Democrats still hold slim leads in both Senate races in Nevada and Arizona: Can Kari Lake make a comeback?
Democratic incumbent Jacky Rosen aims to survive the challenge from retired Army Capt. Sam Brown.
Senate races in Arizona and Nevada remain undecided three days after the polls closed and Democrats still continue to hold a slight edge over Republican candidates.
Incumbent Jacky Rosen (D-NV) is holding a narrow lead over Republican Sam Brown, a retired Army captain who beat poll expectations and sits just 19,000 votes behind Rosen with 95% of the precincts counted.
While Associated Press or the New York Times - two of the most reliable media outlets when it comes to election data - have not called the race, CNN and local newspaper The Nevada Independent have already given Rosen the win.
"Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) has won Nevada’s U.S. Senate race, fending off a challenge from Army veteran Sam Brown in a contest closer than polls had projected to represent the Silver State for a second term."
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) November 8, 2024
We called it already.
Check out our live blog:https://t.co/cBVopbSams
If Rosen's win is confirmed, Democrats would reach 46 seats, narrowing the gap with Republicans who already secured the majority with 52 seats in the Upper House.
"There are still tens of thousands of uncounted ballots in the race for U.S. Senate, and the candidates are separated by less than one percent," Brown's campaign said Thursday. "There are also thousands of ballots which need to be cured. Sam Brown is committed to ensuring every legally cast, valid vote is counted."
At press time, the Rosen campaign was not yet claiming victory and sent a message of calm and caution until the win is confirmed.
"We feel good about the results we’re seeing, but there are still thousands of votes to be counted. Our democracy takes time, and I’m confident that we will win as more votes come in," Rosen said Wednesday. Since that time the campaign has made no further statements.
In the other race, Democrat Ruben Gallego leads Republican Kari Lake by just 33,000 votes (just over one percentage point) with 81% of the precincts counted. This race is so close that no media outlet has yet decided to call it and it is very likely to remain that way for several more days, especially since Lake still has room to sign off on an epic comeback.
BREAKING: With the latest Maricopa County ballots, Kari Lake must win 52.66% of the remaining ballots to win the Arizona Senate race. pic.twitter.com/IIB9TjCI0v
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 9, 2024
That 100k Maricopa batch that just dropped.
— The AZ - abc15 - Data Guru (@Garrett_Archer) November 9, 2024
Trump +11
Lake +2
As of press time, Lake would have to win 52.66% of the remaining votes to prevail over Gallego, a difficult task, but not impossible considering that in recent updates the Republican has had interesting numbers from historic blue counties like Maricopa.