Counting for the US midterm election is underway. As per the early trend, Republicans are leading in the race for the US House. Whereas, it requires one Democratic seat to gain control of the Senate. Republicans are chasing a congressional majority that would paralyze President Joe Biden’s agenda for the next two years and pave the way for Donald Trump to return to the White House. The party that controls the White House typically loses seats in midterm elections, and experts suggest Tuesday’s results will be no exception.
Democrats currently control the 100-seat Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris able to break any 50-50 ties.
In addition to every House seat, 35 Senate seats and three dozen governors’ races are on the ballot. The final outcome of the congressional races is unlikely to be known any time soon. More than 46 million Americans voted ahead of Election Day, either by mail or in person, according to data from the U.S. Election Project, and state election officials caution that counting those ballots will take time.
High inflation and abortion rights were voters’ top concerns, exit polls showed.
Who will win the US Congress?
The race for US Congress remains on tenterhooks as the Senate is still a toss-up, and Republicans are favoured to win a narrow majority in the House.
Defying expectations that high inflation and President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings would drag the party down, Democrats showed surprising strength as it defeated Republicans in a series of competitive races.
Despite empirical evidence that the ruling party almost always looses the mid-terms, the Democrats have been hoping that anger from the Supreme Court’s decision to gut abortion rights might energize their voters to buck historical trends.
US gets first openly gay governor
Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey has been elected governor of Massachusetts, making history as the nation’s first openly lesbian governor. Healey defeated Republican Geoff Diehl, a former state representative.
‘We made history. Didn’t we?’. said Healey after the results
Democrat Lt. Gov. Josh Green becomes Hawaii’s next governor
Hawaii. Lt. Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat, defeated former Lt. Gov. Aiona to be Hawaii’s next governor.
Michigan gets 1st Indian-American representative to US House
Entrepreneur-turned-politician and Democrat Shri Thanedar became the first Indian American from the state of Michigan, pipping Republican candidate Martell Bivings.
Mr Thanedar, 67, currently represents the third district in the Michigan House.
He won 84,096 votes, while Mr Bivings received more than 27,366 votes.
He defeated a crowded field of Democrats running for the open seat, including state Rep. Adam Hollier, Portia Roberson, John Conyers III and Sherry Gay-Dagnogo.
4 Indian-Americans politicians elected to US House
Four Indian-American politicians from the ruling Democratic Party, including Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal, were elected to the US House of Representatives on Wednesday and many others won across the country to state legislatures in the highly polarised midterm elections.
Michigan Mid-term poll result
Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has won a second four-year term, defeating Republican challenger Tudor Dixon in a campaign that focused on their opposing views on abortion.
Wisconsin retains Democrat candidate
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers won a second term in office, positioning himself as a check on Republican power in the state. Evers often touted the fact that he vetoed more than 120 GOP-backed bills that would have broadened gun rights, limited access to abortion and made it harder to cast absentee ballots
Control of Congress unclear with counting still on
According to AP, the control of Congress still hangs in the balance as quite unexpectedly Democrats have shown resilience in the midterm elections.
Votes are still being counted across US.
However, Republicans still has the opportunity to win control. But the results were nonetheless uplifting for Democrats who were braced for sweeping losses, following historically evident poll results.
Notable wins in the US midterm election
With the balance of the House and Senate coming down to hadful of key states, here are some of the notable winners:
1. John Fetterman beats Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania
2. JD Vance takes Ohio Senate seat
3. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer defeated Republican Tudor Dixon in her reelection bid
4. Republican Mark Gordon has won a second term as Wyoming’s governor, beating Theresa Livingstonn
5. Republican Governor Phil Scott was reelected for the fourth consecutive year in Vermont. Scott defeated Democrat Brenda Siegel and three independent candidates.
6. Democrat Richard Blumenthal won a third term in office, fending off a challenge from first-time candidate Leora Levy, a Republican who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
7. Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was elected Arkansas governor, becoming the first woman to lead the state.
8. Republican US Senator Marco Rubio has won a third term, defeating Val Demings.
9. Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday gained a second term as he defeated challenger Nan Whaley, a Democrat.
10. Robert Menendez, the son of Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez won an open House seat in New Jersey
11. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrats won in New York
12. Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene won in Georgia
Democrat Fetterman wins Pennsylvania Senate race
John Fetterman won Pennsylvania’s pivotal race for US Senate, flipping a Republican-held seat.
Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s towering and plainspoken lieutenant governor, who became a progressive hero as mayor of a downtrodden steel town, defeated Dr. Mehmet Oz, the smooth-talking and wealthy heart surgeon-turned-TV celebrity who had just moved to the presidential battleground state to run for Senate.
Fetterman won despite national political headwinds for Democrats, such as rising inflation. He will succeed retiring second-term Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.
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New Mexico’s Democratic governor Michelle Lujan Grisham defeats Republican Mark Ronchetti
Democratic incumbent Michelle Lujan Grisham won re-election, surviving a challenge from Republican Mark Ronchetti, a former television weatherman, in New Mexico’s gubernatorial contest.
Lujan Grisham’s campaign emphasised abortion rights as she directed $10 million in state money to build an abortion clinic near the Texas border, while Ronchetti supported banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
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Democrat Tony Evers wins reelection for governor in Wisconsin
Tony Evers defeated Trump-backed construction executive Tim Michels.
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.
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Five takeaways from the US Midterms so far:
The midterm elections are neither a Republican landslide nor a Democratic surprise … but there is still a long way to go before we have winners in several key races. Here are 5 takeaways from the midterm:
1. Bad candidates cost the Republicans badly. Several Trump-backed extremists, including New Hampshire Senate candidate Don Bolduc and Pennsylvania gubernatorial contender Doug Mastriano, lost their races.
2. Republicans appear to be falling short of a different type of expectation based on what political scientists regard as election “fundamentals,” such as which party is in the White House and how popular the president is. Those core factors, and especially President Joe Biden’s popularity rating, which is hovering below 42%, suggested a tough night for Democrats.
3. Liberal ballot measures are off to a good start: Marijuana legalization won in Maryland, Medicaid expansion is winning in Republican South Dakota and abortion rights supporters have won in Vermont and are ahead in several other states including Republican Kentucky. It’s going to be some time before we know why Republicans failed to capitalize on what appeared to be a strong year for them, but it’s likely that these popular policy positions helped Democrats quite a bit.
4. Republicans did extremely well in Florida, a development with long-term implications. One potential outcome: If the state is perceived to be solidly Republican, Democratic presidents including the current one might not feel as inclined to push for policies that benefit the state’s voters.
5. With many races still undecided, a couple of results stand out. Maryland Democrat Wes Moore becomes the first Black person elected governor in the state’s history and only the third Black governor elected in US history. Massachusetts Democrat Maura Healey is one of the country’s first LGBTQ women elected governor. Another LGBTQ candidate, Oregon Democrat Tina Kotek, is still in a close race.
Democrat Angie Craig re-Elected in Minnesota
Democrat Angie Craig won re-election in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, beating Republican Tyler Kistner.
This will be Craig’s third term after winning the rematch of a 2020 contest that she won by 2 percentage points.
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Democrat Kuster wins re-election in New Hampshire House race
Democrat Annie Kuster won the race for New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District, fending off Republican Robert Burns. Burns is a pro-Trump, anti-abortion former treasurer of New Hampshire’s Hillsborough County.
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Democratic women squad elected back to Congress
Prominent members of the so-called Democratic “squad” have won reelection to Congress.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had won her race in New York; Ilhan Omarin in Minnesota; Ayanna Pressley in Massachusetts; Rashida Tlaib in Michigan, and Cori Bush in Missouri
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Democratic US Rep. Sean Casten retains Illinois seat
Democratic Rep. Sean Casten defeated Republican Keith Pekau in the US House race for Illinois’ 6th district, retaining the seat for a third term and helping Democrats striving to maintain control of Congress.
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Republican Kristi Noem wins reelection in South Dakota amid 2024 buzz
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem defeated Democratic state lawmaker Jamie Smith on Tuesday to win reelection, leaning heavily on her handling of the coronavirus pandemic in a first term marked by positioning herself for a possible White House bid in 2024.
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Republican Kay Ivey wins 2nd full term as Alabama governor
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey easily won a second full term Tuesday against Democrat Yolanda Flowers, the first Black woman to win a major party’s gubernatorial nomination in the state, after surviving both a health scare and multiple Republican challengers in the primary.
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Republican Kelly Armstrong defeats former Miss America Cara Mund
North Dakota US Rep. Kelly Armstrong won reelection to a third term on Tuesday, defeating former Miss America Cara Mund.
