Thank you for reading. We will shortly be closing this live blog, and we’ve started a new one, so please follow our continuing coverage over here.
Our Politics Weekly America team have been working through the night in the US to produce a special edition of the podcast looking at the early results. Jonathan Freedland is joined by Joan E Greve, columnist Richard Wolffe, and Chris Scott of Democracy for America, to look at what we know so far. You can listen to it here.
Six-term Republican representative Mark Amodei has defeated Elizabeth Mercedes Krause, as expected, in Nevada’s rural northern district where no Democrat has ever won, the AP reports.
The second congressional district was considered the only safe seat for either party among the four in the western battleground of Nevada, where three incumbent Democrats faced stiff challenges on Tuesday.
Updated
It may be a while until we know which party will win control of the House and Senate. But so far, the 8 November midterm has been full of surprises. Democrats have showed surprising strength in key races, defying what was broadly expected to be a Republican sweep amid high inflation and low approval rating for Joe Biden.
Two of three Virginia Democrats in districts considered bellwethers for the national mood have won reelection, in what was an early sign of good news for Democrats.
Democrat Josh Shapiro bested 2020 election denier Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania’s governorship race.
Democrat John Fetterman declared victory in his race for Pennsylvania’s Senate seat. Maryland elected the first Black governor in its history, Democrat Wes Moore.
Florida’s voters tilted further towards Republicans, reelecting firebrand governor Ron DeSantis and senator Marco Rubio.
From Washington to New York, Democrats defied Republicans’ rosy predictions that they’d fall apart this year, even in their traditional strongholds.
JD Vance won the Republican Senate race in Ohio, dashing Democrats’ hopes of picking up another seat in the chamber.
Michigan voters reelected Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer, and Democratic representative Elissa Slotkin in a hard-fought race. They also backed a ballot measure enshrining reproductive freedom.
Voters in Vermont and California also backed abortion rights measures.
Maryland’s Wes Moore will be the state’s first Black governor, and in Massachusetts Maura Healey will be the first out lesbian governor in US history.
Earlier, Democrat Wes Moore made history by becoming the first Black governor of Maryland. He replaces Republican Larry Hogan, a moderate who managed to twice win election in what is otherwise a solidly blue state.
The newly elected official assured the electorate “I hear you” and “this is our time” in his victory speech. Referencing his time in the army, Moore promised to “leave no one behind”. Joe Biden had joined Moore in a pre-election rally in Maryland the evening before election day. Here is the video clip.
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Michigan voters favor abortion rights
Michigan voters enshrined protections for abortion rights, the AP projects.
Voters approved a ballot measure affirming the right to make personal reproductive decisions without interference, and negating a 1931 ban on abortions.
“Today, the people of Michigan voted to restore the reproductive rights they’ve had for 50 years,” said Darci McConnell, a spokesperson for Reproductive Freedom for All, which put forth the ballot measure. The measure marks a “historic victory for abortion access in our state and in our country – and Michigan has paved the way for future efforts to restore the rights and protections of Roe v Wade nationwide,” McConnell said.
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California resoundingly votes no on sports betting, Guardian tech reporter Kari Paul reports.
Voters in California voted overwhelmingly to reject two gambling initiatives on Tuesday, marking a decisive end to the most expensive ballot proposition battle in US history.
The two propositions would have expanded gambling access in the state in different ways: Proposition 27 aimed to legalize online and mobile sports betting while Proposition 26 would have allowed casinos and the state’s four horse tracks to offer sports betting in person.
The online sports betting initiative was put on the ballot by sports betting companies including DraftKings and FanDuel, while Proposition 26 was funded by a coalition for Native American tribes.
Nearly $600m was spent advocating for the propositions, more than double the record amount spent by gig economy firms such as Uber and Lyft in 2020 to classify their workers as contractors and block them from benefits and protections.
Californians overwhelmingly rejected both propositions, with 84% voting no on Prop 27 and 70% voting no on Prop 26.
State Democrats had opposed Proposition 27, but were neutral on Proposition 26. Democratic governor Gavin Newsom was neutral on both proposals. The California Republican party opposed both proposals.
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Democratic representative Elissa Slotkin has won reelection in a hard-fought Michigan race against Republican Tom Barrett.
In 2018, Slotkin flipped a seat that was held by a Republican and won again in 2020 in a district that backed Donald Trump. She was seen as vulnerable once again this year, and the race was one of the top two most expensive races nationally, with both parties spending tens of millions on TV ads and mailers.
Slotkin, a moderate who previously worked as an intelligence and defense department official who worked for both Democratic and Republican presidential administrations, was supported by Republican senator and Trump critic Liz Cheney.
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California voters have rejected a ballot measure that would have levied a wealth tax to fund the transition to electric vehicles.
The measure, Prop 30, failed after California governor Gavin Newsom heavily campaigned against it, siding with Republicans over his fellow Democrats, environmental groups, firefighters and labor unions. In misleading ads against Prop 30, Newsom claimed it was a corporate carve-out for Lyft, the ride-hailing company that has backed the measure and helped fund its campaign.
The environmental and public advocacy groups that developed the measure cried afoul. The measure had no provisions to specifically benefit rideshare companies, and Lyft only joined the effort to promote Prop 30 only after local groups developed the bulk of it.
Among the biggest donors to the “No on 30” campaign were wealthy Californians who had also propped the governor’s campaign.
Newsom this year issued an executive order banning the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035, and allocated $10bn to the effort to subsidize electric vehicle purchases and build out charging infrastructure, but environmental groups said the funding will quickly fall short.
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Josh Green, a Democrat and Hawaii’s lieutenant governor, has won the race to be the state’s next governor, the AP projects.
Green defeated Duke Aiona, a Republican and former lieutenant governor, by what appeared to be a wide margin. Aiona had run for the office twice before.
At his election night party, Green told supporters, “Tonight is the first day of that new era where our leaders must start doing more to listen, to care and to work on issues that matter to all of us, that matter to you.”
On the campaign trail, Green said he would address the housing shortage in the state by advocating for building 10,000 new units and cracking down on vacation rentals. He also pledged to fight for reproductive rights, noting his opponent’s opposition to abortion protections.
BREAKING: Crowds cheering at Democratic HQ as it’s official — Josh Green beats Duke Aiona in landslide on first printout with 66% of the Hawaii vote #HIGov #ElectionNight @KITV4 pic.twitter.com/6Lh2hCS2Vq
— Tom George (@TheTomGeorge) November 9, 2022
Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, addressed supporters after an hours-long delay.
The California congressman projected confidence that Republicans would take the House despite several dozen seats still undecided. “When you wake up tomorrow, we will be in the majority and Nancy Pelosi will be in the minority,” he told supporters in Washington.
After a few key Democratic wins dashed expectations of an easy Republican sweep, McCarthy pointed to GOP wins in contested races in Texas and Virginia. Democrats have also kept seats in key Virginia districts, as well as contested seats in Kansas and Rhode Island.
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In Nevada, tight races might not be known for days, officials said. Dani Anguiano reports:
Nevada Democrats and Republicans have urged patience as residents await to hear the outcome of several razor-thin elections, including the Senate race, one of the tightest in the country.
Full results will not come in tonight, officials have said, and may not be known for several days. By 11:30pm PST, returns showed incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto ahead with about 51.2% of the votes to Republican Adam Laxalt’s 46% with 47% of precincts reporting, a lead expected to shrink.
“I am confident in the campaign that we have built to win,” Cortez Masto said. “I am so grateful to every Nevadan who knocked down doors, who made phone calls and stood up and fought for our state.”
The votes are still being counted. We know this will take time and we won’t have more election results for several days.
— Catherine Cortez Masto (@CortezMasto) November 9, 2022
I am confident in this team. I'm confident in the campaign that we've built to win. ¡La lucha sigue!
Laxalt, Nevada’s former attorney general who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2018, said “we are exactly where we want to be in this race.
“When we win this race, I’m gonna support our police and fight to make our streets safe again. I will not rest until we’ve secured our southern border,” he said. “We’re in for a long night and even a few days but we’re confident we’re gonna win this race and take back Nevada and take back America.”
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Sam Levine in Detroit reports:
We don’t have all of the results yet, but election day did not appear to go particularly well for election deniers in competitive races.
In Pennsylvania, Doug Mastriano, who played a key role in Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, lost his re-election bid to Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who put defending democracy at the start of his campaign. Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state who staunchly defended the 2020 election results also defeated Kristina Karamo, who rose to prominence after she spread false claims about fraud after ballots were counted in Detroit in 2020.
“Well, well, well, democracy has prevailed,” Benson said as she took the stage at a Democratic victory party in downtown Detroit around midnight Wednesday. “Today Michigan voters showed the world that they will vote for truth over lies, facts over conspiracy theories, real results over empty promises.”
Election deniers also lost races to be the top election official in New Mexico and Minnesota. Votes were still being counted in Nevada early Wednesday morning, where there is also a closely-watched secretary of state race.
Democrat Tony Evers has won reelection for governor in Wisconsin, the AP has projected.
CNN had previously called the race in a crucial battleground state. Evers defeated Trump-backed construction executive Tim Michels, and will be a key counterbalance against the state Republicans’ efforts to take control of the election system. Michels had said he would try to decertify the 2020 presidential results in Wisconsin, despite there being no legal mechanism to do so.
Evers has been a key veto against Republican legislators’ efforts to disrupt election systems. That veto power may not hold if Republicans win a supermajority in the legislature, but it’s unclear if they will.
Evers campaign was boosted in its final days by a visit from Barack Obama.
“Some people call it boring, but as it turns out, Wisconsin, boring wins,” he said in his victory speech.
Updated
The AP has called a few more House races in favor of Democrats.
In a fiercely contested race in New York, Democratic representative Joseph Morelle fended off a challenge from Republican former police chief La’Ron Singletary.
