rahulNovember 4, 20267 Mins read1
Key events
With polls closed on the east coast, we’ve seen a number of races called already. Here are the top lines we’re following:
Chris Pappas, the four-term Democratic congressman, has won New Hampshire’s US Senate race, protecting the open seat from a Republican flip in a closely fought contest against John Sununu, the former senator.
Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz won re-election in Florida’s 20th congressional district, securing a 12th term. She beat her Republican challenger, Brent Andersen.
Democrat Kathy Castor, who has served for 10 terms, won re-election in Florida’s 14th congressional district, which was re-drawn this year to boost Republicans.
Democratic congressman Jared Moskowitz also won re-election in the redrawn 25th congressional district in Florida, beating out his Republican challenger Scott Singer.
Jumping back to Jon Ossoff’s win in Georgia. It’s worth remembering that Donald Trump won the state by two points in 2024.
But in all of the reported counties so far, there has been a Democratic shift, according to data from the Associated Press.
Republican Ashley Moody won the special election against progressive insurgent Angie Nixon in the US Senate race in Florida.
Moody was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to replace Marco Rubio, after he was appointed secretary of state in 2025. She will now finish out the remainder of his term – which ends in 2028.
Nixon, a state representative, secured a surprising win against former army intelligence officer Alexander Vindman in the Democratic primary earlier this year.
Dara Kerr
in Adams County, Colorado
Just an hour before polls closed in Colorado, Jackie M, 19, showed up to the Adams county government center for her first time voting. She said she opted not to mail in her ballot and came in person because “I wanted that sticker”. She described this election as extremely important and said that the top issues for her are the rights of women and immigrants and getting treated fairly.
“There’s a lot on the table that can dictate the future of my generation and the generation after us,” she said.
Fernando, 42, said the economy was influencing his vote, saying that it has affected a lot of families and small businesses in the district. He described this election as overwhelming and said, “there’s two sides of the story” on several issues.
This district has become a congressional battleground site, with Democrat Manny Rutinel aiming to unseat Republican Gabe Evans. Rutinel has focused on his campaign on working families and protecting the immigrant community from “the brutality of Trump’s ICE”. Evans centered his campaign on fighting crime and has criticized democrats for having “anti-law enforcement policies”.
Outside spending has flowed into the campaign, making it one of the most expensive congressional races in the country. Super political action committees (Super Pacs) backed by Donald Trump and billionaires Elon Musk and Charles Koch have poured more than $10m into Evans campaign. Rutinel has received more than $8m from Super Pacs associated with the democratic party.
The Department of Justice selected the district as a location to post its federal election monitors, despite getting pushback from Colorado’s secretary of state, Jena Griswold. Throughout the day, pairs of unbadged plain-clothes monitors were reportedly seen outside polling places. But they didn’t stay stationed in one place, and instead moved across the county.
Lex McMenamin
in Manchester, New Hampshire
With 20% of the vote in, Republican former senator John Sununu has officially conceded to representative Chris Pappas in New Hampshire’s Senate race, furthering the initial blue wave being seen in the early hours of the vote. Switching the screens to his concession speech on local channel WMUR, the Manchester election night party broke into screams, momentarily almost sounding like a concert crowd, chanting LET’S GO PAPPAS!
After becoming the state’s first gay federal representative in 2018, tonight Pappas becomes New Hampshire’s first gay senator. In the next few minutes, he’ll make his victory remarks.
Rachel Leingang
in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
I’m hearing about some long lines for student voters in Wisconsin’s third congressional district tonight – a place we’ve covered for months now, which could flip from a Republican to a Democrat.
At the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, college voters in one of the country’s closest congressional districts are waiting in line for more than two hours to vote tonight.
A polling place on campus, at the Dreyfus University Center, has seen lines of more than two hours for voters who are registering and voting at the same time, said Matt Moldenhauer, who is a city council member in Stevens Point. Wisconsin allows for same-day voter registration, and many of these voters are first-time voters. For voters who are already registered, the wait times are minimal now.
