(LEX 18) — The future of Congress is starting to come into focus. Republicans are projected to take over control of the House, while Democrats are maintaining control of the Senate.
Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, who's been the Republican leader in the Senate since 2007, faced a challenge from within the party Wednesday.
Some Republicans in the Senate have looked to shift party leadership after they didn't win as many seats as some had anticipated last week. NBC News reports McConnell defeated Senator Rick Scott of Florida 37-10 to keep his role as Senate Minority Leader.
"You have before you the leadership team for the next two years. We collectively, I think, had a good discussion about what happened in the election and what happens in the next election. I think everybody in our conference agrees we want to give it our best shot to finish the job in Georgia and concentrate on that for the next month. So, I'm grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve and to have this outstanding team behind me," McConnell said Wednesday.
In the House of Representatives, NBC News projects the balance of power will shift to the Republicans with a small margin. Current Republican leader Kevin McCarthy will face a vote in January that will determine whether or not he becomes the House Speaker. As the dust settles on the midterm races, the focus is starting to shift toward the presidential race and an increasingly crowded Republican primary.
"The way I'm going to go into this presidential primary season is to stay out of it. I don't have a dog in that fight. I think it's going to be a highly contested nomination fight with other candidates entering," McConnell said.
Also, in Washington Wednesday, the Senate moved legislation that would protect same-sex and interracial marriages in federal law forward. Twelve Republicans joined all the Democrats in moving that bill forward. Senator McConnell and Senator Rand Paul both voted no. A final vote could come this week or later in November.