In Michigan, Hillary Scholten defeated former Trump administration housing official and far-right election denier John Gibbs. And in Ohio, Republican representative Steve Chabot lost his seat to Democrat Greg Landsman.
New Mexico’s Democratic governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has won reelection, defeating Republican challenger Mark Ronchetti.
Lujan Grisham honed in on the issue of abortion access. “Tonight New Mexico said ‘no’ to a political crusade that wants to turn women into second-class citizens,” she said in a victory speech.
A former member of Congress and state health secretary, she was favored to win. Ronchetti, a former television meteorologist who never held elected office, had sought to distance himself from his party’s far-right policies, but fell short.
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Organizers claimed victory after Michigan voters appeared well on their way to approving a constitutional amendment that would significantly expand voting access and make it much harder for anyone to try and overturn the results of an election.
The Guardian’s Sam Levine in Detroit reports:
The measure, Proposal 2, establishes a fundamental right to vote in the Michigan constitution requires at least nine days of voting access and drop boxes, and allows voters to sign an affidavit if they lack photo ID, among other measures. And most significantly, it prevents officials from certifying an election based on anything other than the vote tally. That’s a huge deal in Michigan, where boards of canvassers nearly refused to certify the vote in 2020 at the county and statewide level without solid evidence.
With 62% of the vote in early Wednesday, yes votes for the measure led 57.7% to 42.3%
The measure’s passage marks the latest victory in a significantly growing grassroots voting rights movement in Michigan. In 2018, voters approved a constitutional amendment creating an independent redistricting commission and allowing for automatic and same-day registration.
“Michigan voters clearly support ensuring every voice is heard and every vote is counted in every election no matter what political party or candidate we support, where we live or what we look like,” Micheal Davis, executive director for Promote the Vote, the coalition behind the amendment, said in a statement.
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Nancy Pelosi has issued a statement hailing an unexpectedly good performance by Democrats, even as votes are still being counted:
While many races remain too close to call, it is clear that House Democratic members and candidates are strongly outperforming expectations across the country.
As states continue to tabulate the final results, every vote must be counted as cast.
Many thanks to our grassroots volunteers for enabling every voter to have their say in our Democracy.
Democrat Fetterman wins Pennsylvania Senate race
Democrat John Fetterman has won the Pennsylvania Senate race, the Associated Press confirms, giving Joe Biden’s party another seat in Congress’ upper chamber and increasing their chances of holding it for another two years.
Updated
The Associated Press reports Republican senator Mike Lee has won reelection in Utah.
He was up against independent Evan McMullin, who has cast himself as a foe of Trump. While polls generally showed Lee ahead, he had pled for aid on the campaign trail, including from his fellow senator Mitt Romney, who endorsed neither candidate, saying he considered both friends.
The Guardian’s Erum Salam reflects on a highly polarized election, with varied results, in Texas:
In a predictable but still disappointing loss for Democrats in Texas, Republican incumbent Greg Abbott defeated his Democratic rival, Beto O’Rourke, to win a third term as governor.
Attorney general Ken Paxton, who denied the result of the 2020 presidential election, pushed false conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud, and remains embroiled in legal trouble, also won a third term, defeating Democrat Rochelle Garza.
Another tight race in south Texas’s newly drawn congressional district 15, where Latino voters are key, seems likely to lean Republican. While not officially called yet, progressive Michelle Vallejo seems poised to lose to Trump-backed Monica De La Cruz.
But Democrats can count victories in other races across the state.
Progressive Greg Casar, who earned an endorsement from Senator Bernie Sanders, won his House race in district 35, which stretches from eastern San Antonio to Austin.
Conservative Democrat Henry Cuellar will be holding onto his house seat in south Texas’s district 28.
District 34 is back to being blue after far-right conspiracy theorist Mayra Flores, who made her mark as the first female Mexican-born member of the House, lost the seat she won in a June special election.
“Early voting came in already. Election day numbers are also coming in as well. We’re still pending thousands of votes, but it doesn’t look our way,” she said.
On Twitter she chastised Republican and independent voters she believed stayed home.
The RED WAVE did not happen. Republicans and Independents stayed home. DO NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT THE RESULTS IF YOU DID NOT DO YOUR PART!
— Mayra Flores (@MayraFlores2022) November 9, 2022
Some votes are still being counted,particularly in the heavily populated Harris county, where polls opened late.
A district judge ordered all 800 voting locations in the county to stay open for one more hour until 8pm CT, but the order was blocked by the state’s highest civil court. It remains unclear if the provisional ballots cast in that extra hour will be thrown out.
Perhaps the greatest loss tonight in Texas are voting rights.
Updated
In another victory Tuesday for abortion rights advocates, campaigners declared victory on proposal three - the ballot initiative looking to enshrine a constitutional right to the procedure in Michigan.
It follows similar, earlier victories for abortion rights measures in California and Vermont.
A win means Michiganders will now escape a 1931 abortion ban that was on the books, although votes are still being counted.
If proposal three does pass, Michigan will become the first to fight off a pre-existing abortion ban with a ballot proposal, creating a roadmap for campaigners across the country, during an election cycle in which voters seem to be coming out in full force for abortion rights.
“Proposal 3’s passage marks an historic victory for abortion access in our state and in our country - and Michigan has paved the way for future efforts to restore the rights and protections of Roe v Wade nationwide,” Darci McConnell, communication director for Reproductive Freedom For All, wrote in a statement, announcing the news after it was called by locally ABC and NBC.
New York’s Democratic governor Kathy Hochul has won her election for a full term in office, the Associated Press reports.
A former lieutenant governor, Hochul took over leadership of the state last year after Andrew Cuomo resigned following accusations of sexual misconduct. She defeated Republican Lee Zeldin in the battle for a full term.
Updated
Things appear to be breaking Democrats’ direction in Wisconsin, a deeply polarized state that’s among the most crucial of battlegrounds in presidential elections.
The Associated Press has not called the race yet, but CNN projects that Democratic governor Tony Evers has won a second term in office:
Tony Evers, the incumbent Dem gov in Wisconsin, wins, CNN projects. Dem gov candidates in AZ, MI, NV and Kansas are currently leading their races
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 9, 2022
Republicans dominate the state legislature but have seen many of their proposals vetoed by Evers. They had hoped to achieve a supermajority in yesterday’s elections that would allow them to blunt his powers, but the Wisconsin State Journal reports that may not happen.
From Dani Anguiano in Las Vegas, Nevada:
A judge in Nevada ruled against a request from Senator Catherine Cortez Masto to keep some polls open later after some locations ran out of paper leading to long lines and other delays.
Cortez Masto, who is facing a tough re-election bid against Republican Adam Laxalt, and the Democratic senatorial campaign committee, had asked that some sites stay open until 9pm PT.
Polling places closed at 7pm local time with the exception of voters already in line.
Here's more from the @CortezMasto and DSCC lawsuit to keep polls open in Clark County.
— Jacob Solis (@jacobsolisnv) November 9, 2022
Cites delays, long lines and at least 8 polling locations running out of paper, something that takes "up to two hours" to replace pic.twitter.com/3jUthAaJjZ
House speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Kevin McCarthy, the Republican minority leader keen to seize the gavel from her, have both been re-elected to Congress from California, the Associated Press projects.
From the same state, Democratic representatives including Adam Schiff, Ted Lieu, Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee have also won re-election.
McCarthy is likely to become speaker if Republicans, as expected, go on to win control of the chamber after Tuesday’s results are tallied.
Pelosi, 82, who spoke emotionally on Monday about the violent attack on her husband Paul at their California home last month, said the incident would affect her decision about whether to retire if Democrats lose the House.
Fetterman: Victory 'for every community across Pennsylvania'
John Fetterman has given a victory speech to supporters gathered in Pittsburgh.
The newly elected Democratic senator for Pennsylvania, who is recovering from a stroke, thanked his family and campaign team.
He declared his victory was “for everyone who’s ever been gotten knocked down that ever got back up; for the future of every community all across Pennsylvania; for every small town, or person that ever felt left behind”.
Wiping away tears, Senator-elect John Fetterman (D-PA) takes the stage at his victory speech to “Back in Black.” pic.twitter.com/raVlahIHL8
— The Recount (@therecount) November 9, 2022
Fetterman was emotional as he spoke, his supporters chanting their approval of his downing of Donald Trump’s hand-picked Republican opponent, celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz, to flip the seat for his party.
“I’m proud of what we ran on. Protecting a woman’s right to choose; raising our minimum wage; fighting [for] the union way of life. Healthcare is a fundamental human right. It saved my life, and it should all be there for you”.
Updated
Democrat Whitmer wins reelection in Michigan governor's race
Democrat Gretchen Whitmer has won reelection as Michigan’s governor, the Associated Press reports, beating Republican challenger Tudor Dixon.
Whitmer was the target of intense Republican attacks for her enforcement of regulations intended to curb Covid-19 after it broke out in 2020, and the GOP hoped to oust her from office in the perennial battleground state.
Updated
CNN has declared John Fetterman the victor in Pennsylvania’s Senate race:
CNN projection: John Fetterman wins PA. A Dem pickup. Now GOP has to win Nevada and Georgia — which looks likely to go to a December runoff — to take back majority. In Arizona, Mark Kelly is up by 17 points with 52 percent reporting
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 9, 2022
So has Fox News:
And now Fox News calls Pennsylvania for Lt. Gov. John Fetterman: pic.twitter.com/cHQI5LL43o
— The Recount (@therecount) November 9, 2022
The Associated Press, whose race calls The Guardian considers definitive, still has not weighed in.
