Newsroom

November 05, 2014

CU friends in House win Senate seats; Senate flips to R

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Harry Reid, D-Nev., will relinquish the Senate Majority Leader spot to Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., next Congress.

By press time, three members of the important House Financial Services Committee – including Shelley Moore Capito, a subcommittee chairman – had won their bids for seats in what will be a Republican-led Senate in the 114th Congress.

In all, Republicans clinched at least seven new seats. Capito, who won against Democratic challenger Natalie Tennant, becomes the first woman elected a U.S. senator for the state of West Virginia and the first Republican to do that in more than 50 years.

This year, Capito completes her seventh consecutive term in the House, where she chairs the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. In that role, she has championed the concerns of credit unions, community banks and small businesses over the growth of regulatory burden under the Dodd-Frank Act.

Also winning Senate bids last night were Reps. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. Peters defeated former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, a Republican; and Cotton won over sitting Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Senate's minority leader, also won reelection, defeating Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., congratulated McConnell as the next majority leader.

In other results:

  • Republican Cory Gardner defeated Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., chief Senate sponsor of legislation to raise the credit union member business lending cap;
  • Republican Mike Rounds defeated Democrat Rick Weiland and Independent Larry Pressler in the bid to replace outgoing Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee;
  • Republican Joni Ernst defeated Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley in the bid to replace retiring Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa;
  • Republican Thom Tillis defeated incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C.;
  • Republican Steve Daines defeated Democrat Amanda Curtis to succeed departing Sen. John Walsh, D-Mont.

Still too close to call was the race between Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Republican challenger Ed Gillespie.

NAFCU lobbyists are monitoring results for House and Senate races as they come in and will continue to provide key updates.