While numerous studies have examined affective polarization, much of that work has centered on public opinion or voter engagement within traditional media contexts at a single point, leaving it unclear how these dynamics unfold in peer-level interactions among political elites in digital spaces. Moving beyond conventional approaches, here we leverage social network and sentiment analysis on Twitter/X corpora spanning both the 2018 and 2022 U.S. Senate elections, exploring: a) how Senate candidates engage with partisan allies versus ideological rivals online, and b) to what extent the emotional tenor of both intra-party and cross-party discourse shifts over time. While tightly knit networks formed on both political fronts, where connections within consistently surpassed those beyond, the results reveal a notable divergence across electoral cycles, with Democrats increasingly extending their outreach – frequently marked by negative tones – whereas Republicans significantly concentrated on reinforcing their bonds, characterized by substantial positive messaging. Given the enduring role of elite messaging in shaping political norms, these findings illuminate the dynamics of asymmetric ideological division, shedding light on the evolving trajectories through which political figures forge alliances or confront adversaries via social media networks from the Trump to Biden era.