The 2022 Senate Elections took place on November 8th 2022, during the middle of Joe Biden's first term in office. The Democrats, plagued by Biden's poor approval ratings and their previously narrow senate majority, were expected not to do well in the midterms. This especially became apparent in 2021 following Glenn Younkin's upset victory in the 2021 Virginia Gubernatorial Election. However, The seemingly inevitable Republican wave was offset due to poor nominees from the Republican party in some key races and voter frustration towards the Republican party. Heading into election night, most experts were unsure who would win a majority in the Senate.

Following election night, Republicans were able to narrowly take back a majority in the Senate, winning 51 seats to the Democrat's 49. Republicans unseated two incumbents Raphael Warnock in Georgia and Catherine Cortez-Masto in Nevada, whilst holding several open seats in Alabama, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma's special election and Ohio. Democrats were able to offset the Republican victories by flipping the state of Pennsylvania, where incumbent Republican Pat Toomey retired.

The 2022 Midterms saw Republicans take control of both chambers of congress, allowing them to obstruct the Biden agenda and seriously weaken the incumbent for his re-election bid in 2024.

=Key Races=

Arizona
Incumbent Senator Mark Kelly, first elected in 2022, ran for re-election to a full term. Kelly faced businessman Blake Masters in the general election. Although Kelly was originally seen as vulnerable, he lead in polling throughout the campaign and was able to defeat Masters by a 4-point margin.

Colorado
Incumbent Senator Michael Bennet, who briefly ran for President in 2020, ran for a third full term in office. Bennet faced business owner and Republican candidate Joe O'Dea in a hotly contested election. Although Bennet was considered the early favorite, with Colorado trending Democratic very rapidly in recent years. However, on election day the election was close, as O'Dea lead until 12am the next day, when Bennet took the lead.

Florida
Incumbent Senator Marco Rubio won re-election to a third term, defeating US Representative Val Demings.

Georgia
Incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock ran for a first full term in office, after being elected to the Senate just a year earlier. Warnock was defeated by former Football player Hershel Walker, an election marked with controversy as Walker barely won enough votes to avoid a runoff election. Many pollsters argued that should the election went into a runoff, Warnock would have likely been able to win.

Nevada
Incumbent one-term Senator Catherine Cortez Masto ran for re-election to a second term, but was defeated by former Nevada Attorney General and 2018 Gubernatorial nominee Adam Laxalt.

New Hampshire
Incumbent US Senator Maggie Hassan won re-election to a second term, narrowly defeating Republican President of the State Senate Chuck Morse. Hassan was originally considered vulnerable, with Governor Chris Sununu expressing interest to challenge her. However, Sununu decided to run for re-election, and many strong Republican candidates declined to run as well.

North Carolina
Incumbent Senator Richard Burr decided to retire instead of seeking a fourth term. US Representative Ted Budd, the Republican nominee, defeated Democratic candidate Cheri Beasley by a 5-point margin.