2026 midterm election updates as fallout begins over sweeping Democratic victories

A Grassley aide tells CBS News that Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the Senate president pro tempore, is not considering retirement before Democratic Governor-elect Rob Sand takes office.

"Senator Grassley is not resigning," a Grassley spokesperson said. "He remains committed to delivering for the people of Iowa, who overwhelmingly elected him to a six-year term in 2022."

Resigning would allow Iowa's current Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, to appoint a replacement for Grassley, who is 93. Grassley's current term concludes in 2029.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, who will be the chairman of the House Oversight Committee next Congress, laid out four areas where the panel will focus its investigative efforts. 

The overarching investigations include the Trump family's business dealings, corporate corruption, actions of the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. 

"I think folks that need to be concerned first are administration officials that have caused real harm. We're going to investigate the abuses," Garcia said at a news conference in his district on Wednesday. 

Garcia singled out Stephen Miller, Corey Lewandowski and Kristi Noem, as well as members of the Trump family. 

"There's a lot of folks that need to understand that we are going to ask them to testify in front of the U.S. Congress," Garcia said. 

Garcia acknowledged that the Justice Department under the Trump administration is unlikely to enforce any consequences for those who do not cooperate with the panel's investigations. But he said that in the majority, Democrats will have the power to sue on behalf of the House. 

"And secondly, we have the power of contempt charges. And contempt charges not only go to the DOJ, there's also a civil contempt process that goes to the courts," he said. 

Asked about the potential for Democrat-led investigations, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said: "As the President has said, he's willing to work with anyone to continue delivering victories for hardworking Americans. If Democrats choose to pursue sham investigations and radical left policies, they are choosing to work against the American people."

Democrats' decisive sweep of the U.S. House and Senate in Tuesday's elections will reshape the direction of federal health policy — setting the stage for oversight investigations, a legislative push to reverse cuts to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, and a focus on lowering costs such as insurance premiums and drug prices.

The conclusive string of victories sets up Democrats to argue that voters — who said in preelection surveys that healthcare affordability was a top concern — have given them a clear mandate to overturn historic cuts President Trump and Republicans made to public healthcare programs.

Read more here.

— Stephanie Armour and Amanda Seitz

Senate Majority Leader John Thune and President Trump have spoken, according to a source familiar with the conversation, after last night's bruising results for the GOP in the upper chamber.

Senate GOP leaders had been fighting to hang onto their majority as the political landscape worsened for Republicans in recent weeks. But facing an unpopular war and Iran and persistent affordability issues, their candidates struggled to combat the serious headwinds.

Despite the losses, Thune is expected to have his conference's support for two more years as leader. He told CBS News in an interview ahead of the election that he was "very interested in seeing how things turn out in the election," but he expected to run again as leader.

The president has been critical of Thune over his refusal to change Senate rules to approve a controversial elections bill Mr. Trump has pushed for months. But the president has also come to Thune's defense more recently, and the relationship between the two men has appeared to improve.

When asked whether he expected support from the president, Thune said he didn't "bank on it." But he said if the president "found his way to do that, that'd be great."

GOP Rep. Richard Hudson said in a statement Wednesday he called his Democratic opponent Richard Ojeda to concede. 

CBS News has not yet projected the race result, but rates it as likely Democratic.

The development marks another stunning turn of events for Republicans as Hudson chairs the House GOP's campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee. Hudson won reelection by 18.5 points in 2024.

"I called to congratulate Richard Ojeda on his victory," Hudson said. "I wish him well and look forward to working with him to ensure a smooth transition for the people of North Carolina's Ninth Congressional District." 

Democrats have won Michigan House seats held by Republicans, CBS News projects.

Progressive William Lawrence beat one-term Republican Rep. Tom Barrett in the Lansing-area 7th District, in one of the nation's most closely watched House races. Lawrence, a climate activist who co-founded the Sunrise Movement and is a former member of the Democratic Socialists of America, won the Democratic nomination by defeating two moderate candidates who split the vote.

Democrat Sean McCann defeated GOP Rep. Bill Huizenga in the 4th District, which includes Kalamazoo and parts of Western Michigan.

And in the Detroit suburbs, Democrat Christina Hines beat Republican Michael Bouchard in the 10th District. The seat is currently represented by GOP Rep. John James, who ran unsuccessfully for Michigan governor.

GOP Rep. David Valadao lost his reelection bid in California's 22nd District, CBS News projected. 

