President Joe Biden's Democrats edged closer to retaining control of the US Senate on Friday as three television networks predicted victory for incumbent Senator Mark Kelly.
Kelly's victory, if confirmed, will give Democrats 49 Senate seats, one short of securing an effective majority, with Nevada still counting votes and Georgia's contest headed to a 6 December runoff.
Blake Masters, Kelly's Republican opponent, did not immediately concede defeat. Late on Friday, former president Donald Trump claimed the result was "a scam and voter fraud".
Trump will announce next week that he will take another shot at the presidency in 2024, his longtime advisor Jason Miller said Friday.
The divisive former president, who will be 78 when the next election is held, has been hinting at another run for the White House while campaigning for Republican candidates ahead of this week's mid-term elections, and said he will make a "very big announcement" on Tuesday.
"President Trump is going to announce on Tuesday that he is running for president," Miller told former Trump aide Steve Bannon on his popular "War Room" podcast.
Trump's candidacy would be his third shot at the presidency, including his loss to Biden in 2020. After that defeat, he promoted baseless claims of fraud, including those that led to an unprecedented riot at the US Capitol in Washington.
We're gonna make an announcement
Trump's big announcement in Florida will come after a disappointing run for several candidates he backed in the mid-terms, although more than 100 Republican candidates who challenged the 2020 presidential results still won their respective races.
Some of his hand-picked favorites, however, lost key Republican-held seats to Democrats.
In Pennsylvania, Democrats flipped a US Senate seat with constant attacks on Trump-endorsed celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, who had never held public office and lives mostly in New Jersey.
Trump had hoped to ride a Republican "red wave" that would prime him for another presidential run but the party looks headed for a much smaller victory than had been predicted.
With 211 seats so far, Republicans appear poised to secure a slim majority in the 435-seat House of Representatives. Control of the Senate, however, may come down to a December 6 runoff in the southeastern state of Georgia.
With the parties tied at 49 Senate seats, Democrats now need only one more win to retain control of the upper chamber, because Vice President Kamala Harris will have the tie-breaking vote.
