Democrats defied expectations in the midterm elections, potentially defending enough seats to maintain control of the Senate but likely not enough to keep Republicans from taking the House. The battle for power in Congress stood too close to call this morning.
The Democrats’ biggest win of the night came in the Pennsylvania Senate race, where John Fetterman defeated Dr. Mehmet Oz to flip the seat, which is held by the retiring Republican Pat Toomey. Three other races critical to the outcome of Senate control — Arizona, Georgia and Nevada — were too close to call. Democrats, who are running incumbents in all three seats, probably need to win two to keep the Senate; Republicans have to pick off two to take over.
We may not know who won the Senate for some time: Georgia’s contest appears headed to a runoff election, to be held in December. (See the latest Senate results.)
In the House, Republicans are favored to win control, but they appear to be on track to do so by less than many political observers expected. The Times forecasts that Republicans will end up with 224 seats, just above the 218 needed to secure a majority. That result would be the weakest performance by the president’s opposing party in a midterm election since 2002. “This is not the night the Republicans wanted,” Nate Cohn, The Times’s chief political analyst, wrote. “The party is underperforming most everywhere.” (See the latest House results.)
For President Biden, a Republican-controlled House dooms his chances of passing the rest of his agenda in the next two years. Keeping the Senate would let Democrats continue approving Biden’s nominations for his administration and the courts.
Here’s where we stand:
-
Many of Donald Trump’s most prominent endorsements came up short. He delivered brief remarks at a Mar-a-Lago party last night, and made no mention of DeSantis, a potential 2024 rival.
-
America leaves these midterms much as it entered, The Times’s Lisa Lerer writes: a divided country that remains anchored in a narrow range of the political spectrum.
-
It could take days to get all the results. Here’s a potential timeline.
Senate
Many of the biggest contests are too close to call. Here’s where the rest of the major races stand:
-
Georgia: Raphael Warnock, the Democratic incumbent, leads Herschel Walker, the Trump-backed former football star, but the race appeared headed to a Dec. 6 runoff.
-
Nevada: The race between Catherine Cortez Masto, a one-term Democratic incumbent, and Adam Laxalt, the state’s election-denying former attorney general, remained too close to call. Many ballots are left to count.
-
Arizona: Mark Kelly, the Democratic incumbent, led Blake Masters, a Trump-endorsed venture capitalist, according to The Times’s election needle. The race was leaning toward Kelly.
-
Wisconsin: Ron Johnson, the Republican incumbent, narrowly led Mandela Barnes, the state’s Democratic lieutenant governor.
-
Republicans held on to seats in Ohio, where J.D. Vance, a critic-turned-defender of Trump, beat Tim Ryan, a Democratic member of Congress., and in North Carolina, where Ted Budd, a Republican member of Congress, defeated Cheri Beasley, the state’s Democratic former chief justice.
-
Maggie Hassan, a two-term Democratic incumbent in New Hampshire, easily beat Don Bolduc, a Republican retired Army general who had questioned the 2020 election results.
House
Headed into the election, Democrats held a narrow majority in the House: 220 to 212. Republicans needed to win 19 competitive seats to take control. So far, they have won five. Democrats would need to win 46 to keep control and have claimed 19.
-
Republicans flipped seats in New Jersey and Virginia. In New York’s Hudson Valley, Mike Lawler was leading Sean Patrick Maloney, the head of the Democrats’ House campaign arm.
-
Marjorie Taylor Greene, once a political pariah, glided to victory in her predominantly Republican district.
-
Democrats flipped Republican-held House seats in Ohio and Michigan and held on to vulnerable seats in Virginia, New Hampshire and elsewhere.
-
Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat, won re-election in an Ohio district redrawn to favor Republicans. She is set to become the longest-serving woman in congressional history.
-
Mary Peltola, a Democrat and the first Alaska Native elected to Congress, was ahead of Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich in Alaska’s sole House election.
-
Vermont elected Becca Balint, a progressive Democrat, to its lone House seat, becoming the last U.S. state to send a woman to Congress.
-
Maxwell Frost, a 25-year-old Democrat, will become the first Gen Z member of Congress after winning a Florida House seat.
Governors
Headed into Election Day, Republicans controlled 28 governors’ mansions, while Democrats controlled 22. Democrats flipped the governorships of Maryland and Massachusetts. Some notable races:
-
Florida: DeSantis won historically Democratic parts of the state, giving his party an unusually strong performance. The results may boost his prospects as a potential 2024 presidential candidate.
-
Arizona: The race between Kari Lake, a former TV news anchor who falsely claims Trump won the 2020 election, and Katie Hobbs, the Democratic secretary of state, remained uncalled.
-
New York: Kathy Hochul won a full term, beating Lee Zeldin, a Republican member of Congress, in one of the state’s closest races in decades.
-
Maine: Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, won a second term, defeating Paul LePage, the Republican former governor.
-
Michigan: The incumbent Democrat, Gretchen Whitmer, defeated the Trump-endorsed Tudor Dixon.
Ballot measures
-
Maryland and Missouri voted to legalize recreational marijuana. Similar efforts failed in Arkansas and North Dakota.
-
Washington, D.C., overwhelmingly voted for a higher minimum wage for tipped workers.
-
Ballot initiatives restricting forced prison labor passed in Alabama, Tennessee and Vermont and failed in Louisiana. Results in Oregon were too early to call.
Commentary
“Big winners tonight: Biden, who lost far fewer congressional seats than historical averages; reproductive rights, which proves a major issue among voters; democracy, with huge voter turnout and many high-profile election deniers losing big.” — Mark Updegrove, historian
“There wasn’t a red wave. That is a searing indictment of the Republican Party. That is a searing indictment of the message that we have been sending to the voters.” — Marc Thiessen, Washington Post columnist and Fox News commentator
“If you’re worried about the health of our democracy, it seems pretty good that we’ve had big turnout — implying that both sides think their votes actually matter.” — Farhad Manjoo, Times Opinion columnist
“Voters weren’t necessarily looking to move the country left or right. They were anxious about the ways our country feels like it is unraveling. They went looking for a safe harbor in a storm.” — Kristen Soltis Anderson, Republican pollster
“Dems have a Florida problem, but Republicans have a Trump problem. That seems harder to solve.” — Jen Psaki, former Biden press secretary
THE LATEST NEWS
MORNING READS
Leading artist: Revisiting Winston Churchill’s paintings.
Stolen Rolex: A high-drama divorce in Italian soccer royalty.
Full-body workout: You can do it in 20 minutes.
Lives Lived: Evelyn de Rothschild, heir to a European banking dynasty, might have become a playboy. Instead, he joined the family business and helped reshape the British economy. He died at 91.
Tinggalkan Balasan