Valadao's loss against Democrat Randy Villegas makes him the last of the House Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol to lose reelection or announce their retirement. 

Valadao was first elected in 2012, but lost in 2018 when Democrats flipped more than 40 seats and won back control of the House. He won the seat back from Democrats in 2020, and went on to become one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Mr. Trump. Only two remain in Congress — Valadao and Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington, who is retiring. 

Read more here.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced he also intends to run for House minority leader, telling GOP colleagues in a five-page letter that the election outcome "was far worse than any of us expected." 

"This is no doubt a challenging time for our conference, but overcoming adversity is nothing new to me. We will need to be honest with ourselves about what happened, but it is more important now than ever for us to emerge from this stronger and united because the stakes couldn't be higher," the Louisiana Republican said. 

"Next Congress will be difficult: we will no longer control the committee agenda or the House Floor, but we are not powerless," he said. "By staying united and acting as a team, we can disrupt their agenda and secure wins along the way. We have big tasks ahead, and tested leadership is needed now more than ever." 

Asked whether he is considering removing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Mr. Trump said he is not.

"I think he's done a very good job," the president said.

CBS News reported earlier Wednesday that Mr. Trump has been asking his advisers whether Hegseth should remain as defense secretary.

He was interrupted at times by construction workers cheering as they worked to lift the final beam for the ballroom. The president then briefly urged the press pool to view the new helipad on the South Lawn of the White House.

President Trump didn't say whether he knew Vice President JD Vance was going to make his post blaming the Iran war for the GOP's midterm losses. But he gave a nod of approval. 

"I know how he feels about it," Mr. Trump said. "I think it was fine. I thought it was good."

But the president, who said he spoke to Vance on Wednesday morning, added that he doesn't know who will run in 2028, including Vance. 

"Maybe he won't run," the president said. "I don't know who's going to run."

Continuing to speak to reporters at the ballroom, the president again blamed Republican candidates for massive losses Tuesday night, saying there was so much "love" at his rallies. 

"If I was on the ballot, we would have won," he said. "But they just — you couldn't transfer that love. There was such love at those rallies, it was incredible. And we weren't able to transfer the love to candidates." 

Asked about Vance's view that Republicans lost control of the House and Senate because of the conflict with Iran, Mr. Trump said it's "largely true" because the war drove up the price of gasoline.

"If I had to do it again, I'd have to do it again," the president said, adding, "You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon."

Mr. Trump said he believes the Iran war was worth losing seats in the Senate.

"You have no choice," he said. "I thought the oil would go up a lot more, and I did it on that basis. You have no choice; you have to do it. You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon or everything that you see here some day might not exist."

Mr. Trump clarified that he does not believe the war itself is to blame for Republicans' losses, but the price of gasoline.

Reporters asked President Trump if advisers recommended against making his final speech at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the eve of the election. The president insisted it was unrelated, even though a White House official before the speech said his message would be that Democrats are too radical for the country.  

"No, I heard it was a very good speech," he said. "Got great reviews. That was only a speech on the Reflecting Pool though, had nothing to do with anything else."

Taking questions from reporters, President Trump declined to weigh in on the race for House Republican leader. 

"We'll stay out of it," he said, mentioning Republican Rep. Jim Jordan by name but not weighing in. Rep. Steve Scalise, the current majority leader, is also likely to throw his hat in the ring for Republican leader. 

Mr. Trump said Speaker Mike Johnson, who will not run for another term leading the conference, "was fantastic." 

Mr. Trump handed off the microphone to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who said workers and Mr. Trump were assembled for a "beam signing" that marks the final beam going into place in the White House ballroom.

"Today, of course, is a day of celebration and a day of gratitude," Burgum said, calling the president "our builder-in-chief, the greatest builder that has ever been president of the United States."

Mr. Trump acknowledged that he has faced questions about the time and attention he has devoted to construction projects at the White House and said he finds it "relaxing" because he "loves construction."

"I like beautiful things and especially when it comes to the White House," he said.

Mr. Trump said he has made changes to the White House because it is the "ultimate symbol of America."

"It's got to be pristine," he said. "It's got to be perfect."

The president and Burgum then each signed their names to the beam as workers prepared to hoist it in the air.

The president continued his remarks praising the ballroom and the changes his administration has brought to D.C.

He claimed Washington was a "killing field" under former President Joe Biden, reiterating his assertion that it's now one of the safest cities in the U.S. The president didn't go into his metrics for determining that. 

