Anthony Zurcher: Democrats eye sweeping gains and reshaping of political map

This is already shaping up to be a very good night for Democrats, with much of the vote counted in the eastern United States and polls closing in key Midwestern battleground states.

Two Senate races that a year ago were thought to be battlegrounds have turned out to be slam dunks for the Democrats - Jon Ossoff's re-election race in Georgia and the open Republican-held seat in North Carolina.

That North Carolina contest, where former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper bested Republican Party insider Michael Whatley, was the first of the four pick-ups Democrats need in order to wrest control of the Senate.

Attention has now turned to Republican-held Senate seats in Texas, Kansas and Ohio, where counting is taking place.

In South Carolina, the BBC's US partner CBS News is rating the Senate race as leaning Democrat, which would be an earth-shaking result.

If you look at key races in House of Representatives, there are other encouraging signs for Democrats.

In Florida, Republicans in the state legislature had redrawn the boundaries of three Democratic-held seats to make it much easier to for them to win.

Other House races in the state, where Republicans expected to win by comfortable margins, have turned out to be dogfights.

Kaynak: BBC News World RSS (Açık Basın / Haber Servisi)