Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell won this year's election and is set to serve another term as the senior senator from Kentucky.
McConnell defeated former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath who is considered one of his toughest challengers since he was elected to the Senate in 1984.
McConnell retains his position
With 79 percent of the votes counted, McConnell has 57.9 percent of the votes, while McGrath had 38.3 percent. This marks his seventh term.
In his victory speech, he talked about his experience and the fact that he represents a state in Middle America. He stated that he is the only one out of the four Congressional leaders that is not from California or New York.
McConnell also talked about the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic, the need to rebuild the economy, continuing America's investment in the military, and holding China accountable, according to The New York Times.
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McConnell, with his wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao standing next to him, connected his win to Civil Right leader Martin Luther King's March on Washington Speech in 1963, saying he dreamed of doing big things for the state and the country.
The House Majority Leader also said that he never imagined Kentuckians would make him the longest-serving senator in the state's history or that his fellow Senate Republicans would make him the longest-serving Republican leader in U.S. Senate history.
McConnell talked about his work to fill the federal judiciary with conservative judges. He also said he maintained the Senate's historic role as Congress' deliberative body. He also took a shot at Democrats by characterizing Kentucky's vote on November 3 as a rejection of policies he deemed socialist.
Projected win
McGrath was so close in her race against McConnell. His win was highly expected, given recent polling in the state that showed McGrath down by 9 or 10 points.
Even so, the state provided little terrain for a possible switch in power as Democratic voters had outpaced Republicans in both the mail-in and the early in-person ballots, according to NBC News' Decision Desk.
McGrath had spent the final hours of Election Day going around central and northern Kentucky to campaign. Her campaign team had to watch the count from Georgetown. McGrath's campaign decided not to have an Election Night party because of the current pandemic.
In a video message posted on her official Twitter account, McGrath thanked her supporters and the people fighting alongside her, who believed in her mission.
She said that the race was not about her or Mitch McConnell, but it was about the people of Kentucky and the original movement that they built together.
McGrath said that although they did not get the results that they wanted, the energy and optimization that she saw in every corner of the state give her so much hope for the future of the state. She is also hoping that the country could start to heal after the ugly and divisive four years.
The stakes in this election were high, as changing the seat stood to sideline a major Republican player from the next Congress. McConnell is expected to serve as the leader of the minority or majority in the Senate, but it will still depend on how the balance of power will shake out.
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