Election Night Recap
Last Tuesday was a pivotal night for American democracy. Intense midterm elections across the country determined a new balance of power as certain races ended in unexpected results. A predicted “red wave” from top republicans and hard-fought democratic races in battleground states led to a huge and passionate voter turnout across the country. Democrats just clinched control of the Senate, Saturday night with the victory of Senator Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada.
Key races from Tuesday night:
25-year-old Maxwell Frost was elected as the first Gen Z member of Congress in Florida’s 10th Congressional District, defeating Republican and retired Army Green Beret Calvin Wimbish. Frost previously worked as a top organizer for March for Our Lives and the American Civil Liberties Union, quitting his job to campaign and driving for Uber to pay rent while running for Congress.
His campaign was based around issues specifically important for Florida’s young voters, such as ending gun violence, climate change and protecting abortion rights.
Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman defeated Mehmet Oz, flipping the seat in Pennsylvania’s competitive Senate race. This was one of the most expensive and dynamic elections across the campaign trail as a win for either side would be decisive in controlling Congress. Oz, who was endorsed by former President Trump, campaigned fiercely and somewhat controversially, while the progressive Fetterman continued to recover from a pre-primary stroke that sometimes limited his abilities on the trail.
This democratic victory represents a strong success for the White House as President Biden won the state two years ago, and a progressive step for its voters.
In Georgia, the Senate race will go to a run-off later this year. The near tie between the incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock (49.4%) and republican nominee Herschel Walker (48.5%) could not call a clear winner and will force another election on December 6. While this race will not determine the Senate majority, it could provide some breathing room for democrats when it comes to key legislation. According to Republicans, Walker underperformed across the state, as Georgians voted strongly to reelect the conservative Governor Brian Kemp. And as for Warnock, he feels confident going into this runoff, as that is how he won this same election two years ago.
Some races, though, are still too close to call. In Arizona, for example, votes for a tight gubernatorial race between democrat Katie Hobbs and conservative Kari Lake are still being counted. This highly anticipated race is already being questioned by election-denier Lake with nearly 300,000 votes left to be counted. With Hobbs currently in the lead, Lake would need over half of those remaining ballots to come away with the win for governor.
There are a number of key takeaways from this election cycle. For example, election deniers and largely Trump-endorsed candidates in races across the country continuously lost throughout the night against their Democratic opponents.
There were also a number of firsts in these election results, such as Maura Healy, the country’s first openly lesbian governor; Kathy Hochul, New York’s first formally elected governor; and Wes Moore, Maryland’s first Black governor. To follow more live updates with election results, click here.