WASHINGTON, November 13. /TASS/. Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto defended her Nevada seat in the midterm elections, leaving Democrats in control of the US Senate, this forecast was given by NBC, as well as a number of other leading American media.

According to NBC, Cortez Masto, after counting 96% of the vote, outperformed Republican Adam Laxalt by 0.5 percentage points and gained 48.7% of the vote against 48.2%. The gap between the two candidates is only 4,982 votes. The final results will be announced at a later date. However, according to current practice, the mainstream US media announce the winner when the outcome of the vote can no longer be changed.

The Democrats' victory in Nevada means they have at least 50 seats in the Senate, while the Republicans have secured 49 seats so far. This gives the Democrats control of the upper house, as it has 100 seats in total. In the event of their equal distribution between the two parties, the vote of the vice president, Democrat Kamala Harris, becomes decisive. The fate of another seat in the Senate will be determined in December following the results of the second round of elections in the state of Georgia.

The US midterm elections were held on November 8.