Democrats' Senate drive halted by GOP; key races undecided

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats faced increasingly long odds in the the battle for Senate control as Republicans brushed back multiple challengers to protect their majority. Still, it was too soon for the GOP to declare victory.

In Maine, Republican Sen. Susan Collins won the hardest-fought race of her career, securing a fifth term by defeating Democrat Sara Gideon. Declaring victory Wednesday afternoon, Collins said the outcome was “affirmation of the work that I’m doing in Washington." Democrats had tried to tie the moderate Republican to President Donald Trump and criticized her for her vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.

But key races in North Carolina and Michigan remained undecided, and at least one in Georgia was headed to a January runoff.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Donald Trump’s campaign helped his GOP allies, but that state election officials were still counting ballots.

“We're waiting — whether I'm going to be the majority leader or not,” McConnell said at a press conference in his home state of Kentucky.

In a delicate pushback against Trump's own premature claims of victory over Joe Biden in the presidential race, the GOP leader said: “Claiming you’ve won the election is different from finishing the counting."

McConnell said he felt “pretty good” about the remaining contests. He secured a seventh term in a costly campaign, fending off Democrat Amy McGrath, a former fighter pilot.

Election Night delivered a jarring outcome for Democrats who had devised an expanded political map, eager to counter Trump and his party’s grip on the Senate.

While Democrats picked up must-win seats in Colorado and Arizona, they suffered a setback in Alabama, and Republicans held their own in one race after another —...