NBC was the first network to call the contest in the Democratic candidate’s favor. Here was the scene when the crowd at Fetterman’s election night party heard the news, as recorded by The Guardian’s Oliver Laughland:
The crowd at John Fetterman’s election night party in Pittsburgh erupts after MSNBC names him the projected winner: pic.twitter.com/vl0p0d7JTq
— Oliver Laughland (@oliverlaughland) November 9, 2022
Midterms 2022: What we know so far
Only one word is fit to sum up the results from the Senate, House and governorship races that have come in thus far: surprise. The 8 November midterm elections were expected to be rough for Joe Biden’s allies, potentially costing them control of one or both chambers of Congress. Instead, Democrats are showing surprising strength, holding on to Senate seats and beating back Republican challengers in several crucial House races. Full results are not in yet, and when the dust settles, the GOP may well have eked out the majorities they were expected to have. But it’s plain tonight has not gone as expected for many Republicans across the country – and may end up defying the historical trend of voters using the midterm elections to punish the party in the White House:
Two of three Virginia Democrats in districts considered bellwethers for the national mood have won reelection, in what was an early sign of good news for Democrats.
Democrat Josh Shapiro bested 2020 election denier Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania’s governorship race.
John Fetterman declared victory in his race for Pennsylvania’s Senate seat. The Associated Press has not yet called the race.
Maryland elected the first Black governor in its history, Democrat Wes Moore.
Florida’s voters tilted further towards Republicans, reelecting firebrand governor Ron DeSantis and senator Marco Rubio.
From Washington to New York, Democrats defied Republicans’ rosy predictions that they’d fall apart this year, even in their traditional strongholds.
JD Vance won the Republican Senate race in Ohio, dashing Democrats’ hopes of picking up another seat in the chamber.
Updated
The Associated Press still has not called the Pennsylvania Senate race. But Democratic candidate John Fetterman has declared victory:
It's official. I will be the next U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania.
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) November 9, 2022
We bet on the people of Pennsylvania - and you didn’t let us down
And I won’t let you down. Thank you.
From Rachel Leingang in Phoenix, Arizona:
A heavy police presence surrounded the central tabulation building in Phoenix on Tuesday night to deter the kinds of activity seen outside the center in 2020, when Donald Trump supporters protested outside and threatened election workers.
On Tuesday night, deputies from the Maricopa county sheriff’s office dotted the building’s parking lot and perimeter. Some officers rode horses around the barriers.
Outside the Maricopa County Tabulation Center where ballots are being processed. Horses in protest gear, about six protesters outside, lots of press pic.twitter.com/TCBJEbxf4S
— Tess Owen (@misstessowen) November 9, 2022
Since 2020, election workers in Maricopa county have faced threats for doing their jobs. In response, the county has taken precautions to protect them. The tabulation center now has a permanent fence around its core, and a temporary fence lining the surrounding parking lot.
In 2020, the site became the hub of conspiracy theorists including Alex Jones, who came to town as votes were being counted, yelling through a megaphone to stop the count, and chanting to count the votes at other times.
Deputies on horses trot by the Maricopa County central tabulation site in downtown Phoenix. pic.twitter.com/dzI9uJ6QZ8
— Rachel Leingang (@rachelleingang) November 9, 2022
Shortly after the polls closed on Tuesday, however, there were few signs of protest and only a small number of onlookers outside the fences.
Updated
NBC News projects that Democrat John Fetterman has won the race for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat, giving the party their first pickup of the evening in that chamber:
BREAKING: Democrat John Fetterman wins U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania, NBC News projects. https://t.co/NqjTEpNhkv pic.twitter.com/34lAQYk4KR
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 9, 2022
The Associated Press has not called the race. If confirmed, it could add to the Democrats’ majority in the Senate, where the party currently has the bare minimum of 50 seats needed for control. It could also offset losses the Democrats may suffer elsewhere, if incumbent senators in states like Nevada or Arizona lose reelection.
Updated
Georgia's Republican governor Kemp wins second term over Abrams
Voters in Georgia reelected Republican Brian Kemp to serve as governor, the Associated Press reports, handing a victory to a leader who defied Donald Trump’s attempts to meddle in his state’s election results two years ago.
His Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams conceded earlier tonight:
Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams conceded to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday in a rematch of their 2018 race.
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 9, 2022
“I may no longer be seeking the office of governor, but I will never stop doing everything in my power to ensure the people of Georgia have a voice,” she said. pic.twitter.com/nzS1TnWZzE
This year’s race was a rematch of 2018, when Kemp beat Abrams and won his first term in office.
From Gabrielle Canon in Oakland:
California voters were on track to overwhelmingly pass a measure to enshrine the right to an abortion and contraception into the state’s constitution, making it the second state to do so on Tuesday.
Proposition 1 was positioned as a direct response to the US Supreme Court decision issued earlier this year to reverse the 1973 Roe v Wade precedent and overturn decades of established access.
Californians are clearly committed to ensuring the same can’t happen in their home state and that abortion won’t be impacted even if the legislative tides shift. Their decisiveness on the issue will also help secure the state’s reputation as a haven for reproductive care just as restrictions – and political divisions – deepen across the country.
Governor Gavin Newsom, who won reelection with a large majority in a race called just minutes after California polls closed, joined in the celebrations at a Prop 1 rally.
“Governor Newsom made it clear that he wants California to be visible as a haven for people seeking reproductive healthcare and Proposition 1 is part of that,” said constitutional law professor Cary Franklin, faculty director of the Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy at the University of California Los Angeles.
“It will get media attention and people will be made more aware that California is a place they can go. People who are desperate and in need can come here and get the care they need.”
Gavin Newsom speaking now at Proposition 1 rally, which is poised to pass by a huge margin to enshrine right to abortion in California constitution:
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) November 9, 2022
“We affirmed we are a true freedom state.”
The measure had been expected to easily pass, and analysts said support for reproductive rights could draw even more women and young people to the polls, which could play positively for Democrats in California’s conservative pockets.
“There is no ‘no’ campaign. I assume that’s because the folks who might have financed it decided it would be a terrible waste of money and they’d rather put their money elsewhere,” Bob Shrum, director of the Center for the Political Future at the University of Southern California said.
Earlier on Tuesday, voters in Vermont voted to protect abortion rights in the state’s constitution.
Updated
In one of the most important contests in Ohio, conservative Republicans have once again got a grip on the state’s supreme court after winning the chief justice post and two other seats.
The victories come at a crucial time, as the court is expected to decide whether to uphold a law barring abortions beyond about six weeks of pregnancy.
Republicans technically already control the court, holding four of the seven seats. But the outgoing chief justice, Maureen O’Connor, has sided with Democrats in some politically sensitive cases, including over gerrymandering.
O’Conner will be replaced by Sharon Kennedy, who already sits on the court but won election to the chief justice post. Kennedy made clear her commitment to conservative positions during the campaign.
“It is morning again at the Ohio supreme court,” she said in her victory speech, echoing Ronald Reagan when he won the White House.
The new state supreme court is expected to decide whether to let stand the state’s ban on most abortions which came into effect after Roe v Wade was overturned by the US supreme court. A lower state court blocked the measure last month. Like the other Republican judges on the Ohio supreme court, Kennedy has said there is no right to an abortion.
Two other Republican judges were reelected. But because Kennedy has been elevated to chief justice, Ohio’s Republican governor gets to appoint a judge to replace her.
Updated
From Maanvi Singh in Oakland, California:
Democrat Alex Padilla has become the first Latino elected to represent California in the US Senate.
The Associated Press called the race just minutes after polls closed, with Padilla heavily favored to win. He was appointed to the post in 2021, to fill the seat formerly held by Kamala Harris.
Voters have chosen Padilla, 49, to complete Harris’ term through January, and to serve a subsequent six-year term. With votes still being tallied, he is expected to lead Republican Mark Meuser by a sizable margin.
Padilla was favored to win to such an extent that he didn’t run any campaign ads. He has said he’ll prioritize climate action, immigration reform and reproductive freedom.
He is the first Latino senator to represent a state in which 40% of residents are of that ethnicity.
Updated
In Detroit, the Guardian’s Sam Levine reports the Democratic secretary of state has claimed a reelection victory against a challenger who denied the 2020 election:
“Well, well, well democracy has prevailed,” Michigan secretary of state Jocelyn Benson said as she took the stage here at the Democratic election night party. She declared victory in her race to serve a second-term as Michigan’s top election official over Kristina Karamo, a community college professor who rose to prominence by questioning the 2020 election results.
“Today Michigan voters showed the world that they will vote for truth over lies, facts over conspiracy theories, real results over empty promises,” Benson said.
The race was closely watched because it will determine who oversees voting in Michigan, a key battleground state. Karamo has Donald Trump’s backing, while Benson vigorously defended the election results.
Secretaries of state, long overlooked as inconsequential races, have increasingly become closely-watched since Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. In many places, secretaries of state are the key election official, charged with overseeing how votes are cast and counted.
Election deniers are not having a good night so far. Doug Mastriano, another far-right candidate who sought to overturn the 2020 election results, lost his bid to be Pennsylvania’s governor.
Updated
Democrat Josh Shapiro beats Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania governor race
The Associated Press has called Pennsylvania’s governor’s race for Democrat Josh Shapiro.
He defeats Republican Doug Mastriano, a strident denier of Joe Biden’s election victory in 2020 who has said he supports banning abortion, without exceptions.
Updated
The Associated Press confirms that Democratic senator Patty Murray of Washington has won reelection.
She will serve a sixth term representing the traditionally Democratic state, after voters rejected her challenger Tiffany Smiley. The GOP hoped Joe Biden’s low approval rating and voters’ frustration with inflation would lead to a surprise loss for Murray, but most analysts viewed that as unlikely.
Democratic 'squad' members elected back to Congress
Prominent members of the so-called Democratic “squad” have won reelection to Congress.
We reported earlier that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had won her race in New York. The Associated Press has also called contests in Minnesota for Ilhan Omar; in Massachusetts for Ayanna Pressley; in Michigan for Rashida Tlaib; and in Missouri for Cori Bush.
The group of progressive legislators gave themselves the “squad” nickname for their disruptive style, but insisted they were about building an equitable society.
