Michigan offers Democrats a ray of light amid disappointing congressional results

Thom Tillis (R-NC) celebrates his winning bid for re-election against Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham

Credit: Brian Blanco /Getty

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, said: "If we win in North Carolina I’m still the offensive coordinator [in the Senate].

"I don’t know whether I’m going to be the defensive coordinator or the offensive coordinator as I speak."

In Georgia, two seats were being contested and at least one was heading for a runoff in January after no candidate reached the 50 per cent mark.

The runoff will see Republican senator Kelly Loeffler face Democrat Raphael Warnock, a black pastor at the church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr preached.

In the other Georgia race, Republican senator David Perdue, a former business executive Mr Trump called his favorite senator, was leading against Democrat Jon Ossoff.

However, with 97 per cent of the vote counted Mr Perdue was at 50 per cent. If he were to fall any further that would mean a runoff in January.

If there were two Georgia runoffs that would give Democrats an opportunity to tie the Senate at 50-50 if they won both races.

The vice president has a casting vote in the Senate. If Kamala Harris was vice president that would give Democrats control of the chamber.

In Michigan, Mr James’s campaign echoed Mr Trump’s claims of voting irregularities.

Stuart Sandler, a consultant for the campaign, told Fox News: "There was all kinds of chicanery, including ballots that came in reportedly in the middle of the night at 3.30am."

Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist close to Mr McConnell, said whatever the eventual status of Congress the results showed Mr Trump had "reorganised the political parties" and turned Republicans into the party of "working-class" Americans.

He said: "Democrats have a lot to think about when it comes to those voters. And Republicans have a lot to think about enacting policies germane to those voters."