Republicans have picked off a Senate seat long held by West Virginia Democrats in their bid to take control of the chamber.

Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (CAP’-uh-toh) is moving up to the Senate after defeating Democrat Natalie Tennant in the race to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller.

Capito has served in the House since 2001.

The GOP earlier held onto two Senate seats in South Carolina and one in Kentucky, where Republican leader Mitch McConnell won a sixth term.

Republicans need a net gain of six seats to wrest control of the Senate from Democrats. Thirty-six seats are up.

(AP)