Nonetheless, their tactics have sometimes jarred with the Democratic party’s mainstream. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the progressive Democratic House caucus of which the others are vocal members, made a humiliating U-turn last month when she was forced to withdraw a letter urging Joe Biden to engage in talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
Updated
Kari Paul reports on apparent cyberattacks in Mississippi and elsewhere that briefly knocked official websites offline:
Government and voter information websites in Mississippi were temporarily knocked offline on Tuesday in an apparent cyber attack, officials have confirmed.
Several state websites experienced distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, in which hackers flood the servers of a website with traffic and render it non-functional.
A senior official with the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency (CISA) said the agency is tracking a “handful” of similar incidents in other states. Officials said the attacks were not carried out on any voting infrastructure and that no data was compromised.
“We have been chatting with them for the last several hours working with some of the vendors to put the mitigations in place,” the official said.
A pro-Russian hacking group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but officials said they had not yet confirmed the origins.
“While attribution is inherently difficult, we’ve not seen any evidence to suggest that these are part of a widespread coordinated campaign,” the official said.
Republican Ted Budd has won the race for North Carolina’s open Senate seat, defeating Democrat Cheri Beasley, the Associated Press says.
The victory denies Democrats an opportunity to increase their majority in the chamber from its current 50-50 split, where vice-president Kamala Harris breaks ties. It also gives the party fewer opportunities to keep the chamber if incumbent candidates locked in close races in states such as Georgia and Arizona end up losing.
Updated
Historic House win for Vermont's Balint
Democrat Becca Balint made history by winning Vermont’s only House seat, becoming the first woman and first out LGBTQ+ person to represent the state in Congress.
Balint, a lesbian, won the race with about 60% of the votes thus far, according to VTDigger.
Balint’s victory means that Vermont will now be in keeping with other US congressional delegations. Prior to Balint’s victory, Vermont was the sole US state that had never elected a woman to Congress.
Balint replaces Vermont Democratic congressman Peter Welch, who decided to run for US Senate after Democratic senator Patrick Leahy said he would retire when his term ends in January. Welch won Leahy’s senate seat in the election.
Annise Parker, the LGBTQ Victory Fund’s president and CEO, celebrated Balint’s win. “Tonight voters made their voices heard loud and clear: they are excited about Becca and her compelling vision for Vermont and our country, one founded in courage and kindness.
“For nearly a decade, Becca has worked tirelessly to enact meaningful legislation to increase fairness and equity in her community,” Parker said in a statement reported by The Advocate.
“Now, she is ready to do the same in Congress. With legislation currently moving through Congress to enshrine LGBTQ rights and abortion rights into federal law, the urgency of this election could not be more clear.
“Our community and allies cannot afford to wait – or sit on the sidelines – when the rights of millions of Americans are on the line. We are confident Becca will continue to be a fierce pro-equality, pro-choice champion for all Americans,” Parker said.
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Democrat Hassan wins New Hampshire Senate race
Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan has won reelection in New Hampshire, dealing a blow to Republicans’ chances of retaking the majority in the chamber.
She beat Don Bolduc in a state that has been known to veer between parties but has been trending towards Democrats in recent elections.
Updated
In the weeks leading up to today’s election, Republicans believed Democrats were so weak that they could oust incumbent lawmakers even in traditionally blue states, like Washington.
That optimism appears to be misguided.
The Associated Press has not called the race yet, but several networks project Patty Murray will win reelection to represent Washington in the Senate. It will be the Democrat’s sixth term in the chamber.
The GOP also hoped that its candidate Lee Zeldin would become the next governor of New York. Nope: multiple networks say Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul has won a full term. Again, the AP has not called the race.
Democrats may even have picked up seats in the House. Reports are emerging that Democrat Greg Landsman managed to oust Republican House representative Steve Chabot in Cincinnati. The AP has yet to weigh in here.
Joe Biden has been hopping on the phone to congratulate his Democratic winners tonight.
Just got off the phone with some of tonight’s winners — including some folks I saw on the road this year.
— President Biden (@POTUS) November 9, 2022
If you’re in line to vote, remember to stay in line! pic.twitter.com/43CF4rSFrP
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Bestselling author JD Vance won the US Senate race in Ohio by a wider margin than opinion polls predicted, but with a narrower victory than Republicans running in other statewide races. The Democratic candidate, congressman Tim Ryan has conceded.
Vance’s victory retains the seat for the Republicans.
The Trump-backed venture capitalist, who has never won a general election before, faced a competitive challenge from Ryan, who at times appeared to be running against his own party’s leadership as much as against Vance. Ryan focused his campaign on promises to support working-class communities hit by deindustrialization and the export of their jobs, which he blamed on the policies of governments of both major parties.
Trump’s support proved crucial in Vance winning the Republican primary but it is not clear whether it was a help or a drag with the broader electorate. Vance faced accusations of insincerity after criticising Trump as unfit for office when he was president but then embracing him when he needed his endorsement to win the primary.
In the end, Vance may have been saved by widespread disillusionment in Ohio, as elsewhere, over the state of the economy and polls showing that a majority of voters believe President Biden’s policies are making the problem worse.
Updated
A similar dynamic to the situation in Ohio appears to be playing out in North Carolina, where Republican Ted Budd may have taken the state’s open Senate seat.
As in Ohio, Democrats had hoped a win by Cheri Beasley would allow them to pad their slim majority in the Senate. NBC and Decision Desk HQ are among those saying Budd won the race. The Associated Press has not called it.
Updated
Newsom reelected as California governor
Gavin Newsom, who has been touted as a possible Democratic candidate for the 2024 presidential election, has won reelection as governor of California.
The race was called by the Associated Press shortly after polls closed, and his victory in a heavily Democratic state was never in doubt.
Newsom, who survived a recall effort a year ago, defeated Brian Dahle, the Republican challenger and a state senator.
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Republican Vance wins Ohio Senate race
GOP candidate JD Vance has won the race for Ohio’s open Senate seat, the Associated Press reports, denying the Democrats an opportunity to add to their majority in Congress’s upper chamber.
Vance defeated Democratic candidate Tim Ryan, who put up a stiffer-than-expected challenge in the state, which has increasingly trended towards Republicans in recent elections.
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Victory for abortion rights activists in Vermont
Voters in Vermont have voted to protect abortion rights in the states’ constitution, shoring up already-existing rights in the state.
That makes it the first state to protect abortion rights in the state constitution. For those having a ‘but what about Kansas??’ moment: that vote was slightly different, as anti-choice campaigners were asking people to confirm there were no protections for abortion in the state constitution.
That initiative was always expected to pass - in a state so pro-choice even the Republican governor was in supports of it. But the margins speak for themselves: with 62% of votes counted, the yes campaign led 77-23%.
Local news reported a jubilant atmosphere, with many campaigners congratulating themselves for making history. Full votes will be in on Wednesday.
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Democrat Stacey Abrams has conceded the Georgia governor’s race to Republican incumbent Brian Kemp, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:
Just in: Stacey Abrams has called Kemp to concede #gapol
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) November 9, 2022
The Associated Press has not yet called the race.
Greg Abbott wins re-election in Texas
Greg Abbott has won a third term as Texas governor after overcoming a challenge from Democrat Beto O’Rourke, the Associated Press projects.
Republicans spent more than $200m to fend off a strong challenge from the progressive O’Rourke, who was heavily critical of the governor’s response to the Uvalde school shooting, the state’s abortion ban, and the failure of the Texas electricity grid during storms last winter.
Abbott seized on crime, the economy, and Joe Biden’s perceived immigration failures at the southern border as key campaign issues.
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Polls close in California and Washington
Voting wrapped up in California and Washington as well as the rest of Oregon and Idaho at 11pm eastern time.
California is a Democratic stronghold in presidential election years, but home to several close House races in today’s election. The dynamic is much the same in Washington, though Republicans hold long-shot hopes of ousting Democratic senator Patty Murray.
Idaho is a Republican bastion where few surprises are expected tonight. In Oregon, the GOP thinks it has a shot at taking the governor’s mansion amid a backlash over homelessness and crime, as well as an independent candidate’s presence in the race.
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Virginia results indicate better-than-expected night for Democrats
The outcomes of two closely watched races in Virginia indicate Democrats are on course to lose their majority in the House of Representatives, but not by a huge margin.
Virginia is home to several House races viewed as bellwethers for the wider national mood, and results thus far indicate the “red wave” Democrats feared would push them decisively into the majority in Congress’s lower chamber isn’t coming this year. Rather, Democrats appear set to lose their slim grip on the House, but not by a huge amount.
The Associated Press has just declared that Jennifer Wexton has held on to her seat in the exurbs of Washington, DC and has said that Abigail Spanberger won re-election in another district outside the nation’s capital.
Voters in that area supported Joe Biden in the 2020 election, then Republican governor Glenn Youngkin the following year. If Spanberger lost, analysts believed it would have been a sign that Democrats nationally were in for a bad night. If Wexton, whose district has trended more Democratic in recent years, had fallen, that would have been a sign of a really bad night for Biden’s allies.
That said, Democrats are experiencing the rejection the party holding the White House typically does in their first midterm.
While the AP hasn’t called the race yet, it’s believed that Elaine Luria lost her reelection bid. She served on the January 6 committee, but has been down in the polls in a district the Cook Political Report considers the most evenly divided in the country
Updated
Maryland votes to legalize recreational marijuana
Maryland voters green-lighted a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana for adults over 21.
The vote puts Maryland among the 19 states, and District of Columbia, that have legalized adult-use cannabis, according to The Baltimore Sun.
Voters in four other states – including conservative strongholds such as Arkansas, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota – are considering ballot measures that would legalize adult-use marijuana during Tuesday’s midterm election.
Maryland has voted to legalize recreational marijuana use https://t.co/ZgA3ocstAR
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) November 9, 2022
The constitutional amendment in Maryland does not mean that adults can simply go into a shop and lawfully buy marijuana. This measure effectively means that Maryland’s state legislators can now establish the legal marijuana industry in this state.
