More than 24 hours after polls closed in the United States midterm elections, several key questions remain unanswered – most importantly which party will control the House of Representatives and the Senate.
While Republicans are still favoured to take the 435-seat House – although likely with a smaller margin than they had projected – the Senate still remains a toss up. For both chambers, a handful of yet-to-be called races will decide control.
As of Thursday, 184 House seats were called in Democrats’ favour, with 207 called for Republicans. A party needs to reach 218 seats to control the chamber.
In the Senate, 48 seats had been called for Democrats and 49 for Republicans, leaving just three races outstanding. Democrats need to reach 50 seats to have a majority because the vice president serves as a tie breaker in the chamber.
Several other key state level races still remain undetermined.
Here are where things stand on Thursday, November 10:
Senate:
- All eyes have turned to Nevada, Arizona and Georgia‘s upcoming run-off, which will determine control of the Senate.
- Arizona: Democrat Mark Kelly was leading slightly against Republican challenger Blake Masters, but hundreds of thousands of ballots still needed to be counted. Election officials have said the tally could go through Friday.
- Nevada: Republican Adam Laxalt in Nevada was leading the state’s Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, but state election officials have said tens of thousands of mail-in votes were still being counted. Mail-in ballots have historically been favoured by Democrats, raising the possibility they could still poll out a victory.
- Georgia: If Democrats win only one of the two races in Nevada and Arizona, the run-off election on December will decide control of the Senate. Neither Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock or Republican challenger Herschel Walker broke the 50 percent threshold needed in the state to win the election outright on Tuesday.
House:
- Forty-four house seats remain uncalled, with races spread across Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington.
- Vote tallies had Republicans leading in enough races to take a modest majority in the chamber, although those victories were not yet assured.
- California: Twenty-two of the uncalled races were in California, with the closest watched being tight races between Democratic incumbent Katie Porter and Mike Levin in Southern California; Republican incumbent David Valadao and Democratic challenger Rudy Salas in Central Valley; and Republican incumbent Ken Calvert against Democratic challenger Will Rollins near Los Angeles.
- Colorado: Among the closest-watched races was between Republican incumbent Lauren Boebert – a pro-Trump firebrand – and challenger Democrat Adam Frisch. What was once expected to be an easy victory for Boebert has turned into a razor-thin race. As of Wednesday night, fewer than 100 votes separated the two, setting the race on course for a possible recount.
State and local races:
- Significant gubernatorial races in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon had also not been called as of Thursday morning.
- Arizona: The race pits Democrat Katie Hobbs, Arizona’s secretary of state who fought against former President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims of 2020 election fraud in the state, and Kari Lake, a pro-Trump former television host who has repeated misinformation spread by Trump and his allies. The race for secretary of state – the official who will oversee the influential battleground state’s election administration in 2024 – also remained too close to call.
- Nevada: Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak is facing off against Republican Joe Lombardo, the sheriff of Clark County who has been endorsed by Trump. The secretary of state race was also too close to call as of Thursday.
- Oregon: The victor in a three-way race between Democrat Tina Kotek, Republican Christine Drazan, and Independent Betsy Johnson has not yet been determined. The state has been a Democratic stronghold, but a renewed emphasis on crime has been credited with Drazan’s unexpected surge in support. Johnson was also expected to siphon votes from Kotek.
