Before the election, the Democrats had 232 seats out of a total of 435 in the US House of Representatives.

When about half of the constituencies were counted, the party had retained most of the seats predicted to be at risk of being taken over by Republicans.

At 04:00 in the morning, therefore, both Fox news and NBC stated that the House of Representatives appears to remain controlled by the Democrats.

The Senate a key

In the election to the Senate - the second chamber of Congress - the outcome early on Wednesday morning Swedish time is somewhat more uncertain.

The official result is also believed to be delayed.

35 out of 100 seats will be filled in this year's election, and of those, 23 currently belong to Republicans.

Three or four seats are what Democrats need to gain control of the Senate, depending on the outcome of the presidential election.

Should this coincide with them retaining power in the House of Representatives and with Joe Biden being named the winner of the presidential election, American politics will "enter a whole new era", writes AP.

Nine chairs can change party

Nine of the seats held by Republicans are either leaning in opinion polls now against the Democratic candidates, or it stands and weighs.

In comparison, it is only a chair held by the Democrats that tends to be taken over by a Republican, writes USA Today.

The seven that are considered to be weighing around at 5 o'clock in the morning were two chairs in Georgia, and one each in Maine, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina and South Carolina.

The first trans person in the Senate

Democrat Sarah McBride made history early on election night, becoming the country's first trans person to pinch a Senate seat.

She defeated Republican Steve Washington in Delaware.

"I hope tonight's results show young LGBTQ people that our democracy is big enough for them too," tweeted McBride.

Two other people who garnered attention in the House of Representatives election were Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who made headlines by praising the conspiracy movement Qanon and Texas-winning Republican Ronny Jackson, also known for working as President Trump's doctor.

Jackson has said that Donald Trump has fantastic genes and could be 200 years old.