The industry could start “as soon as” 1 July, according to the newspaper. The vote favoring adult-use cannabis will also put into effect some legislation that was approved during the 2022 state legislative session.
Under this legislation, penalties for cannabis possession will be lowered; for possession of up to 2.5oz of marijuana, the penalty is now a civil citation rather than a criminal charge. And, the legislative change sets up a process through which people can expunge prior marijuana possession convictions.
The vote also means that adults 21 and over can legally raise up to two marijuana plants at their homes starting 1 July. Each household can have a maximum of four plants, “which must be grown securely and out of public view,” the Sun reported.
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The Associated Press hasn’t called Pennsylvania’s governorship race yet, but NBC believes Democrat Josh Shapiro has won:
BREAKING: Democrat Josh Shapiro wins Pennsylvania governor's race, NBC News projects. https://t.co/IAT1oNcXPg pic.twitter.com/osRepr5Vr0
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 9, 2022
Election tracker Decision Desk HQ has called New Hampshire’s Senate race for the Democratic incumbent Maggie Hassan.
Decision Desk HQ projects Maggie Hassan (D) wins re-election to the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire.#DecisionMade: 10:30pm EST
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 9, 2022
Follow more results here: https://t.co/ogd3AkeoyM pic.twitter.com/ZCnFzUSspD
The GOP was hoping that their candidate Don Bolduc could oust Hassan and put them on the path to take control of the chamber. However, the Associated Press, whose race calls The Guardian follows, has not made a determination in New Hampshire. The northeastern state is considered a swing state, though has trended Democratic in recent years.
Poppy Noor has news from Kentucky’s referendum on abortion rights:
Residents of Kentucky have been voting on a referendum to state there is no right to abortion in the state’s constitution. Abortion advocates worried about the vote, because although voters in deep red Kansas voted no when given the same option earlier this year, Kentuckians skew slightly more conservative on abortion.
But the early signs are hopeful for pro-choice advocates. With 50% of the vote in, the no campaign has a 12% lead, which it has maintained steadily over the last few hours.
Earlier, Madeline Dyer from the EMW Surgical Center, one of two abortion clinics that remain in Kentucky, said that voters see the ballot proposal as too extreme.
“I’m really hopeful,” she said. Talking about an outreach campaign that she has been working on with University of Kentucky students, she added: “People find it so extreme, the idea of having no exceptions for abortion. These topics are very sensitive, and the majority of people understand there are situations where people should have access to abortion.
Kentucky’s state supreme court is set to review its current abortion ban on 15 November. A no vote on Tuesday can’t predict how judges will vote, but a win for the yes campaign would certainly be viewed as a huge obstacle for abortion rights.
In state supreme court elections, one judge seeking election is Joe Fischer, a former Republican congressman who was the key sponsor of the state’s trigger ban on abortion.
He also authored the anti-abortion referendum that’s being put to Kentucky voters tonight.
Updated
From Carlisa Johnson in Atlanta:
Election watch parties are under way in Georgia, although it looks like it could be a long night. At Democratic senator Raphael Warnock’s event in Atlanta, Bryce Berry, president of the Young Democrats of Georgia and a Morehouse student, spoke with the audience about the legacy that Georgians stand in.
“My hero, the late Congressman John Lewis, in 1965 stood on the Edmund Pettus Bridge,” said Berry. “He didn’t see the state troopers standing in front of him, he saw what was possible, and he pressed forward. He saw what was possible when we vote, and that’s Georgia, that’s America – the courage to press forward.”
Illustrating the diversity of Warnock’s supporters, Alma Young of the United Farm Workers Foundation, also took the stage to speak to the audience. “I stand here, the embodiment of the American Dream,” said Young, who arrived in Georgia at 16 as a migrant farm worker.
“I know that Senator Warnock is the son of sharecroppers. For us, this means the world because farmworkers live in the shadows. But we get a glimmer of light because we know Senator Warnock understands, and stands for us.”
Georgia’s Senate race between Warnock and controversial Republican challenger Herschel Walker is expected to be close and could go to a run-off next month.
Updated
From Sam Levine in Detroit, Michigan:
The mood is festive here at what Democrats hope will be an election night celebration for Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and other state party candidates at the MotorCity Casino in Detroit.
Mood is really celebratory here in Detroit at an election night party for Michigan Democrats pic.twitter.com/Q5mxtJPyo2
— Sam Levine (@srl) November 9, 2022
People are were dancing when I walked in, and cheers went up when MSNBC, playing on the big screens, showed Whitmer with a lead over her opponent, Republican Tudor Dixon.
Michigan could potentially be a bright spot for Democrats. In addition to winning the governor’s mansion, they have a chance to hold on to the attorney general and secretary of state’s office. They could also flip the state senate.
Meanwhile, at the White House, Joe Biden can’t do much but watch … and work the phones.
The president has made congratulatory calls to a number of Democrats who won their races tonight, the White House announced. These include Massachusetts governor-elect Maura Healey, Colorado governor Jared Polis, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and House representative Abigail Spanberger, whose Virginia district was seen as a bellwether for how strong the Republican resurgence tonight will be.
While several outlets have called Spanberger’s reelection win, the Associated Press has not done so.
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From Adam Gabbatt in Pittsburgh:
People have begun arriving at John Fetterman’s election night event in Pittsburgh, as Democratic supporters nervously await news about the Pennsylvania US Senate race.
Fetterman isn’t expected until much later, but hundreds are already in Stage AE, normally a gig space but in use tonight for political purposes.
At the crowded bar area, Bill Beardsley was drinking a beer made by Iron City, Pittsburgh’s local brewery. The retired union official at the Pittsburgh Steam Fitters union, described himself as a “labor Democrat”. He was confident of a Fetterman win, despite polls showing the race between Fetterman and Mehmet Oz, a Republican celebrity doctor, tightening in recent weeks.
“What the polling doesn’t reflect are the newly registered voters, most of which are women pissed off over Roe v Wade,” Beardsley said.
“The polls narrowing – it’s bound to happen. Most elections they do narrow, it’s not surprising in the least. Plus Oz’s campaign ran a brutal amounts of false ads, all of them were negative, so it was bound to happen.
“Every election, a bad guy lies his way into the picture.”
Oz has closed a once significant gap on Fetterman, and with the restrictive laws on when Pennsylvania can begin counting his votes, the race may not be decided tonight. Beardsley said he was not a fan of Oz, who has said he moved to Pennsylvania from New Jersey in October 2020, but has been accused of still living across the border.
“He’s a stone goof. He’s a fraud, he’s a charlatan, he’s a snake oil salesman. And he doesn’t even live in Pennsylvania.”
Updated
A longshot Democratic candidate in Louisiana challenging the Republican party’s US House whip Steve Scalise in Tuesday’s midterms will not be able to force him into a runoff, according to a New Orleans TV news station known for its accurate political projections.
WWL-TV called Scalise’s re-election outright about 15 minutes after the polls closed at 8pm local time in his district, which mostly encompasses suburban New Orleans.
Veteran station political analysts Clancy DuBos and pollster Ron Faucheux made the call in favor of Scalise, 57, as he took 72% of a sample of votes across his district, which they projected would be too large of a margin for two challengers to overcome even as the rest of the ballots came in and were counted.
The Democratic party’s nominee for the race, Katie Darling, captured 26% of that voting results sample, and Libertarian hopeful Howard Kearney took 2%.
Darling was hoping to finish ahead of Kearney while keeping Scalise under 50% to force him into a runoff that would have been held on 10 December.
Scalise, from the New Orleans suburb of Jefferson, has been the US House representative for Louisiana’s 1st congressional district since 2008 and is getting set for a ninth term in that post.
He was the House Republican whip – or the party’s number two in the chamber – heading into his re-election campaign. If the Republicans capture enough seats after Tuesday’s midterms to retake a majority in the House, he would be in line to become the party leader ranking just behind the chamber’s speaker, his hometown newspaper the Times-Picayune newspaper reported.
In that case, he would also become the highest-ranking Louisiana congressmember since the powerful New Orleans Democrat Hale Boggs, the US House majority party leader when he and his plane disappeared over Alaska during a trip in 1972.
Scalise’s ascent to that high-ranking spot would be just over five years after he survived being shot in an attack on a congressional baseball game practice in 2017.
Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich late in the night tweeted that a Republican source told her Scalise could even be in line for the House Speaker spot if the GOP took a majority in the chamber that the party considered underwhelming and rebuked California’s Kevin McCarthy for the role. McCarthy entered the night as the House’s Republican leader.
Scalise appeared at a post-campaign celebration with his wife, Jennifer, and two children late Tuesday and predicted the Republican party would recapture a majority in the House. Scalise pledged to work to lower prices at stores and gasoline stations, to push to increase domestic oil production, and to send more federal funding to law enforcement, all of which were Republican talking points during this midterm cycle.
“We need to make Washington work for people again, and that’s what the focus will be,” Scalise told supporters at the event at the popular restaurant Drago’s in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie.
Meanwhile, Darling’s campaign did capture some national attention at one point after an ad showed her pregnant and calling out the extremely restrictive Louisiana abortion laws which took effect after the US supreme court in June voted to eliminate the nationwide abortion rights that had been established by the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade case.
The ad features Darling going to a hospital in a wheelchair as she is about to give birth.
“We should be putting pregnant women at ease, not putting their lives at risk,” she said in the political spot, which went viral on social media.
Then, while holding her infant baby, she looked at the camera and declared, “I’m running for Congress … for you … and for him.”
In other prominent congressional races in Scalise’s region of Louisiana, WWL-TV was projecting Troy Carter – the Democratic incumbent in the state’s 2nd congressional district, based mostly in New Orleans – to win re-election outright and avoid a runoff against Republican Dan Lux.
Louisiana’s Republican US Senator John Neely Kennedy was also projected by the station to win outright over a large field of challengers that was arguably headlined by Democrats Luke Mixon and Gary Chambers.