A video of the lines shows dozens waiting to register and cast ballots.
At a rec center nearby, a polling place that includes off-campus housing, wait times have been between one and one and a half hours for people registering and voting, Moldenhauer said.
Moldenhauer is there in person at the rec center, telling people to stay in line and cast their ballots.
“It sounds like turnout is just much higher than expected,” he said. “It’s exciting to see enthusiasm and a lot of turnout.”
Wisconsin’s third congressional district is a toss-up race between incumbent Republican Derrick Van Orden and Democratic contender Rebecca Cooke.
Roy Cooper, the former Democratic governor of North Carolina, has won the state’s open Senate seat. Cooper defeated Michael Whatley, the former chair of the Republican National Committee who received Donald Trump’s endorsement.
The state was a key flip for Democrats in their quest for Senate control, after Republican Thom Tillis announced he would not seek re-election.
Another US House race in Florida that is looking extremely close as the vote count pours in is the state’s 27th congressional district.
Here, Republican incumbent Maria Salazar is currently tied with her Democratic challenger, Eliott Rodriguez.
While campaigning, Salazar directly pushed back against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, saying it had gone “too far”, as condemnation spread within her Miami-area district.
“The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today,” Salazar said in an ad. “You can be for immigration what Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism. I’m not talking about giving them amnesty. I’m talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land.”
Chris Pappas, the Democratic congressman, has won the US Senate race in New Hamphire. It’s a seat Democrats needed to hold on to in order to have a shot at reclaiming the upper chamber of Congress.
Pappas beat Republican John Sununu – a former senator and son of the state’s former governor.
Pappas is also the first openly gay man to serve in the US Senate.
As my colleague Jeremy Barr writes, Fox News is expressing concern about the results of the midterms so far.
“It’s not a red wave. I don’t think we’re going to get our $5,000 checks,” host Jesse Watters said.
Democrat Kathy Castor, who has served for 10 terms, has won re-election in Florida’s 14th congressional district, which was re-drawn this year to boost Republicans. She beat Mike Beltran, a former GOP state representative.
Democratic congressman Jared Moskowitz has won re-election in the redrawn 25th congressional district in Florida, beating out his Republican challenger Scott Singer.
The seat was re-drawn to benefit Republicans as part of Florida’s redistricting effort this year.
Joseph Gedeon
in Detroit, Michigan
It’s still early in Detroit, and polls are still open until 8pm ET, but supporters for Abdul El-Sayed are starting to trickle in to the Michigan Democratic party’s election night party downtown.
We’ve just seen a flood of poll closings at 8pm ET. These include Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Illinois, most of Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, most of Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, most of North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, most of South Dakota, Tennessee and most of Texas.
A number of marquee Senate races fall into this wave, including the battle for Michigan’s open Senate seat between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and former Republican congressman Mike Rogers. Holding the Great Lakes state is vital for Democrats, but the race is expected to be close. El-Sayed is leading in many of the recent polls, but is still within the margin of error.
In Maine, we’ll be watching to see whether progressive Troy Jackson can unseat five-term Republican incumbent Susan Collins.
And in Texas, Democrats are betting on James Talarico, the state lawmaker who has surged in the polls, to defeat Ken Paxton, the scandal-plagued Republican attorney general. A Democratic victory would mark the party’s first statewide win in more than 30 years.
Finally, Kansas has emerged as a late-breaking battleground, with Adam Hamilton seeking to unseat Republican Roger Marshall and become the state’s first Democratic senator in nearly a century.
There are also several competitive down-ballot House races in Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where Democrats are hoping to flip swing seats won by Republicans in 2024.
Democrat Jon Ossoff has won the US Senate race in Georgia, securing a second term and fending off a challenge from Trump-backed Mike Collins.
The state is crucial for Democrats to retain as part of their quest to reclaim control of the Senate.
Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident
