‘Not a red wave’ Republican midterm domination hopes dash

Senator Lindsey Graham has decried that there is no “Republican wave” as the GOP seemingly underperforms in the US midterms. The party is still on track to take the House, however with slimmer than predicted margins.”Definitely not a Republican wave, that is for darn sure. A wave would have been like [winning] New Hampshire and Colorado,” South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said on NBC News.Many votes are still up being counted, but here are some of the key takeaways so far from the 2022 US midterms.Republicans haven’t had the sweeping victory they’d hoped for in the battle for the Senate, although there is much counting left to be done.Democrats won seats in the northeast and west of the country, including New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut and Maryland as well as Illinois, Colorado, California, Washington and Oregon.US TV networks have called a knife edge Pennsylvania race for John Fetterman (D) against Dr Mehmet Oz (R).Crucially, however, Trump endorsed Republican J.D. Vance won against Tim Ryan (D) in Ohio while Ted Budd (R) defeated rival Cheri Beasley (D) in North Carolina.Incumbent Ron Johnson looks like he will win in Wisconsin, although the race has not been called, picking up another seat for the GOP there.The high profile race in Georgia is extremely close while Nevada and Arizona are too close to call with many votes left to be counted. A Republican Senator has said a ‘Republican wave’ has failed to materialise. (Image: GETTY) John Fetterman (D) supporters celebrate after his win in Pennsylvania, (Image: GETTY)In the House, it will likely swing for Republicans but with many races too close to call, the question is by how much.In a party somewhat divided in its support of Trump, presumed Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy may find it difficult to control the votes of dissenting Republicans if they hold only a small majority.Currently Democrats have lost two seats while Republicans have gained none, according to the Associated Press. Before the elections Republicans needed just six seats to take control.This likely isn’t the sweeping victory Republicans had in mind, but they are well on there way to controlling the House.READ MORE: Biden given boost with Pennsylvania victory as Trump’s red wave slows Senator Lindsey Graham (South Carolina – R) spoke of a disappointing night for Republicans. (Image: GETTY) Former President Trump backed huge amounts of candidates and likely has a lot riding on the night. (Image: GETTY)Democrats have done surprisingly well on the gubernatorial front with the party gaining two seats so far and the Republicans losing two.Josh Shapiro (D) beat out Douglas Mastriano (R) in Pennsylvania and Kathy Hochul (D) has beaten challenger Lee Zeldin (R) in New York.Incumbent Governor Tony Evers (D) looks to have beaten challenger Tim Michels (R) in Wisconsin.Incumbent Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) who has also beaten rival Mark Roncehetti (R) by nearly ten percentage points to become New Mexico’s next Governor.However, some high profile Democrats have suffered defeats as well. Second time challenger in Georgia Stacey Abrams (D) lost a 2018 rematch to Governor Brian Kemp (R).Democrat star Beto O’Rourke dimmed as he lost the Texas gubernatorial race to incumbent Governor Greg Abbot.Republican Ron DeSantis (R) was re-elected in Florida, he is seen to be Trump’s most likely Republican rival for a 2024 Presidential bid.Both Arizona and Nevada have many votes left to count but appear to be leaning blue at this time.Overall, the results so far are not the red wave many Republicans predicted and hoped for but, that said, there are still many votes to count and the GOP has already made tangible gains.