CNN Projection: Republican Sen. Deb Fischer will win reelection in Nebraska’s Senate race
Republican Sen. Deb Fischer will win reelection in Nebraska, defeating an unexpectedly strong challenge from independent Dan Osborn, CNN projects.
Fischer was first elected to the Senate in 2012, when she became the first female senator elected to a full term in Nebraska. Prior to being elected to Congress, she served in Nebraska’s unicameral legislature.
Osborn, a Navy veteran and industrial mechanic, gave a tougher-than-expected challenge to Fischer.
Osborn and his allies outspent Republicans and garnered attention with buzzy ads, including one in which he burned the word “LIE” into a TV to knock attack ads from his opponent. In another spot, he called Fischer and her colleagues in the US Senate “a bunch of millionaires controlled by billionaires.”
Fischer portrayed Osborn as a “Trojan horse” for Democrats and sought to tie him to party figures such as Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, and Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Former President Donald Trump also sought to tie Osborn to the left in his endorsement of Fischer.
Read more here about the Nebraska Senate race
Cornyn and Thune, both running for Senate GOP leader, celebrate as Republicans flip chamber
Senate Minority Whip John Thune and Sen. John Cornyn, both of whom are running to be the next Senate GOP leader, have released statements celebrating Republicans flipping the chamber.
CNN has projected that the GOP will flip control of the Senate.
Cornyn, representing Texas, continued to pitch himself as the next GOP leader, ahead of next week’s secret ballot election.
“From my experience both as Whip advancing President Trump’s agenda through the Senate to serving as a rank-and-file member now, I have learned what works and what does not,” he said — vowing to restore the role of Senate committees, improve communication and transparency, and get rid of “backroom deals or forced votes on bills without adequate time for review, debate, and amendment.”
CNN Projection: Arizona voters will approve measure to enshrine the right to abortion in state constitution
Arizona voters will approve a measure to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution up to fetal viability, CNN projects.
The win for reproductive rights advocates will expand access to the procedure in the state, which currently bans abortion at 15 weeks into pregnancy. Doctors believe fetus viability to be around 22 to 24 weeks.
Colorado voters will approve measure to enshrine right to abortion in state constitution
Colorado voters will approve a measure to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution, CNN projects.
The procedure remains legal in the state with no gestational limit, but the projected approval of the amendment means public funds can be used toward abortions.
CNN Projection: Democrat Bob Ferguson will win Washington governor’s race
Democrat Bob Ferguson, Washington’s attorney general, will defeat Republican former Rep. David Reichert in the state’s gubernatorial race, CNN projects.
Of the less than a dozen gubernatorial seats up for election this year, Washington was one of the few considered moderately competitive. Still, Democrats were highly favored to win, given the party’s dominance in the state. Ferguson will succeed Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, who announced last year he would not seek a fourth term.
Ferguson ran on his record as the state’s top lawyer, specifically his work pushing back on policies advanced by the Trump administration. In January 2017, Washington became the first state to sue to block the former president’s immigration ban on several countries with Muslim-majority populations. The attorney general was named one of Time” magazine’s 100 most influential people for his work blocking the ban.
Reichert, meanwhile, leaned on his background in law enforcement and campaigned on reducing crime and homelessness in the state.
Prior to serving in the US House, Reichert spent 33 years working for the sheriff’s department in Seattle’s King County, where he aided in catching the “Green River Killer.” Reichert served as sheriff from 1997 to 2005, when he stepped down after being elected to represent the state’s competitive 8th Congressional District.
CNN Projection: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox will win reelection, CNN projects
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox will win a second term in office, CNN projects.
Cox, a first-term Republican governor, defeated Utah House Minority Leader Brian King, a Democrat, to win reelection.
Cox is the sixth Republican in a row to serve as governor. The last Democratic governor from Utah left office in 1985.
CNN Projection: Democrat Amy Klobuchar will win reelection in Minnesota Senate race
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar will win reelection in her race against Republican Royce White, CNN projects.
The Democrat, who has held the seat since 2007, was the favorite in the Senate race, with polling showing her leading White by double digits.
Klobuchar serves as chair of the Senate Rules Committee as well as chair of the Senate Democratic Steering Committee. Klobuchar, currently in her third term, previously served as the Hennepin County attorney.
CNN Projection: Republicans win control of the Senate
Republicans will win control of the Senate, CNN projects, a victory for the party that has been locked out of the majority in the chamber since 2021.
The outcome paves the way for a new Senate majority leader in the new Congress as longtime Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell has announced plans to step aside to allow for new leadership.
Watch for this key House race as polls close in Alaska
It is 1 a.m. ET and the last polls are now closing in Alaska.
In addition to voting in the presidential contest, there is also a House race to keep an eye on.