"We're very happy about Washington, D.C.," the president said. 

Mr. Trump, so far, has not discussed the midterm results.

Mr. Trump criticized the cost of renovations at the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., calling it "out of control" and a  "shame."

The president said the Fed is over-budget for its revamp of its headquarters and questioned the central bank's decisionmaking on interest rates.

"What happens at the Federal Reserve is a disgrace with it, and then they tell you about interest rates," he said. "They can't build a simple building."

Mr. Trump went on to praise the security features of the ballroom, which he said will be the "safest place" in Washington.

"This is the most powerful building, structurally the most powerful building they say ever built," the president said.

Mr. Trump thanked construction workers assembled for his remarks, calling them "special people."

"I grew up with you, you know, every one of you. I grew up with you, maybe in a different form, maybe genetically, maybe it was your fathers or your mothers," he said. "But I grew up in construction sites."

Without mentioning Republicans' catastrophic losses, President Trump focused his first televised remarks, from the site of the under-construction White House ballroom, on how he's "beautified" Washington, D.C., and the White House. 

"We beautified it. We got rid of the homeless encampments," the president said of the capital, praising the brand new grass and graffiti removal in the city.  

"This is a special structure," he said of the ballroom site. "It's going to be not only one of the biggest, but it'll be the most beautiful ballroom I think anywhere in the world."

President Trump is speaking to reporters from the construction site of the new White House ballroom in his first public appearance since Republicans lost control of the House and Senate.

Mr. Trump praised the new ballroom and helipad on the South Lawn of the White House, calling it a "thing of beauty." He discussed his other construction projects in Washington, D.C., including his proposed arch outside Arlington National Cemetery and renovation of East Potomac Golf Links.

President Trump highlighted stock market highs Wednesday, which followed Tuesday night's Republican defeats. The Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P 500 were all up Wednesday morning, with the Dow up 2.8%.

"Stock Market just hit another Record High — 91 Days in just a short period of time — Less than two years," the president wrote on Truth Social. "Your 401(k)s are through the roof. Record Setting All!"

The president did not connect the stock market gains to Republican losses. 

Speaking at a press conference with House Democratic leadership, Rep. Ted Lieu, vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, laid out the legislative agenda the party plans to pursue. 

"When Democrats are in control, we're going to focus on affordability," Lieu said. "We will pass a bill to reverse the largest Medicaid cut in U.S. history enacted by Republicans. We will pass a bill to restore the ACA tax credits. We will pass a bill to stop the stupid Trump tariffs jacking up prices on Americans. And we will pass a bill to stop the Iran war."

In response to reporting from CBS News that President Trump is asking advisers if Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should go, the White House said Mr. Trump has "complete confidence" in his defense secretary. 

"After Joe Biden's Pentagon prioritized DEI and woke ideology, President Trump and Secretary Hegseth quickly reversed course and restored a Department of War that is focused on readiness, lethality, and supporting our warfighters," said Anna Kelly, White House principal deputy press secretary. 

Kelly said the president "has full confidence in Secretary Hegseth" and the "incredible results of Operations Epic Fury, Absolute Resolve, and Midnight Hammer [speak] for themselves."

Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son, endorsed Vance's view that the war in Iran is to blame for the GOP losing their majorities in both chambers of Congress.

In a post on X, Trump Jr. shared Vance's earlier message and wrote: "Every word of this is 💯💯💯"

At a press conference in Washington, Senate Minority Leader Schumer said Tuesday night's victories ushered in a "generational remake of the Senate map" with "huge consequences for history."

"But with this majority, Americans have given we Democrats the opportunity to prove ourselves worthy of their trust, and that's the most important job," he said. 

The New York Democrat said many people remain skeptical. But he stressed that Americans have "entrusted us with the majority to do what they, the American people, want."

"Republicans received that opportunity two years ago, and completely squandered it," Schumer said. "The GOP misread Americans' demand for change as a mandate to do Trump's self-serving bidding, and Trump spent half his time talking about things that were irrelevant to their lives."

Schumer added: "Republicans are going to have to choose whether to keep listening to the nonsense that's coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, or start acting in the interests of the American people."

President Trump has been asking advisers around him and on the phone whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should stay in his job, following Republicans' catastrophic losses Tuesday night, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CBS News. 

Some White House aides have predicted some of the blame for GOP midterm losses will be trained on Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, who both played big roles in guidance on the Iran war.

