STORY: Control over the US Senate and thus also the majority in Congress may not be decided until December 6th. Then a runoff election for a contested Senate post in the US state of Georgia could bring the decision. Because after counting 99 percent of the votes, neither the Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock nor his Republican challenger Herschel Walker got more than the required 50 percent. The “red wave” expected before the Senate and US House of Representatives elections, i.e. a march through by the opposition Republicans, did not materialize. Early results on Wednesday signaled that Republicans made modest gains in the US midterm elections, while Democrats did better than expected. However, many of the most hard-fought decisions were still pending. Republicans conceded that the election did not bring the clear victory they had hoped for. The outcome of the congressional elections will determine how effectively US President Joe Biden and his Democrats can govern in the next two years until the next presidential election. At the same time, a successful Republican run could fuel Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump’s decision to run again in 2024. On Monday he promised a “big announcement” at a campaign closing event for Tuesday next week. There is already a dispute as to whether everything went right in the elections. Problems with dozens of electronic ballot-counting machines in the embattled state of Arizona have prompted Republicans to speak of voter fraud.