One of the candidates is incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola who was the state’s first woman and native Alaskan to be elected to the House in a 2022 special election to finish the late GOP Rep. Don Young’s term. She was elected for a full term in November 2022.
She was also one of five Democratic House members that represent a district former President Donald Trump carried in 2020 — that makes her seat one of the top targets for Republicans as they look to defend and expand their majority.
Republican Nick Begich, Democrat Eric Hafner and Independent John Wayne Howe are challenging Peltola.
Catch up: Congressional races featuring newly elected members
CNN projects the following races:
Democrat Laura Friedman in California’s 30th District: A state assemblymember, Friedman will replace Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who vacated his seat to run for Senate.
Republican Tony Wied in Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District: The former gas station owner will win a special election for seat left vacant after former Rep. Mike Gallagher, who had chaired the high-profile Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, resigned in April.
Democrat Kelly Morrison in Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District: Morrison will win a seat vacated by outgoing Rep. Dean Phillips.
Democrat Luz Rivas in California’s 29th Congressional District: The former electrical engineer will succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Tony Cardenas.
CNN Projection: GOP Rep. John Curtis will win Utah’s Senate race, succeeding retiring Mitt Romney
Republican Rep. John Curtis will win Utah’s Senate election, succeeding retiring Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, CNN projected.
Curtis, a three-term US represenative, defeated environmental activist Caroline Gleich, a Democrat, in the general election. He won a multicandidate primary for the Republican nomination earlier this year.
Curtis’ victory means Republicans have held both Utah Senate seats going all the way back to the 1970s.
Curtis was first elected to Congress in 2017 and, like Romney, has at times bucked the Trump wing of the Republican Party. He voted against impeaching Trump both times but also refrained from endorsing the former president.
Republicans have now flipped 2 key Senate seats. Here’s what to know
Republicans have won a key Senate pickup in Ohio, with Trump-endorsed nominee Bernie Moreno projected to defeat Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, CNN projects — flipping yet another seat for the GOP.
Brown was fighting for a fourth term — but it has become increasingly challenging as state moved away from Democrats and began trending red.
This comes after CNN projected West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s victory in the state’s Senate race, flipping the seat of retiring Democratic-turned-independent Sen. Joe Manchin.
Other Senate races: Democrats Adam Schiff of California, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Maria Cantwell of Washington will win their Senate races, CNN projects. Democrat Andy Kim will be New Jersey’s next senator, while Angela Alsobrooks will win Maryland, flipping the seat, CNN projects.
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also won reelection, CNN projects, while Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts won a special election — allowing him to serve the rest of the term once occupied by former Sen. Ben Sasse.
Governor races: Republican Mike Kehoe will win Missouri, CNN projects, continuing a long streak of GOP governors in the state. Republican Rep. Kelly Armstrong will also win in North Dakota, CNN projects.
House races: Democratic Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia will win his race, CNN projects.
Abortion measures on the ballot: Two measures to protect abortion access in New York and Maryland will pass, CNN projects. By contrast, Florida will reject a measure to protect the right to an abortion up to the point of viability, and the state’s six-week ban will remain in place.
2 states vote to protect abortion rights, while effort to expand access in Florida fails. Here’s the latest
More than two years after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the federal constitutional right to an abortion, voters in 10 states are deciding whether to cement reproductive rights in their state constitutions.
Two measures to protect abortion access in New York and Maryland will pass, CNN projects. The amendments aim to maintain access to abortion and other reproductive care in both states, where abortion is currently legal through at least the point of viability.
Meanwhile, Florida voters will reject a measure to protect the right to an abortion up to the point of viability, CNN projects, with the amendment failing to meet the 60% voter threshold for passage. The state’s six-week ban will remain in place.
Read more on the measures here.
The last polls are now closing in Hawaii
It is now midnight ET and the last polls are closing in Hawaii.
Hawaii is a Democratic stronghold in presidential, Senate and gubernatorial races. The state has only elected one Republican senator and two Republican governors.
This year, in the state’s Senate race, voters will decide between incumbent Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono and Republican Bob McDermott. Hirono is running for a third term and is expected to win by a wide margin.
CNN Projection: Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington will win reelection
Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington will win reelection, CNN projects, defeating Republican Raul Garcia to secure a fifth term in the deep-blue state.
First elected to the Senate in 2000, Cantwell is currently the top Democrat on the chamber’s Commerce Committee. She previously served one term in the US House in the 1990s.
CNN Projection: Democrat Martin Heinrich will win reelection in New Mexico Senate race
Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich will win reelection in New Mexico, CNN projects, dashing GOP hopes of flipping a seat that he’s held since 2013.
Heinrich, an avid hunter and conservationist, faced Republican Nella Domenici, daughter of the late Sen. Pete V. Domenici, who held the post for nearly four decades and died in 2017.
