AASHTO Journal - Updated: Election 2022 Results Could Split Control of Congress

With vote tallies nationwide still ongoing in the wake of the November 8 election, the Republican party could attain a narrow in the House of Representatives, though that result is not final. Meanwhile Democrats should retain control of the Senate.

[Above photo by AASHTO]

Apart from overall Congressional control, however, the outcome of several races could transform the leadership hierarchy on several key transportation-related committees.

House members winning reelection include Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), the ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), the committee’s chair, chose not to run again.

Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, won his reelection bid. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), the committee’s ranking member, did not run for reelection.

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, won his race in the Garden State. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), the committee’s ranking member, likewise won reelection.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, won her reelection race. Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), this committee’s ranking member, also won reelection.

The members of the Senate Appropriations Committee up for reelection this year included Patty Murray (D-WA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), John Hoeven (R-ND), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), John Boozman (R-AR), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Marco Rubio (R-FL). All eight of them won their electoral contests.

Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), another committee member who chose to run again, is a candidate in one of two Senate races not yet called. The winner of Alaska’s political contest will be decided later this month via ranked-choice voting required by state law.

Meanwhile, in Georgia, Sen. Raphael Warnock leads the Republican candidate Herschel Walker narrowly. However, that race will go to a runoff on December 6 since Warnock’s tally fell below a majority of the vote.

Richard Shelby (R-AL), the committee’s vice chair, chose not to run again. Roy Blunt (R-MO) is another committee member who did not seek reelection.

Shelby and Boozman also serve on the Senate Environment and Public Works or EPW Committee. Another member of that committee who won her race for reelection this year was Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).

Fellow committee member Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who won a special election for the Senate in 2020, won reelection to a full term. As with Shelby, committee member Jim Inhofe (R-OK) did not run again.

Kelly’s re-election win, along with that of Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), will give Democrats a majority and thus control of the Senate in January 2023.

Alex Padilla (D-CA) is another member of the Senate’s EPW Committee who will be returning to Capitol Hill.

Appointed to the Senate after then-Senator Kamala Harris’ election as vice president and as the result of a change in California law, Padilla’s interim status as senator was set to expire this month.

Consequently, he was on the ballot in two separate races in the Golden State; the first of these races was for the completion of the final two months of the current Senate term and the second was for the new term that starts in January.