Election 2016: What happened in Congress

November 9, 2016
By The Federal Desk

See also: U.S. House elections, 2016 and U.S. Senate elections, 2016

Republicans put up strong results in both the Senate and the House in 2016. Republicans maintained their Senate majority by a surprisingly large margin, only losing two seats, Illinois and New Hampshire.

The Republican Party also held fast in the House, losing only a net six seats in the chamber. Two races currently remain uncalled in California, and Louisiana will hold two runoff elections in December. However, no more seats are expected to flip at this point.

Incumbents in both chambers had a very successful night. Assuming no more seats flip, incumbents will have won just over 97 percent of all races in which an incumbent sought re-election. There will be a total of 56 freshmen members of Congress sworn in in January. Forty-seven of those new members will be from open seat races, and nine will be from incumbent losses.

Senate

Democrats picked up two seats in the Senate in 2016, falling far short of the five required to gain control of the chamber. Louisiana's Senate race is not yet decided, but it is expected to be an easy Republican hold in the December runoff election.

U.S. Senate Partisan Breakdown
Party		As of November 2016	After the 2016 Election
	Democratic Party	44	46
	Republican Party	54	52
	Independent	2	2
Total		100	100

The following table displays the results of the nine Senate battleground races.

United States Senate Battleground Results
State	Incumbent	Winner	Partisan switch?	Margin of victory
Florida	Marco Rubio	Marco Rubio	No	7.7%
Illinois	Mark Kirk	Tammy Duckworth	Yes	15.1%
Indiana	Dan Coats	Todd Young	No	9.7%
Missouri	Roy Blunt	Roy Blunt	No	2.8%
Nevada	Harry Reid	Catherine Cortez Masto	No	2.4%
New Hampshire	Kelly Ayotte	Maggie Hassan	Yes	0.1%
North Carolina	Richard Burr	Richard Burr	No	5.7%
Pennsylvania	Pat Toomey	Pat Toomey	No	1.4%
Wisconsin	Ron Johnson	Ron Johnson	No	3.4%

Presidential coattails

Republicans

Of the states that had Republican senators up for election, the senators’ average win was 3.2 percent higher than President-elect Donald Trump’s average win, according to preliminary vote totals. Trump's average win was 55.4 percent, while Republican senators' average win was 58.6 percent.

In Ballotpedia’s battleground races and races to watch, Republican Senators John McCain (Ariz.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Pat Toomey (Pa.), and Ron Johnson (Wis.) ran ahead of Trump. Trump ran ahead of Senator-elect Todd Young (Ind.) and Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.).

Trump lost Illinois, Nevada, and New Hampshire, and the Republican candidates also lost their races in those states. Senator Mark Kirk ran ahead of Trump in Illinois, Trump ran ahead of Rep. Joe Heck in Nevada, and Sen. Kelly Ayotte ran ahead of Trump in New Hampshire.

Missouri Senator Roy Blunt saw the biggest coattails effect from Trump. Trump won 57.1 percent of the vote, while Blunt won 49.4 percent. In Ohio, Trump saw the largest reverse coattails from Senator Rob Portman, who won the state with 58.3 percent of the vote. Trump earned 52.1 percent of the vote in Ohio.

A full breakdown of the presidential and Senate races appears below.

*Ballotpedia identified the highlighted races as battleground races and races to watch. The vote percentages are from CNN and will be updated after the final results are released.