Heinrich made headlines this year after joining a wave of Democratic lawmakers calling for President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race.
Domenici focused her pitch to New Mexico voters on inflation, public safety and border security, while Heinrich’s campaign sought to connect her opponent with Trump’s abortion stances. At one point in the race, Domenici’s campaign sent a cease-and-desist notice to Heinrich’s campaign, claiming that a political advertisement saying that “a vote for Nella is a vote for a national abortion ban” was “false and defamatory.”
CNN Projection: Democrat Tim Kaine will win reelection in Virginia US Senate race
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine will win reelection in Virginia, defeating Republican Hung Cao, CNN projects.
In winning his third term, Kaine has crushed the hopes of Republicans who hoped Virginia would be a state where they could flip a Senate seat.
In both polling and fundraising, Kaine led Cao by a wide margin for most of the race. Still, Republicans had hoped national headwinds would swing the commonwealth their way. But in the end, the former Richmond mayor and governor successfully retained his seat.
CNN Projection: Republican Bernie Moreno will defeat incumbent Sherrod Brown in Ohio Senate race
Republican Bernie Moreno will defeat Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio’s Senate race, CNN projects, a key pickup for the GOP in a state that’s been trending its way to red.
The three-term incumbent was already the last remaining Democrat in nonjudicial statewide office in the Buckeye State, and his defeat is yet another sign of how down ballot races are increasingly moving in the same direction as the top of the ticket with fewer ticket-splitters.
Moreno, a Cleveland car dealership owner, leaned heavily into his endorsement from former President Donald Trump in a state that backed him by 8 points in both 2016 and 2020. He emerged as the GOP nominee earlier this year after Democrats helped prop him up in the primary, believing he’d be the weakest opponent.
CNN Projection: Democrat Adam Schiff will win California US Senate race
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, a leading antagonist of former President Donald Trump, will win both the general and special elections for Senate from California, CNN projects.
Schiff is projected to defeat Republican Steve Garvey, a former baseball star for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, in both the special election to fill the seat of the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein through January 2025 and the general election to a full six-year term.
Schiff will succeed Democrat Laphonza Butler, who was appointed to Feinstein’s seat by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year.
The longtime Los Angeles-area congressman rose to prominence as the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee during the Trump administration, as the panel investigated the Trump campaign’s potential ties to Russia. In 2020, Schiff served as the lead House manager at the former president’s first Senate impeachment hearing.
Catch up: Congressional races featuring members of House leadership
CNN projects the following incumbents, who hold high-profile leadership posts in the House of Representatives, will win reelection:
Speaker Mike Johnson in Louisiana’s 4th District: Johnson clinched the House speakership last year following bitter GOP infighting that led to Kevin McCarthy’s ouster from the top leadership post in the chamber.
Rep. Steve Scalise in Louisiana’s 1st District: As Majority Leader, Scalise is the second-highest-ranking House Republican.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries in New York’s 8th District: As Minority Leader, Jeffries leads the House Democratic caucus. He made history in 2023 when he became the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress.
Rep. Katherine Clark in Massachusetts’s 5th Congressional District: As House Democratic Whip, Clark is the second-highest ranking Democrat in the chamber.
Speaker Johnson tells reporters he is expecting to fly to be with Trump tonight
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters at an event in Louisiana that he is expected to fly to Mar-a-Lago tonight to be with former President Donald Trump at his election watch party.
“I think in a little bit we’re going to go to Mar-a-Lago, I think. And be down there with President Trump,” Johnson told reporters.
“I am very hopeful that we’re going to have not only a larger majority in the House to make my job easier, but we retake the Senate and the White House as well,” Johnson added
Final polls are closing in these states right now
It is 11 p.m. ET and final polls are closing in a handful of states, most on the West Coast:
- California
- Idaho
- Oregon
- Washington
Here’s what to watch for:
In California, voters will have two Senate elections on their ballot this year: one for the remainder of Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s term, who died in 2023, and one for the next full term. It will also be a rematch in the state’s 13th District between Rep. John Duarte and Democrat Adam Gray. In 2022, it was the closest congressional race in California and the second closest in the nation.
Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a Republican who represents a district Joe Biden carried by roughly 8 percentage points, is locked in a tight race with Democratic state Rep. Janelle Bynum.
Washington Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, one of five Democrats who represent a district in that Donald Trump carried in 2020, is facing a rematch against Republican Joe Kent. Kent is a hard-right figure who has been affiliated with Proud Boys and other right-wing extremists and has Trump’s endorsement. Gluesenkamp Perez has sought to distance herself from the national Democratic brand and was one of the first congressional Democrats to call on Biden to not seek a second term.
Idaho and Oregon also both have ballot measures that would implement ranked choice voting. California voters will weigh in on whether or not to raise the minimum wage.
Sources from: CNN.COM