Although some races were extremely close, it appears thatRepublicans won enough elections Tuesday to control a slim majorityin the Senate, 52 out of 100 seats. With the Republican gains,credit unions lost two strong Democratic supporters in theSenate.

Republican Rep. Cory Gardner defeated Sen. Mark Udall inColorado. Both CUNA and NAFCU supported Udall and praised hisdedication to lifting the member business lending cap. Udall hadsponsored the MBL bill in the Senate.

CUNA spent $400,000 on direct mail to credit union membersurging them to support Udall. NAFCU said it donated $7,500 to Udallthrough its PAC while CUNA donated $10,000.

Alaska Senator Mark Begich, the only senator who publiclysupported the credit union tax exemption during discussions on taxreform in 2013, appears to have been narrowly defeated in hisre-election bid. However, the Democrat had not yet conceded therace to Republican challenger Dan Sullivan as of Wednesdaymorning.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who will likelynow be named majority leader, was elected to a sixth term Tuesday.He defeated Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes(D-Ky.).

Both CUNA and NAFCU contributed $10,000 to McConnell's campaignthrough their PACs. CUNA also supported McConnell's re-electionwith a $300,000 independent expenditure, which included $274,000 ontelevision advertisements for McConnell and $25,000 in radioads.

“McConnell has supported credit unions since his election toCongress. He always sees us and listens to our concerns,” WendellLyons, president/CEO of the Kentucky Credit Union League andAffiliates, said.

Republican Iowa State Senator Joni Ernst defeated DemocraticRep. Bruce Braley, a member of the House Financial ServicesCommittee, in the Iowa Senate race. The seat was vacated byretiring Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin.

Democrat Gary Peters, also a member of the House FinancialServices Committee, won a Senate seat in Michigan. Peters (D-Mich.)and Braley (D-Iowa), both supported by the trades, co-sponsoredlegislation to raise the MBL cap in the last threeCongresses.

Former South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds will also be joiningthe Senate. Rounds took the seat vacated by retiring Sen. TimJohnson (D-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, a member of the Senate BankingCommittee who was backed by NAFCU and CUNA, lost her Senate seat inNorth Carolina to Republican challenger Thom Tillis, speaker of theNorth Carolina House of Representatives.

Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, chairman of the HouseSubcommittee on Financial Institutions & Consumer Credit, wonthe open Senate seat in West Virginia, currently occupied byretiring Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.). Both CUNA and NAFCUcontributed to her campaign.

The Louisiana Senate race between Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) andRep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) will go to a runoff since neithercandidate received 50% of the vote.

CUNA supported Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in the New Hampshire Senaterace, who defeated Republican challenger Scott Brown, formersenator of Massachusetts.

In Arkansas, Democratic incumbent Mark Pryor lost to RepublicanRep. Tom Cotton, a member of the House Financial ServicesCommittee. NAFCU backed Cotton's campaign with a $1,000contribution.

“NAFCU looks forward to working with the members of the 114thCongress on solutions to issues like regulatory relief and datesecurity, that affect credit unions and their members,”Katie Marisic, NAFCU's vice president ofpolitical affairs, said.

The Virginia Senate race between incumbent Sen. Mark Warner, aDemocrat and Senate Banking Committee member, and former RepublicanNational Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, was a tight one. Warnermaintaned a slight lead as of early Wednesday morning.