Federal Spotlight: Snapshot of the Current State of Federal Elections

Though November 3 has come and passed, there are still a number of outstanding races that remain to be decided that will have a tremendous impact on the business community for 2021. Nearly every media outlet has called the presidency for Joe Biden though President Trump has yet to officially concede. The president has cited voting irregularities in key swing states, and his legal team has filed several challenges in court. 

On the Senate side, Republicans currently have 50 seats to the Democrats' 48 as incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) was declared the winner of his race yesterday. The eyes of the political world have turned to Georgia as both Senate races are headed to a runoff set to take place on Jan. 5. The outcomes of the races are extremely consequential as one win will give Senate Republicans the majority in the next Congress. This scenario would produce a divided government where far-reaching proposals sent from the House would likely be dead on arrival in the upper chamber. Should Democrats win both races, there would be a 50-50 tie in the Senate, but Democrats would have control as Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris would serve as the tie-breaking vote as president of the Senate. That would mean policies like tax hikes, the PRO Act, filibuster reform, court-packing and the Green New Deal would be on the table.

On the House side, there are approximately 12 races yet to be called for either party according to RealClearPolitics. Republicans have so far had a net gain of eight seats in the lower chamber and could net as many as 10-12 seats total, but Democrats have secured 218 House seats, which gives them control and will put Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in the driver’s seat to serve another term as speaker of the House.