Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Kohl's CEO Michelle Gass will join Levi Strauss, Elizabeth Holmes loses bid for new trial, and Democrats hold on in U.S. midterm elections. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
- Strong showing. Last night's midterm elections saw a stronger Democratic showing than many pundits expected and abortion rights wins in a handful of states.
Democrats seemed poised to maintain control of the Senate as of Wednesday morning, though the final results will likely take a few weeks to tabulate. The Senate race between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker, for instance, the anti-abortion GOP candidate accused of pressuring multiple women into terminating pregnancies, is expected to head to a December runoff.
Republicans are likely to gain control of the House by a lesser margin than some predicted. Democratic incumbents in closely watched races—including Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio)—fended off GOP challengers. Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) lost her seat to a Republican candidate Jen Kiggans, while Emilia Sykes, an Ohio state representative, picked up a new seat for Democrats in the state.
Meanwhile, California, Vermont, and Michigan voters chose to protect abortion access and enshrine it into their state constitutions. Similarly, Kentucky voters rejected an amendment denying constitutional protections for abortions.
So far, nine women are set to serve as governors, and women will make up at least 27.5% of Congress, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Both figures tie pre-existing records. Incoming governors include Maura Healey of Massachusetts, the first woman to lead the state and the first openly gay female governor in the U.S. Gov. Kathy Hochul won the election in New York, making her the first woman elected to the state's governor's seat (she was previously appointed to the role after the ouster of Andrew Cuomo.) Sarah Huckabee Sanders will become the GOP governor of Arkansas.
It's too early to know exactly how many women turned out to vote on Nov. 8, but preliminary results suggest that abortion rights and other key issues embraced by Democrats helped get women to the polls.
Some other key races from last night:
- Stacey Abrams lost her second bid for Georgia governor, conceding to repeat opponent Brian Kemp last night.
- The Los Angeles mayoral race between Rep. Karen Bass and billionaire, celebrity-endorsed businessman Rick Caruso has yet to be called. Caruso has a slight lead.
- Rep. Val Demings fell short in her bid to claim the Senate seat held by Sen. Marco Rubio. Cheri Beasley was unsuccessful in her North Carolina Senate race. With those losses for Democrats, there are still no Black women in the Senate.
- Democrat Katie Hobbs is leading against Trump-endorsed candidate Kari Lake in the Arizona governor's race. Lake has supported Trump's false claims that he won the 2020 presidential election and has already expressed doubt about Tuesday's electoral results.
- The biggest win for Democrats came in Pennsylvania, where Oprah Winfrey-endorsed John Fetterman defeated Dr. Mehmet Oz for a Senate seat.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe
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