McConnell thanks Trump as early results favor Senate GOP

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) thanked President Trump in a phone call Tuesday evening for his work in recent weeks campaigning against Senate Democratic incumbents, according to a Senate GOP aide.

The aide said McConnell thanked the president for his help in knocking off at least three Democratic incumbents, Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.) and Joe Donnelly (Ind.).

{mosads}Trump proclaimed the night a “tremendous success” on Twitter, despite the fact that Democrats seemed poised to take control of the House.

While Democrats matched expectations in House races, the possibility that Republicans could pick up four Senate seats exceeded many projections.

Gov. Rick Scott (R) appeared close to victory late Tuesday evening over Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) in Florida, despite recent polls showing Nelson with a narrow lead in recent polls.

Nelson was trailing by more than 57,000 votes as of midnight Eastern Time with 99 percent of precincts reporting.

Trump has made more than a dozen visits to the state. He returned to Pensacola, Fla., a GOP stronghold, for a fourth time on Saturday to hold a rally for Scott and Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis, who won his race against Democrat Andrew Gillum.

Democrats, however, could still pick up Republican Senate seats in Nevada and Arizona, where their candidates were favored and had yet to report their results as of midnight.

Trump has filled venues with massive, energetic crowds as he’s traveled around the country.

He scored a big win in Missouri after visiting the state five times to campaign against McCaskill.

He held a big rally for Donnelly’s opponent, businessman Mike Braun, in Fort Wayne, Ind., Monday. He made two visits to the Hoosier State in the final week before the election — a total of five trips to campaign against Donnelly.

He visited North Dakota twice.