Americans voted in the November midterm elections and Georgians will decide the results for the U.S. Senate during a runoff on Tuesday, Dec. 6. 

Americans voted in the November midterm elections and Georgians will decide the results for the U.S. Senate during a runoff on Tuesday, Dec. 6. 

According to the Associated Press, the elections included 470 seats in Congress. Officials have not yet called some and others are going to a runoff. Republicans gained a slim majority in the House of Representatives. Democrats kept a similar majority in the Senate. At the state level, there are now 24 Democrat and 26 Republican governors according to the Associated Press. Candidates for offices such as secretary of state included election-deniers backed by former President Trump. Many of such candidates lost, especially high profile races, according to the Associated Press. Secretaries of State have key roles in overseeing state elections, which made their races important.

According to the Associated Press, Brian Kemp, a Republican, defeated Stacy Abrams in Georgia’s gubernatorial election. Rev. Raphael Warnock won a runoff against Herschel Walker.

Due to the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, the federal government is now a divided government – when at least one of the bodies of Congress is controlled by a different party than the party of the president. This can make it more difficult to pass legislation. Legislation could be dependent on having strong public or bipartisan support. If parties are unable to cooperate or compromise, divided government can also lead to government shutdowns. This occurred from December 2018 to January 2019 when the parties failed to agree on the federal budget to fund the government.

 Although only 48 Senators are Democrats, the Democrats still have a majority in the Senate, according to the Associated Press. This is because two independents caucus with the Democratic Party and Kamala Harris has the tie-breaking vote. To caucus with a party means to be a part of that party’s conference when picking floor speakers, setting the agenda, and other actions. Vice President Kamala Harris is a Democrat. The vice president votes when there is a tie in the Senate. The first vice president to cast a tie-breaking vote was John Adams in 1789.