One source told CBS News that GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is being floated as a possible replacement for Hegseth, arguing DeSantis could go through Senate confirmation in the lame-duck period and then take the post when his term as governor expires Jan. 5. 

Still, other sources said the president hasn't decided to replace Hegseth. 

Read more here.

Democrat Scott Colom, who is locked in a tight Senate race with incumbent GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, said he is "very happy" with where the race stands and predicted that he will ultimately prevail.

"The people of Mississippi turned out in historic numbers to make this race possible in a midterm election," he said during a press conference.

Colom's campaign has estimated there are 15,000 affidavit ballots that still have to be counted, and he said his campaign is going to "make sure the law is followed."

"I think that anybody who can look at the math should be able to know where this is going," he said.

Colom expressed confidence that he will end up victorious against Hyde-Smith.

"The bottom line is this is the beginning of a new direction for our state. We are going to win this. We have already shown the country that Mississippi matters, y'all," he said.

Mississippi hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982.

CBS News has rated the race between Colom and Hyde-Smith a toss-up, with the Democratic Senate candidate leading by just several dozen votes as of Wednesday morning.

In his first public comments on the election results, Vice President JD Vance said the reason Republicans were handedly defeated in the House and Senate is because of the war in Iran.

"The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night," Vance wrote in a post on X. "If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that's at least honest. But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there."

The vice president, a possible 2028 contender, said many voters who backed the Trump-Vance ticket in 2024 cast their ballots for Democrats in 2026 for four reasons: to end the war with Iran, focus on the cost of living and inflation, put America first and change the U.S. relationship with Israel.

"Our voters showed up," Vance wrote. "And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats."

The vice president highlighted Fox News host Rachel Campos Duffy's call to reach a "diplomatic resolution" to the conflict with Iran, saying that her recommendation was "sound." Vance spent much of the spring leading U.S. negotiators in talks aimed at ending the conflict and reached an ill-fated agreement with Iran to halt the fighting that soon fell apart.

Vance said an unnamed data analyst told him that voters who backed him and Mr. Trump in 2024 were angry and would vote for Democrats in the midterms. He said that analysis "looks prophetic now."

"Our voters did show up," he wrote. "In Florida, for example, the electorate was 9 points more Republican than Democrat, just a couple points worse than 2024. Undoubtedly there were places we could have done better on turnout. But the main problem is not turnout. The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026. "

Vance also said it's likely that the GOP's economic messaging "wasn't sharp enough" in the closing weeks of the campaign.

"I remain hopeful about our country," he said. "To the people who are pissed off and want to say, 'I told you so': you're right, you did tell us so. Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview. To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be. Let's take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country."

House Speaker Mike Johnson said on his call with his staff that he will not run for minority leader in the new Congress, according to a source familiar with the matter, stepping aside following the GOP's losses in the midterm elections.

Read more here.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is holding an all-staff call Wednesday morning following Republicans' projected loss of House control, a source familiar with the meeting confirmed to CBS News.

The call comes as Johnson's future in House GOP leadership remains uncertain.

Democrats are projected to control at least 54 Senate seats, with two races still unresolved. In the House, CBS News estimates the party could control between 251 and 268 when all the votes are counted.

Out of 11 Senate races that CBS News considered battlegrounds, Democrats were projected to win 10. The 11th race, in Alaska, is still rated a toss-up as results come in. 

The Mississippi Senate race has emerged as unexpectedly close, with Democrat Scott Colom leading incumbent GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by just 43 votes. CBS News has rated the race as a toss-up.

The victories weren't just limited to House and Senate races, either. Democrats captured the governor's mansion in Texas, a feat they haven't accomplished since 1990. 

Read more here about the major races that propelled Democrats to victory on Tuesday, according to CBS News' projections.

Democrat James Talarico told "CBS Mornings" that his win over Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race delivered a message to Elon Musk, who spent more than $150 million to boost Paxton's candidacy: "Texas is not for sale."

Hours after his projected win over Paxton, Talarico said his victory is an opportunity to get big money out of politics "for good."

"The people of Texas delivered a crystal-clear message to the world's first trillionaire: Texas is not for sale," Talarico said. "The power in this state, in this country, belongs to the people and we've got to make sure it stays that way."

The Texas Democrat said his win over Paxton is a mandate to overhaul the campaign finance system and "clean up government" to limit the influence of megadonors like Musk.

Read more here.