2016 Republican Presidential and Senate election results
State	Presidential candidate vote %	Senate candidate vote %	Vote % Difference
Alabama	Donald Trump	Incumbent Richard Shelby
Totals	62.9% a	64.2% a	Shelby +1.3%
Alaska	Donald Trump	Incumbent Lisa Murkowski
Totals	53.3% a	43.8% a	Trump +9.5%
Arizona	Donald Trump	Incumbent John McCain
Totals	49.5% a	53.4% a	McCain +3.9%
Arkansas	Donald Trump	Incumbent John Boozman
Totals	60.4% a	59.8% a	Trump +0.6%
Florida	Donald Trump	Incumbent Marco Rubio
Totals	49.1% a	52.1% a	Rubio +3.0%
Georgia	Donald Trump	Incumbent Johnny Isakson
Totals	51.4% a	55.1% a	Isakson +3.7%
Idaho	Donald Trump	Incumbent Mike Crapo
Totals	59.0% a	66.0% a	Crapo +7.0%
Indiana	Donald Trump	Todd Young
Totals	57.2% a	52.2% a	Trump + 5.0%
Iowa	Donald Trump	Incumbent Chuck Grassley
Totals	51.7% a	60.1% a	Grassley +8.4%
Kansas	Donald Trump	Incumbent Jerry Moran
Totals	57.2% a	62.4% a	Moran +5.2%
Kentucky	Donald Trump	Incumbent Rand Paul
Totals	62.5% a	+57.3% a	Trump +5.2%
Louisiana	Donald Trump	Multiple Republican candidates
Totals	58.1% a	(Race not called)	-
Missouri	Donald Trump	Incumbent Roy Blunt
Totals	57.1% a	49.4% a	Trump +7.7%
North Carolina	Donald Trump	Incumbent Richard Burr
Totals	50.5% a	51.1% a	Burr +0.6%
North Dakota	Donald Trump	Incumbent John Hoeven
Totals	64.1% a	78.6% a	Hoeven +14.5%
Ohio	Donald Trump	Incumbent Rob Portman
Totals	52.1% a	58.3% a	Portman +6.2%
Oklahoma	Donald Trump	Incumbent James Lankford
Totals	65.3% a	67.7% a	Lankford +2.4%
Pennsylvania	Donald Trump	Incumbent Pat Toomey
Totals	48.8% a	48.9% a	Toomey +0.1%
South Carolina	Donald Trump	Incumbent Tim Scott
Totals	55.6% a	61.2% a	Scott +5.6%
South Dakota	Donald Trump	Incumbent John Thune
Totals	61.5% a	71.8% a	Thune +10.3%
Utah	Donald Trump	Incumbent Mike Lee
Totals	45.5% a	67.4% a	Lee +21.9%
Wisconsin	Donald Trump	Incumbent Ron Johnson
Totals	47.9% a	50.2% a	Johnson +2.3%
California	Donald Trump	No Republican on the ballot
Totals	33.3% d	No Republican on the ballot	-
Colorado	Donald Trump	Darryl Glenn
Totals	44.8% d	45.8% d	Glenn +1.0%
Connecticut	Donald Trump	Dan Carter
Totals	41.6% d	35.3% d	Trump +6.3%
Hawaii	Donald Trump	John Carroll
Totals	30.1% d	22.2% d	Trump +7.9%
Illinois	Donald Trump	Incumbent Mark Kirk
Totals	39.4% d	40.2% d	Kirk +0.8%
Maryland	Donald Trump	Kathy Szeliga
Totals	35.3% d	36.4% d	Szeliga +1.1%
Nevada	Donald Trump	Joe Heck
Totals	45.5% d	44.7% d	Trump +0.8%
New Hampshire	Donald Trump	Incumbent Kelly Ayotte
Totals	47.2% d	47.9% d	Ayotte +0.7%
New York	Donald Trump	Wendy Long
Totals	37.5% d	27.5% d	Trump +10.0%
Oregon	Donald Trump	Mark Callahan
Totals	41.3% d	33.9% d	Trump +7.4%
Vermont	Donald Trump	Scott Milne
Totals	32.6% d	33.0% d	Milne +0.4%
Washington	Donald Trump	Chris Vance
Totals	37.7% d	39.2% d	Vance +1.5%
Totals	Trump's average win: 55.4%	Republican senators' average win: 58.6%	Republican senators +3.2%

Democrats

Of the states that had Democratic senators up for election, the senators’ average win was 3.7 percent higher than Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s average win, according to preliminary vote totals. Clinton's average win was 50.5 percent, while Democratic senators' average win was 54.2 percent.