Armstrong, 46, is an establishment Republican with ties to the state’s dominant industry, oil. A lawyer and former state senator, he has been a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump and easily won his first two terms.
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Trailblazers secure big wins in US midterms
Early results in the US midterms heralded a good night for diversity.
- In Massachusetts, voters elected Democrat Maura Healey as America’s first lesbian governor.
- In Florida, Democrat Maxwell Frost became the first member of Generation Z to be elected to Congress when he won a seat in the US House of Representatives.
- New Hampshire, meanwhile, became the first in US history to elect a transgender man to a state legislature.
- Alabama elected Republican Katie Britt as its first female senator.
- Maryland elected its first Black governor Democrat Wes Moore.
- Markwayne Mullin will serve as the first Native American senator from Oklahoma in almost 100 years.
Massachusetts’ Healey is 1st lesbian elected governor in US
Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey has been elected governor of Massachusetts, making history as the nation’s first openly lesbian governor.
Healey, the state’s first woman and openly gay candidate elected to the office, defeated Republican Geoff Diehl, a former state representative who had the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
Her election returns the governor’s office to Democrats after eight years of Republican leadership under the popular Governor Charlie Baker, who opted not to seek reelection.
Maryland votes to legalise recreational marijuana
Maryland voters green-lighted a constitutional amendment to legalise recreational marijuana for adults above 21.
Other US States that have considered ballot measures that would legalise adult-use marijuana during midterm election includes–Arkansas, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota
Early trends show Republicans winning the US House of Representative
Republicans were favored to wrest control of the US House of Representatives away from President Joe Biden’s Democrats based on early returns in Tuesday’s midterm elections, though the prospects of a “red wave” appeared to have dimmed.
Republicans need 23 competitive seats to gain control of the House.
Musk’s Twitter girds for surge in US midterm election misinformation
Days after Twitter Inc fired half its staff and new owner Elon Musk tweeted a recommendation to vote for Republican candidates, election experts are anxiously bracing for a surge in online misinformation as Americans head to the polls on Tuesday.
Pennsylvanians scramble to fix undated ballots
Pennsylvania voters who forgot to put a date on their mail ballots are working to fix the issue on Election Day after a court ordered their votes could be discarded.
No ‘specific or credible threat’ to disrupt midterm vote: Officials
American officials are not seeing any credible threats aimed at the country’s voting machines or poll books during the U.S. midterm elections, a senior federal cybersecurity official told reporters on Tuesday.
“We see no specific or credible threat to disrupt election infrastructure,” the official told reporters during a scheduled briefing just as Election Day was beginning.
US futures rise on hopes for a post-midterms rally
US stock-index futures rose as investors bet the outcome of midterm elections will help extend a nascent rally. Treasuries advanced before Thursday’s inflation print that may offer clues on Federal Reserve policy.
Contracts on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes added at least 0.3% each, after US stocks posted a second-day advance on Monday.
What’s President’s plan for election day?
On election day, Biden is planning to remain behind closed doors throughout the day, but aides say he’ll stick to his regular morning schedule that includes his daily workout, morning meetings with his senior team and his daily intelligence briefing, CNN said
European shares rise as investors await US midterms
European shares rose and Wall Street futures edged higher on Tuesday, as market focus turned to the U.S. mid-term elections, which analysts say could lead to a boost for equities.
America make your voice heard: President Biden
The House is tougher: Joe Biden
On Monday night, President Joe Biden said he thought Democrats would keep the Senate but acknowledged “the House is tougher”.
Ukraine President urged the United States to remain united
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday urged the United States to remain united, as questions hover over American support for his country following midterm elections to determine control of the US Congress.
“I call on you to maintain unwavering unity, as it is now, until that very day when we all hear those important words we have been dreaming of … Until we hear that peace has finally been restored. Democracies must not stop on their way to the victory,” he said in a recorded address, receiving the US Liberty Medal.
Republicans to gain at least 5 seats needed to overturn Democrats: Experts
Nonpartisan political analysts project Republicans will make the net gain of at least the five seats they need to overturn the House’s Democratic majority. The evenly divided Senate, which Democrats lead only with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris, is more in play.
Polling stations on the east coast starts opening
Polling stations on the east coast started opening at 6:00 am (1100 GMT). With control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate up for grabs, more than 40 million people have already cast their ballots in pre-poll voting across the country.
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