Melat Kiros, who defeated Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado's primary in July, was born in 1997, the same year DeGette began her decadeslong congressional career.

On Tuesday night, the 29-year-old democratic socialist made history as the first Generation Z woman to be elected to Congress. Kiros joins Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida, who in 2022 was the first member of the generation born between 1997 and 2012 to win a congressional seat. 

In an interview with CBS News, Kiros declined to say what advice she's received from Frost about entering Congress as the youngest member, but said he's "been really wonderful in helping me get a sense of what it's like walking into this institution as young as we are." 

She knows she has a lot to learn: "What's intimidating is the sheer amount of knowledge that is necessary to be able to be effective in Congress, and that's going to take time to grow and build." 

Read more here.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, who won his reelection race on Tuesday by a wide margin, said the party's victories in his state provided a blueprint for how Democrats can win elsewhere.

"I think what we showed last night is we are a big tent party. What we also showed last night, here in the toughest swing state in the entire country, that we elected candidates who could compete everywhere, who attracted the support of Republicans and independents along with Democrats," Shapiro told "CBS Mornings." 

He added: "I do think it's important that we have an ideological conversation with our family to determine what our party looks like going forward. That's a healthy thing, and that's an important thing, and it needs to be done, with a focus on how we can deliver for people, how we can enable real fundamental change and reform in this country, and importantly, how we can win in these tough states across the country."

Shapiro took credit for recruiting the four Democratic candidates who ousted House GOP incumbents in his state, calling them "get-stuff-done Democrats."

"What they all had in common was a desire for fundamental change. What they all had in common was that these were commonsense Democrats who ran hard. I campaigned for each one of them, worked hard for each of them and we knew that these four had the ability, if they won, to tilt the balance of power in Washington and make Hakeem Jeffries the speaker," he said.

Keisha Lance Bottoms, the governor-elect of Georgia, said she was surprised that news outlets projected her victory so early in the evening on Tuesday. 

"I put in my AirPods to work on my speech, and my husband was on the sofa near me, laying near me, and he kicked me, and I went like, 'What?' And he said, 'They called it,' and I said, 'Called what?' And so that's how I knew," she said. 

CBS News projected Bottoms' victory shortly before 9:30 p.m. Polls closed in Georgia at 7 p.m.

Bottoms, who will become Georgia's first Black governor and the first Black woman governor anywhere in the U.S., said she thought the result would be closer.

"I thought that it was going to be a very long night. I knew that we had done the work, but Georgia has always, for the past few years, been a purple state, so I thought it would be much closer," she said.

Jon Rosenthal has become the first Democrat to win a Texas Railroad Commissioner race since 1990, CBS News projects, after Republican Bo French refused to reconsider his racist, anti-Muslim and antisemitic comments.

The powerful Texas railroad commission does not deal with railroads, but instead regulates the state's massive oil and gas industry. There are three total commissioners — the other two are Republicans. 

Read more here.

Two Senate races remain toss-ups: Alaska and Mississippi.

Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola are locked in a tight contest. Vote-counting could take some time in the race, which was shaken up last week by allegations that operatives linked to Peltola helped recruit a candidate with the same first and last name as Sullivan — which Peltola's team denied.

The Mississippi race between GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith and Democrat Scott Colom also remains close — a contest that was not widely viewed as competitive prior to Tuesday.

Democrats won control of the House, but about 75 races have yet to be determined. 

We're awaiting results in a number of competitive races, including some that are unexpectedly close: 

• Arizona's 1st District: Republican Jay Feely vs. Democrat Amish Shah
• Arizona's 6th District: Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani vs. Democrat JoAnna Mendoza 
• California's 22nd District: GOP Rep. David Valadao vs. Democrat Randy Villegas
• Colorado's 4th District: GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert vs. Democrat Eileen Laubacher 
• Colorado's 5th District: GOP Rep. Jeff Crank vs. Democrat Jessica Killin 
• Michigan's 4th District: GOP Rep. Bill Huizenga vs. Democrat Sean McCann
• Michigan's 7th District: Republican Rep. Tom Barrett vs. Democrat William Lawrence 
• Montana's 1st District: Republican Aaron Flint vs. Democrat Sam Forstag
• Florida's 7th District: Democrat Bale Dalton vs. Republican Ryan Elijah 
• Florida's 9th District: Democratic Rep. Darren Soto vs. Republican Dan Green
• Florida's 13th District: GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna vs. Democrat Leela Gray
• Florida's 27th District: GOP Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar vs. Democrat Eliott Rodriguez
• New York's 17th District: GOP Rep. Mike Lawlor vs. Democrat Cait Conley
• North Carolina's 1st District: Democratic Rep. Don Davis vs. Republican Laurie Buckhout
• North Carolina's 9th District: GOP Rep. Richard Hudson vs. Democrat Richard Ojeda
• Virginia's 1st District: GOP Rep. Rob Wittman vs. Democrat Shannon Taylor
  
• Washington's 3rd District: Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez vs. Republican John Braun

GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts won reelection in the Nebraska Senate race, CBS News projects, defeating independent Dan Osborn. 

Ricketts, 62, is a former Nebraska governor who was appointed to the Senate in 2023. He faced off against Osborn, a former union leader who was making his second Senate bid.

Read more here.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a key negotiator in U.S.-Iran talks, recognized Tuesday's election results — and linked them to the high consumer prices wrought by the Iran war.

"Conscience or the cost of living, Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message," he wrote on social media. "If the US govt betrays their public will to serve international paymasters and blackmailers, it will learn our NO comes with a Nightmare."

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race, CBS News projects, becoming the nation's first Muslim senator and retaining the seat for Democrats after one of the most contentious contests of the midterm elections.

His win came after a last-minute shakeup in the race, with former Democratic primary opponent Haley Stevens endorsing Rogers over the weekend.

Read more here.

In his first public comments since Democrats notched House and Senate victories, billionaire Elon Musk wrote on X: "Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now."

The world's richest man spent hundreds of millions of dollars assisting Republican congressional candidates. His biggest investment came in the Texas Senate race, which Republican Ken Paxton lost to Democrat James Talarico.

Adam Hamilton became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in Kansas since 1932 on Tuesday — a feat that required him to convince a large number of Republicans to cross the aisle and vote for him, even if that meant losing the Senate majority for their preferred party.

CBS News asked what he thinks Democrats should do first. He said they should end the war in Iran, address tariffs, lower healthcare costs and restore programs like SNAP — commonly known as food stamps — that were curtailed by the last Congress.  

When asked what Democrats could propose that he wouldn't support on behalf of the Republicans who voted for him, he said he believed in a strong border.

"I am an independent-minded Democrat. I'm going to work across the aisle so that Republicans and Democrats take into account each other's concerns," he told CBS News.

Hamilton now has the task of representing his bipartisan coalition in a Congress where Democrats have been empowered with control of both houses. Kansas' other Senate seat is held by Republican Sen. Jerry Moran, who Hamilton has said will be his "best friend."

"We are not flyover country. We are the heart of America. And today the heart of America has sent Washington a message: that we are better together than we are divided," Hamilton told supporters in a victory speech.

Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed took the stage in Michigan to declare victory. CBS News has not projected a winner in the race, which remains tight, though Democrats are assessed as the likely winners.

"Michigan, we did it!" El-Sayed said. 

He said he is "so proud and honored" to be their senator-elect. If he wins against Republican Mike Rogers, El-Sayed will be the first Muslim-American elected to the U.S. Senate. 

"You took a chance on the unlikeliest of candidates, so thank you," he said. "This is all yours."

He thanked voters for inviting him to their churches, synagogues and homes.

"Thank you for your trust and your belief and your kindness," he said. "I'm going to take it all with me and I hope to bring back the kind of leadership that more than earns it." 

El-Sayed said his opponents weren't just targeting and attacking him, "they were targeting and attacking you." 

"They want an America that is too small for some of us. We know that America is big enough for all of us," he said. 

It was a bitter race. El-Sayed's vehement criticism of the Israeli government drew stiff pushback from Republicans and some moderate Democrats in both the primary and general election, and President Trump frequently made incendiary comments about El-Sayed, calling him "Mohammad" and saying he should be forced to go through a metal detector. He pointed to that bitterness during his speech early Wednesday.

"So Mike, enjoy your retirement!" El-Sayed said, telling him to enjoy his yachts.

"You chose hate, and Michigan chose hope," he said. "May we never have to see the likes of you in the state again."

"JD, habibi, there is this delicious irony in the fact that you're constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January," he said, before nodding to Vice President JD Vance's Ohio heritage. "So you know what that means! Wolverine one, buckeye zero!"

"Donald, look, I know you've struggled with my name," he said. "So after JD swears me in in January, you can just go on and call me senator."

"To the super PACs and special interests who tried to beat us, we are coming for your system of politics," he said. "To AIPAC, who spent $42 million against us, thank you for giving me the opportunity to beat you twice."

Former President Barack Obama said American voters sent a "clear message," but Democrats now need to "roll up our sleeves."

"Tonight, the American people sent a clear message — they want a politics that brings people together rather than divides them, and leaders who offer concrete solutions to the challenges they face," said the former president, who held several rallies for Democratic candidates in recent weeks. 

"These results were only possible because outstanding candidates stepped forward in every region of the country — including in areas once considered long shots," he said. "They came from different backgrounds and represented a range of political perspectives, but were united by shared values, a belief in public service, and a commitment to putting the people of their districts and states first."

He also expressed gratitude to election officials and volunteers. 

"While this administration has another two years in office, our job now is to roll up our sleeves, make changes wherever we have the power to do so, prevent further damage, and lay the groundwork for the future," he said. 

Embattled GOP Rep. Max Miller lost his bid for reelection to Democrat Brian Poindexter in Ohio's 7th Congressional District, CBS News projected. 

Miller defied calls over the summer to end his campaign before a deadline that would have allowed Republicans to replace him on the November ballot amid allegations of domestic abuse toward his ex-wife and young daughter. The allegations, which Miller denied, put the northeastern Ohio district long held by Republicans in play. 

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rated the race as solid Republican earlier this year, but shifted the contest to a toss-up in August. 

Read more here.

Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is in an unexpectedly close fight to keep her Senate seat. She and Democrat Scott Colom are neck-and-neck in Mississippi, with nearly all of the votes in.

When Republican Sen. Susan Collins was reelected in 2020, she narrowly won women voters. But exit polls show that on Tuesday, they backed Democrat Troy Jackson, who is projected to defeat Collins.

While Collins often tries to distance herself from President Trump, women voters and most Maine voters overall said she was too supportive of the president. 

And Mr. Trump's tariffs are not popular here. Most Maine voters (69%) feel they have harmed their local economy. Many in the state said the cost of living was a crucial factor in their vote and they voted for Jackson by a 33-point margin.

Even though more voters thought Collins would do a better job than Jackson getting federal funding for Maine, that wasn't enough to push her over the top.

Republican Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers expressed confidence, telling supporters early Wednesday morning, "there is a path for us to win this thing."

"Guess what's left? It's coming our way," he said.

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed currently has a lead, but around one-third of the vote is still uncounted. CBS News assesses that the seat is a likely Democratic win, but has not projected a winner.

Rogers said: "We're very, very confident we're going to turn this thing around," before telling supporters to get some sleep.

Polls closed in Alaska at 1 a.m. ET, meaning all voting in the United States has concluded. 

The Senate race in Alaska will be closely watched, by anyone still awake. 

In his victory speech in Texas, Democratic Senator-elect James Talarico compared his victory and his story to the biblical story of David and Goliath. 

"In this race, we went up against our own Goliaths — the richest man in the world, the most powerful man in the world, and the entire Washington, D.C. establishment," Talarico said. 

"David wasn't as big or as strong as Goliath," he continued. "He didn't have as many weapons. But he had hope. He had faith. And he had a slingshot. You were my slingshot. The people of Texas were my slingshot. And tonight, and tonight, we defeated Goliath."

Earlier in the evening, Paxton congratulated Talarico, saying he would pray for him. 

Democrat Troy Jackson defeated GOP Sen. Susan Collins in the Maine Senate race, CBS News projects, in a key victory for Democrats who have sought for decades to oust the Republican senator.

Collins said earlier that she conceded to Jackson.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick lost his race in Pennsylvania's 1st District, CBS News projected, becoming the latest House Republican from the state to lose reelection. 

He lost to Democrat Bob Harvie, a Bucks County commissioner. 

Fitzpatrick, a moderate, was one of the few House Republicans to vote to limit President Trump's ability to further strike Iran. He has a history of outperforming other GOP lawmakers.

Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is likely to defeat Republican candidate Mike Rogers, CBS News estimates. CBS News has not projected a winner in the race.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer — who could be Senate majority leader soon — began his election night remarks by saying "against all odds, we Democrats have won the Senate."

Democrats have five words for Americans, he said: "Relief is on the way." 

Schumer said Republicans made the choice to follow President Trump "over the cliff." 

"The American people reduced the red brick wall to a pile of bricks," he said. 