In Ballotpedia’s battleground races and races to watch, Illinois Senator-elect Tammy Duckworth and Nevada Senator-elect Catherine Cortez Masto both saw a slight coattails effect from Clinton. In Illinois, Clinton won with 55.4 percent of the vote, while Duckworth was a full point behind with 54.4 percent. In Nevada, Clinton won 47.9 percent of the vote, while Cortez Masto won 47.1 percent of the vote.

In New Hampshire Clinton saw a slight reverse coattails effect from Governor and Senator-elect Maggie Hassan (D). Clinton won 47.6 percent of the vote, while Hassan won 48 percent of the vote, a 0.4 percent difference.

A full breakdown of the presidential and Senate races appears below.

*Ballotpedia identified the highlighted races as battleground races and races to watch. The vote percentages are from CNN and will be updated after the final results are released.

2016 Democratic Presidential and Senate election results
State	Presidential candidate vote %	Senate candidate vote %	Vote % Difference
California	Hillary Clinton	Kamala Harris (D) or Loretta Sanchez (D)
Totals	61.4% a	Harris (D), 62.5% a/ Sanchez (D), 37.5% d	Both Senate candidates were Democrats
Colorado	Hillary Clinton	Incumbent Michael Bennet
Totals	47.0% a	48.9% a	Bennet +1.9%
Connecticut	Hillary Clinton	Incumbent Richard Blumenthal
Totals	54.0% a	62.5% a	Blumenthal +8.5%
Hawaii	Hillary Clinton	Incumbent Brian Schatz
Totals	62.3% a	73.6% a	Schatz +11.3%
Illinois	Hillary Clinton	Tammy Duckworth
Totals	55.4% a	54.4% a	Clinton +1.0%
Maryland	Hillary Clinton	Chris Van Hollen
Totals	60.5% a	60.4% a	Clinton +0.1%
Nevada	Hillary Clinton	Catherine Cortez Masto
Totals	47.9% a	47.1% a	Clinton +0.8%
New Hampshire	Hillary Clinton	Maggie Hassan
Totals	47.6% a	48% a	Hassan +0.4%
New York	Hillary Clinton	Incumbent Chuck Schumer
Totals	58.8% a	70.4% a	Schumer +11.6%
Oregon	Hillary Clinton	Incumbent Ron Wyden
Totals	51.8% a	56.8% a	Wyden +5.0%
Vermont	Hillary Clinton	Incumbent Patrick Leahy
Totals	61.1% a	61.3% a	Leahy +0.2%
Washington	Hillary Clinton	Incumbent Patty Murray
Totals	56.3% a	60.8% a	Murray +4.5%
Alabama	Hillary Clinton	Ron Crumpton
Totals	34.6% d	35.8% d	Crumpton +1.2%
Alaska	Hillary Clinton	Ray Metcalfe
Totals	37.6% d	11.1% d	Clinton +26.5%
Arizona	Hillary Clinton	Ann Kirkpatrick
Totals	45.4% d	41.3% d	Clinton +4.1%
Arkansas	Hillary Clinton	Conner Eldridge
Totals	33.8% d	36.2% d	Eldridge +2.4%
Florida	Hillary Clinton	Patrick Murphy
Totals	47.4% d	44.3% d	Clinton +3.1%
Georgia	Hillary Clinton	Jim Barksdale
Totals	45.5% d	40.8% d	Clinton +4.7%
Idaho	Hillary Clinton	Jerry Sturgill
Totals	27.5% d	27.7% d	Sturgill +0.2%
Indiana	Hillary Clinton	Evan Bayh
Totals	37.9% d	42.4% d	Bayh +4.5%
Iowa	Hillary Clinton	Patty Judge
Totals	42.2% d	35.7% d	Clinton +6.5%
Kansas	Hillary Clinton	Patrick Wiesner
Totals	36.1% d	32.1% d	Clinton +4.0%
Kentucky	Hillary Clinton	Jim Gray
Totals	32.7% d	42.7% d	Gray +10%
Louisiana	Hillary Clinton	Multiple Democratic candidates
Totals	38.4% d	(Race not called)	-
Missouri	Hillary Clinton	Jason Kander
Totals	38% d	46.2% d	Kander +8.2%
North Carolina	Hillary Clinton	Deborah Ross
Totals	46.7% d	45.3% d	Clinton +1.4%
North Dakota	Hillary Clinton	Eliot Glassheim
Totals	27.8% d	17% d	Clinton +10.8%
Ohio	Hillary Clinton	Ted Strickland
Totals	43.5% d	36.9% d	Clinton +6.6%
Oklahoma	Hillary Clinton	Mike Workman
Totals	28.9% d	24.6% d	Clinton +4.3%
Pennsylvania	Hillary Clinton	Katie McGinty
Totals	47.6% d	47.2% d	Clinton +0.4%
South Carolina	Hillary Clinton	Thomas Dixon
Totals	39.9% d	36.3% d	Clinton +3.6%
South Dakota	Hillary Clinton	Jay Williams
Totals	31.7% d	28.2% d	Clinton +3.5%
Utah	Hillary Clinton	Misty Snow
Totals	28% d	27.5% d	Clinton +0.5%
Wisconsin	Hillary Clinton	Russ Feingold
Totals	46.9% d	46.8% d	Clinton +.01%
Totals	Clinton's average win: 50.5%	Democratic senators' average win: 54.2%	Democratic senators: +3.7%

