As it became increasingly clear that the 2022 midterm elections were shaping up to be more of a red ripple than a red wave, as Democrats won some early bellwether races, including at least one closely-watched Virginia House race, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham weighed in on the incoming election results on NBC News.
After anchor Savannah Guthrie asked him to “read the tea leaves,” the South Carolina senator said the midterm results were “definitely not a Republican wave, that’s for darn sure.”
““Definitely not a Republican wave, that’s for darn sure.””
He projected that Republicans would still take control of the Senate, however. “I think we’re gonna be at 51, 52 [seats] when all is said and done in the Senate,” he added. And that’s in line with betting markets.
Indeed, PredictIt data was giving Republicans about a 90% chance of winning the House, and more than a 70% chance of taking control of the Senate, before the polls opened on Tuesday. But by later in the evening, Predictit had seesawed to bet that Democats would retain control of the Senate.
Watch the Graham interview here:
Graham also joked that he wanted to take credit for an early GOP victory in the U.S. territory Guam, which hasn’t swung Republican since the 1990s. “I was in charge of Guam, so I want to take credit for that,” Graham said. Guthrie chimed in with “Congratulations.”
“We won Guam, which I thought was big,” Graham continued.
He also tweeted “As goes Guam…so goes the nation” earlier in the evening.
Follow along with the midterm election results on MarketWatch:
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What bipartisanship could look like if Republicans take back the House in the midterm elections
