In a turn of events unanticipated by most polls and election analysts, Donald Trump won the presidency last night. Republicans retained full control of Congress, losing one net seat in the Senate and only a few seats in the House. Trump will make history by becoming the first person never to serve either in public office or the military before being elected president.
News outlets projected that Republicans would lose a Senate seat in Illinois, leaving them with a 51-47 majority in the upper house, with two races yet to be decided: one in New Hampshire that remained too close to call, and another in Louisiana that will go to a runoff in which the Republican is favored in polling. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) is expected to assume the chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee when the new Congress convenes.
Meanwhile, early this morning Republicans were projected to lose five House seats on net, ending up with at least 235 representatives and maintaining a comfortable majority. Fifteen additional House races remained too close to call, while two were headed to runoffs.
The ABA government relations team is preparing a preliminary analysis of how the 2016 election is likely to affect the banking industry. It will be sent to ABA members later today in a Daily Newsbytes special edition.