Balance of power in Congress still undecided
SAN FRANCISCO - Bay Area political experts talked about the Midterm election results here in California and nationwide Friday night at Manny's Café in San Francisco's Mission District.
One topic: The red wave that didn't materialize during the Midterm elections.
"Right now, Democrats are nervous. Are they going to have the Senate and by how much?" said Carla Marinucci, former Politico and San Francisco Chronicle reporter.
Potentially tipping the scale blue is news that Mark Kelly, a Democrat, is now the projected winner in the Arizona Senate race.
But votes are still being counted in Nevada and the Georgia Senate race is going to a runoff.
One expert says the House appears to be headed toward Republican control and congressional grid lock.
"That means two years of nothing getting done because there's a Democratic president and Republican control of the house," said Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle senior political writer.
"The Republicans, should they take the majority of the House, will be able to control the agenda. They'll be able to control hearing whether Joe Biden gets impeached, whether Merrick Garland gets impeached, whether Hunter Biden is brought up for investigation," said Marinucci.
She said a lot of policies California wants to push, such as climate change, are going to be stalled. She said if Democrats retain control of the Senate, it would help President Joe Biden.
"Democrats should be cheering because they'll be able to affirm Joe Biden's judicial picks. That's a very big deal," said Marinucci. "Republicans are talking about things like trying to reduce Social Security, trying to up the age for eligibility of Medicare and Social Security. Democrats are going to be able to put a lock on that as well."
She attributed the missing red wave to voters under the age of 30 going to the polls and that Americans value abortion rights over concerns emphasized by Republicans; the economy, inflation and crime.
Garofoli said there is a sense of relief that there has not been trouble at polling places, "So far, we have not seen unrest at the polls. There was a lot of concern that there might be violence."
If the Nevada Senate race is won by the Democratic candidate, then the Georgia Senate race runoff won't have as much of an impact. Also, it remains to be seen what Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will do if control of the House goes to the Republicans.
Amber Lee is a reporter with KTVU. Email Amber at Amber.Lee@Fox.com or text/leave message at 510-599-3922. Follow her on Facebook @AmberKTVU, Instagram @AmberKTVU or Twitter @AmberKTVU