Alexander keeps Senate seat in Tenn.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) easily kept his seat to serve a third term.

On election night, The Associated Press predicted Alexander would beat his Democratic opponent, Gordon Ball, moments after polls closed at 8 p.m.

{mosads}Alexander’s seat was clearly safe in the heavily red state of Tennessee.

Alexander won the GOP nomination in August with fewer than half of Republican voters supporting him. State Rep. Joe Carr, who has opted not to endorse Alexander, finished with 41 percent. 

Alexander won his 2002 Senate race with 54 percent of the vote against former Rep. Bob Clement. In 2008, he beat Democratic attorney Bob Tuke by carrying 65 percent of supporters.

“In my political experience, anybody who wins an election by 5 or 6 percentage points has a good win,” Alexander told reporters Monday.

The GOP needs to flip six seats to become the majority party in the Senate. Several vulnerable Democrats are seeking reelection in conservative states, such as Louisiana, Alaska and Arkansas. Some races might not have a clear winner at the end of election night, because states could be forced to hold a runoff, possibly dragging out the uncertainty of which party controls the Senate.

— Vicki Needham contributed to this article.