None of Louisiana’s congressional races were expected to produce surprise outcomes, with incumbent candidates or their parties predicted to retain contested seats.
Most of the country’s congressional races during Tuesday’s midterms featured two-candidate runoffs. But in Louisiana, Tuesday’s midterms were so-called jungle primaries where the top two vote-getters would advance to a 10 December runoff regardless of party – unless any one candidate captured a majority of the ballots cast and won outright.
Updated
Fresh off his reelection win in the South Carolina Senate race, Republican Tim Scott hinted at running for president:
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) hints at a presidential run during his victory speech. pic.twitter.com/kGyehlGrEx
— The Recount (@therecount) November 9, 2022
He would have to square off against Donald Trump, who is expected to announce another run for the White House, perhaps in the days after the midterms.
Voting wraps up in too-close-to-call Nevada
Voting has just finished in Nevada, where its Democratic governor and senator are standing for re-election in races pollsters see as among the closest in the country.
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto is considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats up for another term in office, and is facing a stiff challenge from Republican Adam Laxalt, Nevada’s former attorney general. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, is standing for a second term against the GOP nominee Joe Lombardo, sheriff of Clark county, the state’s most populous.
Voting also wrapped up at 10pm eastern time in Montana and Utah, as well as parts of Idaho and Oregon.
Updated
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Marjorie Taylor Greene win re-election
Two firebrand congress members of the outside edges their parties have won reelection, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York for the Democrats, and extremist Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia, the Associated Press projects.
Progressive Ocasio-Cortez’s margin over Tina Forte is almost two votes to one, the agency says, although less than half the votes have so far been tallied.
Election denier Taylor Greene’s victory was called almost as soon as ballots closed in Georgia. If Republicans go on to secure control of the House of Representatives, she will be among those calling loudly for the impeachment of Joe Biden.
Updated
Dani Anguiano reports from Las Vegas:
With time running out for Nevadans to cast their ballots, candidates in the state’s tossup Senate race are still fighting to edge each other out with TV ads and outreach to voters.
Ads for Adam Laxalt, the Republican former state attorney general who is trying to unseat incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto, were running throughout Tuesday afternoon. Meanwhile, Democratic organizers in the state have dialed up efforts to contact voters.
Volunteers with the state’s Democratic party have made over 55,000 phone calls, sent more than a million text messages and knocked on roughly 5,500 doors. The local culinary union, which is backing Democratic candidates up and down the ballot, has knocked on more than one million doors in the state of 3m people.
“Statewide numbers are just razor thin right now. This comes down to getting as many of those voters to turn out in Nevada. When we turn out it goes blue,” said Matthew Fonken, the executive director of the state’s Democratic party.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke over Zoom with about 20 volunteers at the state’s Democratic party headquarters phone banking on the eve of the election: “In a race this close like it is with Nevada, it is all about souls to the polls, baby. We need to go into every grocery store, every crosswalk, every school pickup, we need to be everywhere.
“Nevada is a really important area in our country. I truly believe that the southwest United States holds the key to America’s political future.”
Meanwhile, the local culinary union was out canvassing through election day, knocking on doors to connect directly with voters and encourage them to vote – Nevada has same-day registration.
The latest dispatch from Chris McGreal in Columbus, Ohio:
There is a buoyant mood among Ohio Republicans at their election party in a downtown Columbus hotel after the Associated Press projected what looks to be an emphatic win for Mike DeWine in his campaign for re-election as the state’s governor.
But the predicted victory of a man widely regarded as a bipartisan, old-school conservative is a reminder of how far the Republican party has moved to the right – a shift accelerated by Donald Trump’s presidency.
The division in the Republican party was on display at Trump’s rally in Dayton on Monday evening. When he called DeWine on stage, many in the crowd booed at the governor who drew stinging criticism from some Republicans for following the science, and not Trump, during the early months of the Covid pandemic.
DeWine has maintained relatively strong approval ratings among Ohioans even if a majority oppose the ban on abortions beyond about six weeks of pregnancy that he signed into law.
But the real test of Republican strength in a state that twice voted for Barack Obama before embracing Trump in his two presidential elections will be the outcome of the race for US Senate between the bestselling author and venture capitalist, JD Vance, and his Democratic opponent, Congressman Tim Ryan.
The result will also be a test of the extent to which Trump’s endorsement is a help or a hindrance for a candidate. It was crucial in delivering Vance’s victory in the Republican primary, but may have undermined him in the general election by alienating some swing voters who were happy to vote for DeWine or in motivating Democrats to come out and vote who might otherwise have given the midterms a pass.
Ryan has run without much direct help from the Democratic leadership, although that in itself may have been a bonus because it allowed him to distance himself from a party elite viewed with suspicion by many working class voters in Ohio.
Opinion polls put the two neck and neck.
Updated
Congress has its first member from generation Z, after progressive Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a musician, Uber driver and gun-control activist, won his race in central Florida.
Democrat Frost, 25, won the seat vacated by Val Demings, who gave it up for her unsuccessful campaign to unseat Marco Rubio as US senator for Florida.
He campaigned on issues including abortion rights, the climate emergency and universal healthcare, and secured almost 60% of the vote against Republican candidate Calvin Wimbish.
WE WON!!!! History was made tonight. We made history for Floridians, for Gen Z, and for everyone who believes we deserve a better future. I am beyond thankful for the opportunity to represent my home in the United States Congress. #FL10
— Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@MaxwellFrostFL) November 9, 2022
But the activist turned politician, who was a director of the student-led March for Our Lives group following the 2018 massacre of 17 students and staff at a Parkland, Florida, high school, also drew controversy.
A pro-Palestinian group accused him of abandoning them and others accused him of tempering his progressive views as the campaign continued.
Other than Madison Cawthorn’s election in 2020, the Washington Post reports, Frost is the first 25-year-old elected to Congress in more than 45 years.
Read more:
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While polls have closed in Arizona, the legal wrangling over voting in its most populous county has not.
The New York Times reports that a judge has denied a Republican motion to keep polls open for three extra hours in Maricopa county, where Phoenix is:
BREAKING: An Arizona judge just DENIED a GOP motion to keep polls in Maricopa county open for 3 extra hours because of the tabulations issues today. https://t.co/cFKHH6wCch
— Ken Bensinger (@kenbensinger) November 9, 2022
However, the GOP plans to continue to pursue the issue:
A lawyer for the plaintiffs reserved the right to keep the matter open. In argument he said that the issue could determine the next AZ governor and the balance of the Senate — and it's clear the RNC is not dropping the issue.
— Ken Bensinger (@kenbensinger) November 9, 2022
Another hearing on the issue is set for Nov. 16
The two candidates for governor, Republican Kari Lake and Democrat Katie Hobbs, had before polls closed tweeted messages encouraging people to remain in line:
Remember: if you're in line by 7pm, you'll be able to cast your ballot! Maricopa voters: find your nearest voting location at https://t.co/hMClh8UaNW. Pima voters: visit https://t.co/76DBlSRev8 to find your polling location. #TrustedInfo2022 pic.twitter.com/QwMUfuotTB
— Secretary Katie Hobbs (@SecretaryHobbs) November 9, 2022
Your vote matters.
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 9, 2022
GET IN LINE.
STAY IN LINE.
AND VOTE!
If you are in line by 7 pm they CANNOT stop you from voting pic.twitter.com/fs7hwKucnr
Updated
The senate’s Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has been re-elected in New York, the Associated Press confirms.
Over the past two years, Schumer has led the Democratic majority in the chamber that they control by a single vote. Today’s election will determine whether he continues in that role, or returns to being the chamber’s minority leader if Democrats lose control.
Updated
Polls close in swing states Arizona and Wisconsin
Voting has just wrapped in Wisconsin and Arizona, both the site of closely watched races for governor and Senate.
Polls additionally closed in Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York and Wyoming at 9pm eastern time. Parts of Kansas, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas also finished voting.
Democrats are trying to revitalize their fortunes in Wisconsin by ousting sitting Republican senator Ron Johnson, though their candidate Mandela Barnes has been behind in recent polls. They’re also hoping voters will give Democratic governor Tony Evers a second term.
Arizona has only recently started trending towards Democrats, and there, senator Mark Kelly is fighting for his seat against the GOP nominee Blake Masters. Democrat Katie Hobbs is seen as badly trailing Republican Kari Lake in the contest for governor.
Updated
The Republican party has scored a victory in its quest to regain the majority in the House, with Anna Luna defeating Democratic candidate Eric Lynn in Florida, according to the Associated Press.
The district around St Petersburg on the Gulf coast was previously represented by Democrat Charlie Crist, who resigned to unsuccessfully run against Republican governor Ron DeSantis.
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Sam Levine reports from Detroit, Michigan, on fears that polling would be disrupted, and voters intimidated across the country. The state wraps up voting in about 15 minutes:
It wasn’t perfect, but voting seems to have unfolded without major instances of violence or disruption at the polling place.
Going into election day, there was concern there would be significant numbers of voters who would show up and find their eligibility challenged. And there was deep worry that voters would face harassment, fears that were escalated when citizens with guns patrolled drop boxes in Arizona during early voting and photographed people as they dropped off their ballots.
But as polls began to close on Tuesday, there were no widespread reports of intimidation or harassment. Nor were there reports of widespread issues.
There were reports of voters being harassed as they went into polling sites in Florida and Texas, said Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which helps run a voter protection hotline.
There were also reports of students at Texas A&M not being able to get provisional ballots. College students in Ohio also reportedly faced questions about their eligibility at the polls, said an official from the state’s chapter of Common Cause, a government watchdog group.
In Detroit, a glitch in the electronic poll book software led to voters being told that they had already cast a mail-in ballot when they showed up to vote. The issue was quickly corrected and no voters were blocked from voting, the state said.
That didn’t stop Donald Trump and Kristina Karamo, the Republican nominee to be Michigan’s top election official, from suggesting something was amiss.