House

Although there was never much expectation of a Democratic victory in the House, it was still a disappointing night for House Democrats. The Democratic Party only picked up a net six seats in the chamber, falling short of the anticipated double-digit gains. Democrats were most successful in Nevada, where they managed to flip two districts. They also gained a seat in Florida, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Virginia while losing only one in Nebraska.

U.S. House Partisan Breakdown
Party		As of November 2016	After the 2016 Election
	Democratic Party	186	194
	Republican Party	246	241
	Vacant	3	0
Total		435	435

The following table displays the results of the 23 House battleground races.

United States House Battleground Results
District	Incumbent	Winner	Partisan switch?	Margin of victory
Arizona's 1st	Ann Kirkpatrick	Tom O'Halleran	No	7.3%
California's 7th	Ami Bera	Ami Bera	No	2.3%
California's 25th	Stephen Knight	Stephen Knight	No	6.3%
California's 49th	Darrell Issa	Darrell Issa	No	0.5%
Colorado's 6th	Mike Coffman	Mike Coffman	No	8.3%
Florida's 7th	John Mica	Stephanie Murphy	Yes	3%
Florida's 18th	Patrick Murphy	Brian Mast	Yes	10.5%
Florida's 26th	Carlos Curbelo	Carlos Curbelo	No	11.8%
Illinois' 10th	Robert Dold	Brad Schneider	Yes	5.2%
Iowa's 1st	Rod Blum	Rod Blum	No	7.7%
Maine's 2nd	Bruce Poliquin	Bruce Poliquin	No	9.6%
Michigan's 1st	Dan Benishek	Jack Bergman	No	14.8%
Minnesota's 2nd	John Kline	Jason Lewis	No	1.8%
Nebraska's 2nd	Brad Ashford	Don Bacon	Yes	1.2%
Nevada's 3rd	Joe Heck	Jacky Rosen	Yes	1.3%
Nevada's 4th	Cresent Hardy	Ruben Kihuen	Yes	4%
New Hampshire's 1st	Frank Guinta	Carol Shea-Porter	Yes	1.3%
New Jersey's 5th	Scott Garrett	Josh Gottheimer	Yes	4.4%
New York's 19th	Chris Gibson	John Faso	No	8.6%
New York's 22nd	Richard Hanna	Claudia Tenney	No	5.5%
Pennsylvania's 8th	Michael G. Fitzpatrick	Brian Fitzpatrick	No	8.9%
Texas' 23rd	Will Hurd	Will Hurd	No	1.3%
Virginia's 10th	Barbara Comstock	Barbara Comstock	No	5.8%

See also

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