Surprising nobody, Republican congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito has defeated Democrat Natalie Tennant in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, the Associated Press projects. Capito's victory marks the first GOP Senate pickup of the night.
Rockefeller's retirement presented the GOP with a prime opportunity to wrest control of a Democratic-held seat, and when Capito, a favorite of the GOP establishment, announced her bid, national Republicans cheered. Tennant, West Virginia's secretary of state, hoped to give Capito a run for her money, but Capito ran far ahead of Tennant in polls throughout the cycle.
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