Republicans have recaptured the US Senate, achieving what was billed in advance as the most attainable goal for the party in this year’s elections, Tha Guardian reports.

The GOP regained control after it became clear that the Democrats had lost their one-seat majority in Congress’s 100-member upper chamber.

Republicans gained two Senate seats, as Trump-backed businessperson Bernie Moreno defeated three-term Democratic senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and Trump loyalist Jim Justice won the seat once held by Joe Manchin in West Virginia.

The result puts the Republican party in pole position in the confirmation process for senior officials appointed by the new incoming administration, and for potential new justices to the US supreme court if and when vacancies open up.

The Republicans’ win had been widely anticipated. The Democrats faced an unfavourable electoral map, with several incumbents either retiring or up for re-election in Republican stronghold states – meaning loss of Senate control was highly likely even in the event of Kamala Harris being elected president.