Election News

Texas Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson won't seek reelection in 2022. Johnson, who will be 86 in early December, had said in 2019 that she was planning to serve one more term. However, until Saturday, no official retirement announcement had been made.  According to the Dallas Morning News, "Johnson said people had been urging her to run for another term in Congress and she went back and forth about the decision but eventually decided to retire."

Johnson represents the safely Democratic 30th district, which includes much of the city of Dallas, and nearby areas to the south. She won her 15th and final term by 59% in 2020; Joe Biden carried the district by 61 points. Congressional redistricting in Texas has changed the current district boundaries (shown below) only slightly for 2022. 

North Carolina Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfield will not seek reelection next year. He is expected to make an official announcement Thursday. Now in his 10th term, Butterfield is the 2nd most senior member of the state's U.S. House delegation. The most senior member, Democrat David Price, is also retiring. 

Butterfield will be the third long-time Democratic member of Congress to announce their retirement this week. On Monday, it was Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy; yesterday's decision came from California Rep. Jackie Speier. 

Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier (CA-14) won't seek a ninth term in 2022, she announced Tuesday. She becomes the 14th current House Democrat to announce they are retiring or seeking another office. Ten Republicans have made that decision, as well.

pic.twitter.com/nEr9AnqN7A

— Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) November 16, 2021

The Bay Area 14th district is safely Democratic; Speier won a final term in 2020 by nearly 60 points.  While the boundaries of the district will likely change a bit after redistricting, there is very little chance of it becoming a competitive seat next year.

Speier had a long career in politics before being elected to Congress in 2008. It was born out of tragedy. In 1978, she was an aide to Rep. Leo Ryan (D), and was among those who accompanied him on a fact-finding mission to Jonestown in Guyana, where the San Francisco-based People's Temple had established a settlement. Ryan was assassinated on that trip, and Speier survived five gunshot wounds. Days later, over 900 members of the cult perished in a mass murder/suicide. 

Speier unsuccessfully ran for Ryan's seat in 1979. She won her first election, to the California State Assembly, in 1986.

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said Monday that he will not seek a 9th term in 2022. First elected in 1974, Leahy has the most seniority of any currently serving Senator.

Leahy is chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and serves on the Judiciary and Agriculture Committees. He is president pro tem of the Senate (most senior member of majority party), placing him third in line for presidential succession.

Democrat Beto O'Rourke announced Monday that he is running for Texas Governor. He becomes the first notable challenger to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is seeking a third term. The New York Times notes that "the arrival of Mr. O’Rourke immediately set the stage for a pitched political showdown next November over the future of Texas at a time when the state — with its expanding cities and diversifying population — has appeared increasingly up for grabs."

Rescheduled from October 9 due to the aftereffects of Hurricane Ida, Louisiana holds its fall elections on Saturday. In terms of races we follow, this includes elections for three vacancies in the state legislature and for mayor of New Orleans.

Louisiana has a hybrid system, with no primaries prior to Election Day. All candidates from all parties compete on a single ballot. if one candidate gets a majority, they are elected. Otherwise, the top two finishers advance to a runoff. This year's runoffs will be on Saturday, December 11.

Polls close at 9:00 PM ET.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska announced Friday that she will seek a 5th term in the Senate next year. Alaska's new election system may help her chances, despite the vocal opposition of former President Donald Trump, who has endorsed one of her challengers. 

Murkowski, who called for Trump to resign shortly after the January 6 Capitol riot, was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict him at the subsequent impeachment trial.  Trump has vowed to campaign against Murkowski, and in June he endorsed Kelly Tshibaka, a former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration.

Monday is exactly one year - 365 days - from the 2022 midterm elections. 

Senate: The chamber is tied 50-50, giving Democrats control with VP Kamala Harris breaking any ties. 34 seats are up in 2022, of which 20 are held by Republicans. However, neither party has an edge when looking at the most competitive seats. Each party holds four of the eight seats currently seen as the most competitive.  2022 Senate Interactive Map >>

House: After last week's two Ohio special elections - split by the parties as expected - there is only one vacancy in the House. That is in FL-20, where a special election will be held in January. Democrats currently hold a narrow 221-213 edge. Current House Map >>

Redistricting is underway, and almost all of the 435 congressional districts will be contested with new boundaries next year.  We are working on an interactive 2022 map that will launch with those states that have completed their redistricting, adding others as they become available.

Use the links below for all results by category.

Republicans have now won 50 seats in Virginia's House of Delegates. Three Democratic-held seats remain uncalled as of Wednesday afternoon, with Republicans ahead in two of them.

A GOP victory in any of these three will give it control for the next term.

Use the links below for all results by category.

New Jersey

Governor: Heading into Election Day, Phil Murphy seemed well-positioned to become the first Democrat reelected as governor here since 1977. That may still happen, but the race is much tighter than expected. As of this writing, Murphy and Republican Jack Ciattarelli are separated by fewer than 2,000 votes out of almost 2.4 million counted.

NJ State Legislature: A significant number of races remain uncalled. However, Democrats started the day with significant majorities in both branches and will likely remain in control as the remaining votes are counted.  NJ Legislature Live Results >> 

Virginia

Republicans swept all three statewide offices: Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General.  All Virginia Results >>

House of Delegates:  Democrats took control of the lower house of the Virginia Legislature in 2019 winning 55 of the 100 seats that year. As of this morning, Republicans have held all 45 of the districts they won in 2019 and flipped four Democratic-held districts (12, 63, 75 and 83). Democrats have won 46 seats.

Five Democratic-held districts remain uncalled. Republicans must win two of them to win a majority.  The table below shows the party leading as of about 8:30 AM ET Wednesday morning. See the live results below the table for the latest.