Election News

Incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson conceded the Florida Senate race Sunday afternoon. Gov. Rick Scott prevailed after two rounds of recounts. Republicans have secured 52 Senate seats compared to 47 for Democrats, ensuring the party maintains control of the chamber. The Mississippi runoff election will decide the final seat.

Six of the 34 races completed resulted in a victory for the out-party. Republicans picked up four of those wins, Democrats two. Click the image below to see all the results; you can then click any of the state for vote totals from that race. We also have an interactive version of the 2018 actual results.

Democrat Stacey Abrams effectively conceded defeat Friday afternoon, acknowledging that Republican Brian Kemp will be Georgia's next governor.  All 36 gubernatorial elections have now been called by our results partner, Decision Desk HQ.

Prior to the election, Republicans held 33 of the 50 governorships, with 16 Democrats and 1 independent holding the remaining seats. Democrats flipped seven seats, winning Republican-held seats in Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada and Wisconsin. The lone GOP gain came in Alaska.

Although a handful of districts remain uncalled, we now know which party will be in the majority in each state's 2019 U.S. House delegation. Republicans will have the majority in 26 states, while Democrats will have the most members in 22.  Two states, Michigan and Pennsylvania will be tied.  The concentration of Democratic districts in a small number of states gives the GOP a structural advantage in this count. They will hold the lead despite a Democratic majority overall.

Democrat Jared Golden has defeated incumbent Republican Bruce Poliquin in the closely-contested race for Maine's 2nd congressional district.  Golden prevailed via the state's ranked-choice voting process, which kicked in when none of the candidates received a majority of the initial vote in this four-person race.

The 2020 electoral battleground map starts out much broader than in any presidential contest since 1992, according to an analysis in the Axios AM Newsletter on November 15th, 2018. "To win re-election, President Trump must wage a two-front war: Not only does he have to defend Democratic-leaning Midwest states that sealed his victory in 2016, but he now needs to defend against clear Republican erosion in the South and Southwest."

Doug Sosnik, who did the analysis, says "Changing demographicsand Trump have blown up the electoral map that has dominated American politics since 1992."

Democrat Andy Kim will win in New Jersey's 3rd congressional district. The election was called Wednesday afternoon by our results partner Decision Desk HQ, as well as by the Associated Press. This is the 230th seat won by Democrats, a net gain of 35. Six races remain uncalled.

In our pre-election New Jersey House overview, we noted that "If Democrats have a particularly good night, 19 term Rep. Christopher Smith (NJ-4) may be the only Republican in the New Jersey House delegation in 2019."  With Kim's victory, that will indeed be the case. 

Democrat Josh Harder is the projected winner in California's 10th congressional district. He defeated four-term incumbent Republican Jeff Denham. This marks the 34th net gain for Democrats in the House midterm elections, giving them 229 seats.  Republicans currently have 199, with 7 seats remaining to be decided.

The Associated Press projects Democrat Kyrsten Sinema to win the closely-contested Arizona Senate race.

BREAKING: Democrat Kyrsten Sinema wins election to U.S. Senate from Arizona. #APracecall at 5:41 p.m. MST. @AP election coverage: https://t.co/miEWlbTVZW #Election2018 #AZelection

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 13, 2018

After this call, Republicans hold 51 Senate seats, Democrats 47, with two races remaining undecided.  Those are in Florida and Mississippi.  In Florida, Sen. Bill Nelson and his GOP challenger, Rick Scott, are separated by less than 0.25%, with a contentious recount underway. The Mississippi race is a special election, and will be decided in a runoff on November 27th.

U.S. Senate and Governor

As the vote count continues, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema has taken a small lead over Republican Martha McSally in the Arizona Senate race. Several hundred thousand ballots sent by mail are dropped off on Election Day, and these take time to be counted. Overall, approximately 400,000 ballots remain to be tallied.

In a surprising turn of events, Democrat Xochitl Torres Small has won in New Mexico's 2nd congressional district. The Republican nominee, Yvette Herrell had led on Election Night, with numerous media outlets declaring her the winner. However, absentee ballots counted Wednesday were heavily weighted toward Torres Small, putting her over the top.

Democrats have now won 224 seats, Republicans 197, with 14 remaining uncalled. That's a net gain of 29 for Democrats. All 14 of the undecided races are currently held by the GOP. (Vote Counts for Uncalled Races >>).