Republicans retained their six-year control of both the Senate and House of Representatives, with their losses in the House running to less than a third of the 32 which would have seen them lose control.

The Democratic Senate defeats in Florida, Pennsylvania and Indiana, with one gain in Illinois, mean the institutional gridlock that has bogged down US legislative decision-making for years may have been broken – a Republican-controlled White House will be able to see its legislative programme passed. In the White House there will be someone willing to sign congressional Bills.

Just as significantly, Republicans will now be able to fill the 238-day vacancy on the supreme court vacant since the death of Antonin Scalia in February, which has deprived conservatives of their majority on the court. That restored majority may be copper-fastened for more than a generation as three of the court’s older members are now in or about 80 and likely to retire soon. It could see a major roll-back of social policy advances in areas like abortion and marriage equality.

One-third (34) of the 100 seats in the Senate were up for election – the Republicans this year were defending 24 seats; the Democrats 10. The Republican Party currently controls it 54-46 (including two Independents who caucus with the Democrats). Democrats needed to win at least five seats to win back the majority if Donald Trump was elected – a 52-48 Republican majority was being predicted early this morning.

Among competitive races, only the New Hampshire Senate race remains too close to call. The Louisiana Senate race will go to a December run-off, but Republicans are expected to easily hold that seat.

Democrats narrowly hung on in Nevada, which was their rivals’ only real opportunity for a gain. Wisconsin saw Republican senator Ron Johnson win re-election in a state most of his party wrote off months ago. He defeated Democratic senator Russ Feingold again in a rematch of their 2010 contest.

Mr Trump will not have it all his own way legislatively, however. His fractious relationship with the party’s leadership during the campaign may see some of its members refuse to march in lockstep with their new president, although the younger Tea Party-aligned members who now dominate the party in both houses will be singing off the same hymn sheet on many of Mr Trump’s key campaign promises. Not least, Irish politicians will note with particular regret, on immigration reform.

Republicans will also find, however, that the Senate procedural filibuster which they have used so devastatingly against Democrats to delay or obstruct Obama proposals will now be turned on them. Effectively 60 votes are required out of 100 to get measures through, although we may now see Republican moves to abolish it.

Republicans currently control the US House of Representatives with their largest majority in almost a century – 247 seats to the Democrats’ 188. 218 seats were needed for control of the House, which means the Democratic Party needed to hold all of their seats, and win another 32. At most it was clear this morning they will win 10 seats.

Unlike the Senate, all the House seats were up for re-election. So far Democrats have just seven net gains – two in Florida that Democrats were expecting to win because of court-ordered redistricting. There are currently about 10 seats in the balance, with most going Republican.</s>The GOP retained its hold on the Florida Legislature Tuesday night, maintaining majorities in both the state House and state Senate.The state Senate winners from Central Florida include:- Rep. Randolph Bracy, an Orlando Democrat in Senate District 11- former Rep. Linda Stewart, an Orlando Democrat in Senate District 13- Rep. Victor Torres, an Orlando Democrat in Senate District 15- Rep. Debbie Mayfield, a Vero Beach Republican in Senate District 17- Rep. Keith Perry, a Gainesville Republican in Senate District 8The state House winners from Central Florida include:- Ormond Beach Republican Tom Leek in House District 25- Daytona Beach Democrat Patrick Henry in House District 26- Hudson Republican Amber Mariano in House District 36- Winter Haven Republican Sam Killebrew in House District 41- Orlando Democrat Amy Mercado in House District 48- Orlando Democrat Carlos Guillermo Smith in House District 49- Palm Bay Republican Randy Fine in House District 53- Vero Beach Republican Erin Grall in House District 54</s>The Republican Party is maintaining its control of the House of Representatives, exceeding the majority of 218 seats needed on Tuesday night, according to media projections.

The GOP has gained 238 seats as opposed to Democrats that picked up 193 seats as of 3:10 p.m. on Wednesday. Before Tuesday, Republicans shared 247 seats and Democrats held 168 seats.

Even though the GOP has pulled off a string of victories across the country and solidified its base in the chamber, the uncertainty hangs over the party’s future: the party needs to grapple on the issue of whether the party would be able to unite after its Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump brought his polarizing brand of politics not only into his campaign trail but also to the party.

A New York Times/CBS News poll shows 39 percent of Republicans responded Trump’s candidacy has been good for the party while 41 percent bashed Trump has hurt the GOP. The fracture of the GOP is more severe compared to Democrats that 17 percent of Democratic supporters said Clinton was bad for the party.

Still the electoral map stays red, the color of Republicans, for extensive areas from the Deep South to the high plains. In some districts, Trump has given a boost to congressional candidates as mostly white constituents have been invigorated by the presence of the presidential nominee, according to an analysis by Roll Coll, a congressional publication.</s>The Republican Party will retain control of the House of Representatives, according to NBC News.

The GOP is expected to take 235 seats to the Democrats' 200.</s>Republicans are projected to hold on to control of the House of Representatives, but Democrats are projected to make single-digit gains, chipping away at the GOP's 247-seat majority, the party's largest since 1928.

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But even with the Democrats picking up a handful of seats, Republicans maintained a strong firewall, even in districts where they feared moderate voters would oust GOP candidates.

ABC projected the House would stay in Republican hands around 8:35 p.m., including in our calculation several seats in districts with later poll-closing times, which our analysts believe will not affect the outcome. As of Wednesday morning, Republicans were projected to come away with 235 seats and Democrats 194, with 6 seats undecided. Democrats had thus far picked up a net of seven seats, and Republicans current 247-member majority got 12 members smaller.

GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock won re-election by double digits in her Northern Virginia district full of suburban women, even though Republican strategists said last week that they would be satisfied with a single-digit win there.

In Florida, Republicans held on to Rep. Carlos Curbelo's seat in Miami, which was at the top of Democrats' wish list this year, and won a toss-up race in the Fort Lauderdale area that will send to Washington Brian Mast, an Afghanistan War veteran and double amputee.

The GOP also held strong in Denver's suburban 6th Congressional District, where Republican Rep. Mike Coffman taught himself Spanish and still works with a tutor to help him connect with the large Hispanic population there.

Despite the Democrats' modest gains in the House, the even slight reduction in the Republican majority in the chamber will likely make it harder for House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin to persuade his members to compromise, as a larger ratio of GOP members will be hard-line conservatives.

"We need to have a healthy majority and a strong majority," he recently told The Wall Street Journal's editorial page. "If we have a razor-thin majority, then every vote can be problematic. Every vote on everything can be difficult."

Democrats needed a nearly clean sweep of competitive districts to reach the 218 seats necessary to regain the majority of the chamber. Just 17 races were toss-ups, according to an ABC News analysis of House races.

ABC News' Ben Siegel contributed to this report.</s>WASHINGTON: The Republican Party looked set to keep its majority in the US House of Representatives in Tuesday’s election, two television networks projected.

NBC and ABC said early results indicated the party would keep at least 218 of the 435 seats in the chamber. AFP
The Republican Party is forecast to retain control of the United States House of Representatives.