In Arizona, there were issues with tabulators at nearly a third of vote centers in Maricopa county. Technicians resolved the problem by late afternoon on Tuesday. The Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit to keep the polls open three extra hours, until 10pm ET, and not post any results until 11pm.
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Here’s a little perspective on the significance Florida’s rightward lurch, courtesy of Politico:
Massive rightward shift in Florida. Against a much stronger opponent this time around (Demings), Rubio running away with it with 56 percent of the vote and 14-point edge w 78% in.
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) November 9, 2022
Rubio beat Murphy 52-44 in 2016.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders elected governor of Arkansas
The Associated Press confirms it: Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been elected governor in Arkansas, becoming the state’s first woman to serve in the office.
She takes over from fellow Republican Asa Hutchinson.
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Rubio victory confirms Republican wave in Florida
Marco Rubio has been re-elected as senator for Florida, trouncing his Democratic challenger Val Demings and confirming a wave of Republican support in the former swing state.
With 78% of votes counted, according to the Associated Press, Rubio had recorded an insurmountable lead, 56.8% to Demings’ 42.6%.
It reflected a similar margin recorded by Ron DeSantis, the state’s Republican governor re-elected to a second term of office after seeing off a challenge from Democrat Charlie Crist.
Notable was Rubio turning Miami-Dade county, formerly a Democratic stronghold, along with neighboring Broward and Palm Beach counties in the state’s south east corner, red for the first time in four decades.
Republicans in Florida had been increasingly confident of securing the support of the region’s sizeable Hispanic voting bloc.
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Polls have closed in Arkansas, a solidly red state where no surprises are anticipated tonight.
Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders is expected to win election as the state’s first female governor. She previously served as one of Donald Trump’s many White House press secretaries.
Democrat Healey triumphs in Massachusetts governor's race
Democrat Maura Healey has won the governor’s race in Massachusetts, the Associated Press says, taking the office from outgoing Republican Charlie Baker.
Healey is the state’s current attorney general, and will be the first openly lesbian governor in the country. She beat Republican Geoff Diehl.
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DeSantis reelected as Florida governor
Republican Ron DeSantis has won reelection as Florida governor, according to an Associated Press projection.
The ultra-conservative DeSantis handily defeated Democrat Charlie Crist, himself a former Republican governor of the state.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has won reelection to his second term in office, defeating Democrat Charlie Crist.
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 9, 2022
DeSantis’ victory will help him continue his march as a rising Republican star and could serve as a launching pad to a 2024 White House bid. https://t.co/lCA8pLaimu pic.twitter.com/unmSrOwZnN
Questions will immediately be asked if DeSantis, a rising star of the Republican party, intends to see out his new term, or use his reelection as a springboard to challenge for the 2024 presidential nomination.
Former president Donald Trump, his likely rival if he runs, spent time Tuesday trying to dissuade DeSantis from launching a campaign, advising him to “stay in Florida”.
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Wes Moore makes history as Maryland's first Black governor
Maryland has elected Democrat Wes Moore as governor, putting an African American into the governor’s mansion for the first time:
BREAKING: Democrat Wes Moore wins election for governor in Maryland. #APracecall at 8:00 p.m. EST. https://t.co/2nlgpji7ac
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 9, 2022
Moore replaces Republican Larry Hogan, a moderate who managed to twice win election in what is otherwise a solidly blue state.
Polls close in swing-state Pennsylvania and 15 others
Polls have just closed in Pennsylvania, where Democrats are trying to keep control of its governors mansion and win its open Senate seat.
The eastern state is one of more than a dozen others to finish voting at 8pm eastern time. Voting wrapped up in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Tennessee. Polling also concluded in the rest of Florida as well as parts of Kansas, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas.
Washington DC, which does not elect senators but does have a non-voting delegate in the House, also closed its polls.
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Polls are closing imminently in Texas. Erum Salam takes a look at the issues that have been central to voters.
The stakes are high in Texas, a state that recently passed one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws, saw one of the deadliest mass shootings in history in Uvalde, and where the electrical grid faces scrutiny after it failed during the 2021 winter storm, causing widespread blackouts.
For governor, Texans are witnessing a tight race between hard-right Republican Greg Abbott and Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who outraised his opponent but still trails in the polls. O’Rourke challenged Ted Cruz for his US senate seat in 2018, but lost by less than 3%.
Other key races in the state include the seats for lieutenant governor and attorney general, positions currently held by Republicans Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton respectively, both of whom denied the results of the 2020 presidential election and promote false voter fraud theories.
In recent years, South Texas, a historically Democratic bastion where Latino voters are key, has been losing ground to Republicans. Across counties in the area in 2020, Joe Biden either won against Donald Trump by lower margins compared with Hillary Clinton in 2016, or lost outright.
Three key House races in south Texas are between Latinos on opposite sides of the political spectrum, and remain close. In district 15, progressive Michelle Vallejo faces off against Trump-backed Monica De La Cruz.
District 28 has been blue since its creation in 1993, but history could change if Cassy Garcia defeats incumbent Democrat Henry Cuellar.
And in district 34, far-right conspiracy theorist and incumbent Mayra Flores faces Democratic challenger Vincente Gonzalez.
Texas voters have cited as top concerns securing the border, inflation and the economy, and reproductive rights.
The Guardian’s Poppy Noor is in Detroit, Michigan, where voting closes at 8pm ET.
Poll workers at the Keiden Special education center were cheerful and chatty this evening, as a line of 10 or so voters stood waited to cast their vote.
The two precincts represented at the polling booth are usually low turnout, they said, but today turnout has been much higher, especially among young people and first time voters.
But one poll worker reported frustration from several voters, who had seen signs at the Boys and Girls club of Southeast Michigan - another polling location just around the corner - saying there was no voting today.
“We heard our first complaint at 6.30am, and have since heard from three others,” she said, expressing dismay at what she viewed as a deterrent tactic. She said they had followed up with the department of elections.
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In less than 30 minutes, polls will shut in Pennsylvania, home to two closely watched races.
The first is for its Senate seat, which is being vacated by a Republican and represents an opportunity for the Democrats to pad their majority in the chamber – or offset a loss elsewhere. Republican Mehmet Oz is in a very close race against Democrat John Fetterman.
The other is for the governor’s mansion, where Democrat Josh Shapiro appears to be leading his Republican challenger Doug Mastriano. Mastriano is regarded as a particularly vociferous denier of the facts around Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
CBS News has reported some exit poll data for the state, which contains good news for Democrats. The survey indicates abortion is voters’ top concern, an issue that is seen as animating Democratic turnout after the supreme court in June overturned Roe v Wade and allowed states to ban the procedure:
PRELIMINARY CBS NEWS EXIT POLL -- PENNSYLVANIA:
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) November 8, 2022
Which ONE of these issues mattered most to your vote?
Abortion 36%
Inflation 28%
Crime 11%
Gun policy 10%
Immigration 8%
PRELIMINARY CBS NEWS EXIT POLL -- PENNSYLVANIA:
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) November 8, 2022
Which comes closest to your position? Abortion should be ...
Legal in all/most cases 64%
Illegal in all/most cases 32%
Trump warns DeSantis against White House run
The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell is at former president Donald Trump’s election night party at his Palm Beach, Florida, mansion:
Donald Trump briefly wandered into the ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago resort, the venue for the election night watch party, and appeared to warn Florida governor Ron DeSantis – for a second time on Tuesday – that running for the White House in 2024 would be a mistake.
“I’m not sure he would want to run,” Trump said of DeSantis, who is expected to coast to re-election in the gubernatorial race and is considering a presidential campaign.
The former president’s remarks doubled down on more expansive comments earlier in the day that suggested he would reveal unsavory information about DeSantis were he to challenge Trump for the Republican nomination in 2024.
“If he did run, I will tell you things about him that won’t be very flattering,” Trump told reporters. “I know more about him than anybody other than perhaps his wife, who is really running his campaign.”
Trump endorsed DeSantis in his 2018 campaign for governor, elevating him from a relatively obscure Tea Party congressman to the most powerful politician in Florida. DeSantis only narrowly won that election but his opposition to Covid lockdowns and vaccines turned him into a Republican darling.
Trump is expected to announce his third run for the White House potentially as soon as next week, according to people familiar with discussions, but he remained coy about who he might choose as a running mate for vice-president.
“Oh, I’ll let you know very soon,” he said.
Read more:
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Polls close in Ohio, where Democrat Tim Ryan aims to turn back red tide
Voting has just finished in Ohio, which was once considered a swing state but has in recent elections become dominated by the GOP. That doesn’t mean it’s not home to an interesting race. In the contest for its open Senate seat, surveys have shown Democrat Tim Ryan displaying surprising strength against Republican JD Vance. A Ryan victory would be something of an upset, and would greatly aid the Democrats’ quest to continue holding the Senate.
Also closing their polls at 7.30pm eastern time are North Carolina and West Virginia. The latter state is solidly red, and is not viewed as having close races this year. One of North Carolina’s Senate seats is being vacated, but Republican Ted Budd is favored to win over Democrat Cheri Beasley.
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The Republican candidate for governor in Arizona, Kari Lake, told reporters earlier she will be their “worst fricking nightmare for eight years” if she defeats the Democrat Katie Hobbs.
Lake has been talked up as a running mate for Donald Trump in his widely expected run for the Republican presidential nomination.
Asked about the prospect on Tuesday, the former TV anchor said: “We have talked about this before. I’ve answered this question. I am going to not only be the governor of Arizona for four years, I’m going to do two terms.
“I’m going to be your worst fricking nightmare for eight years, and we will reform the media as well. We are going to make you guys into journalists again, so get ready. It’s gonna be a fun eight years. I can’t wait to be working with you.”
Lake has mirrored Trump in attacking the mainstream media despite having thrived within it. Before entering politics, Trump hosted 14 seasons of The Apprentice for NBC. Lake had a long career as an anchor for KSAZ-TV, a Fox affiliate in Phoenix.
