Prof. Büthe commented on the US elections in the morning news program of Bavarian Public Radio 2, one of the most popular radio news programs in the German language.  The extremely close election result is largely unexpected, he notes, and in many ways a striking success for the Democrats. In federal elections in which the President is not on the ballot, his party typically loses on average 31 seats in the House and 2 seats in the Senate. Several highly visible Democratic candidates for governor also succeeded in their elections, including in Delaware, Kansas, Massachusetts and New York. Numerous controversial Republicans candidates also succeeded, such as Trump ally JD Vance, who will become the next Senator from Ohio. On the whole, however, far right populist candidates were much less likely to win their electoral races than centrist Republican candidates. The tight results increase the chance of continuity in US foreign policy; the consequences for domestic politics, by contrast, remain unclear until the full results are known.