GOP loses Maine, Indiana and Massachusetts Senate seats Sen. Claire MCaskill works at the voting machine at the Kirkwood Community Center in Kirkwood, Missouri on November 6, 2012. McCaskill, a democrat, is running against Rep. Todd Akin, who has had problems with his republican party after making comments about rape. WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Republicans lost three seats in the U.S. Senate Tuesday, dashing their hopes of winning control away from the Democrats, election results showed. CNN reported Democrats would retain power in the Senate. The Republicans did pick up a seat in Nebraska. MSNBC projected GOP state lawmaker Deb Fischer defeated Democrat Bob Kerrey, a former U.S. senator and Nebraska governor, for the seat given up by Democrat Ben Nelson. CNN said Fischer had 55 percent of the vote to 45 percent for Kerrey with 44 percent of precincts tallied. Fischer had led in the polls throughout the campaign, though Kerrey had closed the gap heading into Election Day. Independent Angus King defeated GOP nominee Charlie Summers and Democrat Cynthia Dill, MSNBC projected. King had 51 percent of the vote to 28 percent for Summers and 6 percent for Dill with 14 percent of precincts counted, CNN reported. In winning the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Olympia Snowe, King was generally expected to caucus with the Democrats if elected, though that remains to be seen. MSNBC also projected Democrat Elizabeth Warren as the winner over moderate Republican incumbent Scott Brown in Massachusetts. Warren had 53 percent of the vote to 47 percent for Brown with 44 percent of precincts in, CNN said. In Indiana, the seat held by Republican Sen. Richard Lugar went to the Democratic column, with MSNBC projecting Joe Donnelly the winner over Republican Richard Mourdock. Donnelly led Mourdock 49-45 with 75 percent of the vote in, CNN reported. Mourdock knocked off Lugar in the GOP primary but got himself into hot water with his comments during a debate that he is opposed to abortion in the case of pregnancies resulting from rape because they are "something that God intended to happen." The GOP also was unable to take back the Senate seat up for grabs in Ohio. MSNBC called first-term Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown the winner over Republican challenger Josh Mandel, the state treasurer and Iraq war veteran who was saddled with Ohio Politifact's "Pants on Fire" rating for his campaign rhetoric, including unsubstantiated claims that votes cast by Brown were responsible for Ohio jobs being moved to China. Brown held a 51-43 lead with 44 percent of the precincts counted, CNN said. In Missouri, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill fended off her Republican challenger, U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, who had problems with his comments on abortion and rape. MSNBC called her the winner. CNN said McCaskill was ahead of Akin 55-39 with 20 percent of precincts counted. Akin worked his way back into contention after his campaign took a heavy blow when he suggested women who have been raped have a biological defense against pregnancy. Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Tom Carper of Delaware and Nelson of Florida also were projected winners by various networks and newspapers. The balance of power was expected to remain the same in the Senate, polling indicated, even though Democrats were defending twice as many seats as Republicans, The Hill reported Tuesday. Internal polling showed GOP candidates doing better than public polls did, but self-inflicted wounds by GOP candidates hurt Republicans' chances of gaining control of the upper chamber. Heading into the elections, Democrats held 51 seats and were joined by two independents in their caucus. Republicans control 47 seats. Democrats were favored to pick up seats in Massachusetts and Indiana, public polls had indicated. If they won those seats, Republicans would need to pick up six other seats if President Obama is re-elected and five seats if Mitt Romney wins the presidency. Three of the closest Senate races, polls indicate, were in Montana, Nevada and Wisconsin. Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson lost his lead in the polls over Democrat U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin because of early stumbles. In Montana, Democrat Sen. Jon Tester had been neck-and-neck with GOP challenger Rep. Denny Rehberg. The RealClearPolitics poll average for the state has Rehberg leading by 0.4 percent. The race in Nevada was also down to the wire with Republican Dean Heller leading Democrat Shelley Berkley in the RealClearPolitics poll average.