On election day, Lake shared a campaign ad in which she smashed TVs.
“It’s time to take a sledgehammer to the mainstream media’s lies and propaganda,” said Lake, who has repeated Trump’s propagandist lie about electoral fraud in his defeat by Joe Biden in 2020.
The televisions Lake destroyed showed anchors from MSNBC and CNN.
As Arizona voted on Tuesday, Lake’s shift from TV to politics looked likely to pay off. The Cook Political Report rated the race a toss-up but the polling website FiveThirtyEight gave Lake a 68% chance. The University of Virginia Center for Politics said the race leaned Republican.
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The Republican National Committee (RNC) has joined a lawsuit filed by what it says is a party “coalition” – including candidate for governor Kari Lake – to extend polling hours in Arizona’s Maricopa county, citing “tabulation issues” with voting machines that election officials say are false.
“Voting machines in over 25% of voting locations have experienced significant issues. The widespread issues – in an election administered by Democrat secretary of state Katie Hobbs – are completely unacceptable,” the RNC statement says, in part.
County officials say a Republican claim that the machines are not tabulating votes properly is “not true”. They are also challenging a tweet by Republican state senate candidate John Kavanagh calling on voters to take photographs as evidence.
“It is illegal to take pictures inside a vote center,” the county says.
Voting in Arizona is set to close at 9pm ET.
1. This claim is not true.
— Maricopa County (@maricopacounty) November 8, 2022
2. It is illegal to take pictures inside a vote center... so do not encourage friends to do this. pic.twitter.com/TQ07hYVWmF
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The Associated Press has made its first race calls for this evening, none of which are surprises:
BREAKING: Republican Harold Rogers wins reelection to U.S. House in Kentucky's 5th Congressional District. #APracecall at 7:07 p.m. EST. https://t.co/2nlgpji7ac
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 9, 2022
BREAKING: Democrat Peter Welch wins election to U.S. Senate from Vermont. #APracecall at 7:00 p.m. EST. https://t.co/2nlgpji7ac
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 9, 2022
BREAKING: Republican Tim Scott wins reelection to U.S. Senate from South Carolina. #APracecall at 7:00 p.m. EST. https://t.co/2nlgpjzI1K
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 9, 2022
Polls won’t close there till 10 pm eastern time, but one of the biggest races tonight is in Nevada, where Democratic senator Catherine Cortez Masto is fighting for another term. Dani Anguiano is on the ground in Las Vegas:
At the Doolittle community center on the historic westside of Las Vegas, a steady stream of voters trickled in through the day, despite winds and light rain that some feared could drive down turnout.
Jazlynn Roush, a voting outreach canvasser for Democrats, attributed it to voters casting their ballots early and via mail. Roush has spent recent weeks urging people to get out and vote, particularly in local races.
“People don’t think about their district as much as they do their country,” she said. “It’s your local elections that make the biggest difference in your life”.
Some at the community center voters were greeted by congressman Steven Horsford, a Democrat running against Republican Sam Peters, a retired Air Force Major who has expressed doubt about the 2020 election.
Horsford spoke with an 18-year-old who had never voted, encouraging him to register and cast his ballot. “By voting you can protect our democracy,” he told the young man. “It makes a world of difference in a race as close as mine”.
With so many close races, Nevada Dems are trying to reach as many voters as possible in the home stretch. Outside the Doolittle community center in Las Vegas’ Westside, @RepHorsford encouraged an 18-year-old to vote for the first time: “By voting you can protect our democracy” pic.twitter.com/GGV9vAYZgz
— Dani Anguiano (@Dani_Anguiano) November 8, 2022
“This midterm is critical to the future,” Horsford told the Guardian. “We just want to make sure that young men like him, and all other eligible voters get their vote in today, especially young Black men, who sometimes feel maybe disenfranchised or not reached in the way that we need to.
“I talked about who I am, my roots in this community and why I’m running and I’m hopeful that he’ll cast his ballot, and be proud of the fact that he got to participate in this election”.
Las Vegas resident Henry Thorns said he voted for Horsford and every other Democrat because he felt the candidates would address issues including housing, homelessness and abortion rights. “This election here is more important than anything,” he said.
Polls close in Georgia, home to crucial Senate race
Polls have just closed in Georgia, the site of one of this year’s closest Senate races, as well as in Virginia, South Carolina and Vermont.
In Georgia, Democratic senator Raphael Warnock is fighting for his seat against Republican challenger Herschel Walker. The Democrats have the bare minimum required for a majority in Congress’s upper chamber, and if Warnock loses, they will need to gain a Senate seat elsewhere to maintain control.
Parts of Florida and the remainder of Indiana and Kentucky also closed their polls at 7pm eastern time.
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Earlier this week, poll guru Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report identified a group of vulnerable Democratic House representatives whose races could be indicative of the party’s wider fortunes.
The Republicans are widely expected to take control of the House after today’s elections, but the greater question is how big their majority will be. Here’s what Wasserman had to say:
Here's my rough thinking early on Election Night:
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) November 4, 2022
- If #VA02 Luria (D) holds on, better night for Dems than expected
- If #IN01 Mrvan (D) or #VA07 Spanberger (D) lose, Rs likely winning 20+ seats
- If #NH02 Kuster (D) or #VA10 Wexton (D) lose, Rs likely winning 30+ seats https://t.co/XNIp07Sj0y
A word of caution, though: at least in VA, the very first results reported are likely to favor Rs. Extra caution is warranted in #VA07, where Prince William Co.'s mail ballots are critical to Rep. Abigail Spanberger's (D) path to victory and could be the last to be counted.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) November 4, 2022
The Guardian’s Adam Gabbatt is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, another state with tight races for senator and governor, and has this report:
The result of the Senate election in Pennsylvania is set to be extremely tight, but a corresponding race to become the state’s next governor has mostly gone under the radar.
That’s largely because Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate, has run a strange, furtive campaign: refusing all media requests from mainstream local and national media, and only running television ads in Pennsylvania in the last couple of weeks.
Mastriano, a Donald Trump-backed, far-right election denier, has never troubled Josh Shapiro, the Democratic candidate, in the polls, and currently trails his opponent by an average of 8.3%.
The bid by Mastriano was flawed from the start. The state senator narrowly won the Republican primary, but only after Democrats ran ads boosting Mastriano, hoping he would be easier to defeat in November.
It turns out they were probably right, as Mastriano, a Christian nationalist who has said women who violated a proposed six-week abortion ban should be charged with murder, has apparently proved too extreme for his own party. Mastriano frequently attacks trans people, has said gay marriage should be illegal, and that same-sex couples should not be allowed to adopt children.
The establishment GOP essentially gave up on Mastriano earlier this year, opting not to spend money advertising an ailing campaign, and even an appearance with Trump on Saturday seems unlikely to make a difference.
In what could be a long night for Democrats, a triumph in the governor’s race would be some good news. As governor, Mastriano, who in 2020 introduced a bill which would have rejected certification of Pennsylvania’s vote, would choose who certifies – or doesn’t – the state’s election results.
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First US midterms polls close in Indiana and Kentucky
Polls have just closed in Indiana and Kentucky, both states whose races aren’t viewed as tight or crucial to determining Senate control. The calm won’t last for long.
At 7pm eastern time, voting will end in several states, including Georgia, home to one of this year’s marquee senate races as Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock attempts to fend off Republican challenger Herschel Walker. Other states where polls close include South Carolina, Virginia and Vermont, as well as the rest of Kentucky and Indiana, and part of Florida.
A slew of states shut their polling places at 8pm eastern time, including New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, both states with Senate races are seen as crucial for determining whether Democrats can hang on to their majority for another two years. Other big states wrapping up include Maryland and parts of Texas and Michigan.
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No races have been called yet, but the Associated Press just released the results of a poll that reveals a sour mood among the electorate, with voters tired of high inflation and worried about the state of both America’s economy and democracy.
The poll of 90,000 voters conducted for the AP by NORC at the University of Chicago showed half of voters say inflation was a significant factor in their vote, while 8 in 10 said they think the economy is in a poor state. Another 44% of voters said the future of American democracy was their top concern.
Here’s more from the AP:
Inflation has been a clear blow to the well-being of many Americans. A third of voters describe their families as falling behind financially. That’s nearly double the percentage of the electorate that said the same two years ago. A similar percentage say they are not confident they can keep up with their expenses.
While inflation has shaped Republican messaging in the run-up to the midterms, voters are split over pinning the blame on Biden. About half say his policies led prices to climb, while nearly as many say the inflation is due to forces outside the president’s control.
Democrats also tried to tap their base’s outrage after the Supreme Court overturned the abortion protections in Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision enshrining the right to abortion. Overall, 7 in 10 voters say the ruling was an important factor in their midterm decisions.
VoteCast also shows the reversal was broadly unpopular. About 6 in 10 say they are angry or dissatisfied by it, while about 4 in 10 were pleased. And roughly 6 in 10 say they favor a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide.
Crime also was an important factor for most voters, and half say the Biden administration has made the U.S. less safe from crime.
Despite concerns about democracy, about 4 in 10 voters say they are “very” confident that votes in the midterm elections will be counted accurately, an improvement from the percentage of the 2020 electorate that said so.
First polls about to close in midterm voting
Polling places will soon close in the first US states after millions of Americans cast ballots in an election that’s widely viewed as a referendum on Joe Biden’s first two years in office, and could put Donald Trump’s Republican allies back into control of Congress.
Voting will wrap up in Kentucky and most of Indiana at 6 pm eastern time, with other states following suit in the hours ahead. Expect the outcome of several crucial races to be called today and in the wee hours of Wednesday. Other contests are so close that they are expected to be fought to the last ballot, and it could be days before the outcomes are known.
However it shakes out, follow this live blog for the latest news on this year’s midterm elections as it happens.
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