— Ian McKinney and Maria Sullivan

Democrat Bobby Pulido defeated incumbent Rep. Monica De La Cruz, CBS News projects, flipping the crucial South Texas district that Democrats had heavily targeted after the region had swung toward Republicans in 2024.

Read more here.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he's proud of what Senate Republicans have done, and said he's thankful Republicans still have President Trump in the White House. Thune will no longer be Senate majority leader come January. 

"As we head into 2027, Senate Republicans will not stand idly by as the far-left, socialist wing of the Democrat Party attempts to unwind everything we've done," Thune wrote on X.  "Thankfully, we still have President Trump in the White House, and we'll work with him to stop the worst impulses of Democrat extremism. We cannot let their fringe positions become the mainstream."

Republican Sen. Susan Collins has conceded to Democratic challenger Troy Jackson, ending a decades-long career in Congress. 

CBS News has not projected a winner in the race.

"It has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Maine in the United States Senate. I'm proud of all I have been able to accomplish for our state and for our country in the past 30 years," she said, confirming that she called to congratulate Jackson and "to assure him that my staff and I will work to ensure a smooth transition."

A senior Jackson adviser also told CBS News that Collins conceded.

Taking the stage with his family in Maine, Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson thanked his supporters. 

CBS News has not projected a winner in the race between Jackson and Republican Sen. Susan Collins. 

"We did it! Working people did it!" he said. 

Jackson said he's "so damn proud" to be standing there with everyone. Jackson, a longtime logger, said he relates to the people watching him who are just getting home from shift work. 

"Tonight, or this morning, the people of Maine have elected that logger to the United States Senate," he said. 

Democrats have flipped control of three of Iowa's four House seats.

GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks lost reelection to Democrat Christina Bohannan in Iowa's 1st District in their third consecutive rematch, CBS News projected. The race was expected to be close in the months leading up to the election. As November neared, election forecasters shifted the race in favor of Democrats. 

Democrat Lindsay James defeated Republican Joe Mitchell in Iowa's 2nd District, which is currently held by GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson, who lost her bid for Senate.

And GOP Rep. Zach Nunn lost reelection to Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott in Iowa's 3rd District.

Previewing the likely torrent of congressional investigations following Democrats' House victory, Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement: "Lawyer up."

President Trump said he will accept the results of the midterm elections. 

"Yes, sure I'll accept them. Why wouldn't I?" he told Fox News' Bret Baier.

Democrat Peggy Flanagan defeated Michele Tafoya in the Minnesota Senate race, CBS News projects, defending the seat for Democrats after Sen. Tina Smith opted not to seek reelection. 

Read more here.

In a live interview on Fox News, President Trump said he was "a little bit surprised" by his party's midterm losses.

"I thought they'd do better," he said, pointing to his "tremendous rallies" and "great excitement."

He said he intends to work with congressional Democrats, adding that he spoke with several on Tuesday, though he didn't name them. Asked how he will work with the party, he pointed to his veto power, calling it "impervious" and "one of the stronger powers that a president has."

"And after a couple of months of vetoes, they'll call and they'll say, 'How do we get this stuff done?' And we'll work together," he said.

He predicted: "We can work with them on immigration, I think."

He said Democrats "did a good job" and "fought hard."

He told Fox News he "felt very badly" about GOP Sen. Darline Graham's loss, noting the death of her brother, longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham.

"She's essentially mourning and campaigning at the same time, and then on top of it, this happens," he said.

Otherwise, he largely blamed GOP candidates, saying his base "didn't like the candidates."

"Some of the candidates that I endorsed fought me, and they didn't like that they fought me," he said, noting how loyal his base tends to be.

And he said he doesn't plan to make any changes in his Cabinet.

He acknowledged that the Iran war and its impact on energy prices were likely a drag on his party.

"Historically, I think I'll be judged for having done the right thing, but that gave us an evening that was not that pleasant," the president said.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats will begin delivering for Americans as soon as they take control of Congress in January. 

"America is back," he said, to cheers.

CBS News asked Aaron Lehman, the head of the Iowa Farmer's Union, about President Trump's frequent call for Americans to vote like he was on the ballot. 

"They did," he said. 

Democrat Josh Turek won the Senate race against Ashley Hinson. Voters shifted Democratic in rural Iowa. 

Senate races in three normally deep-red states — Louisiana, Nebraska and Mississippi — are currently rated toss-ups by CBS News.

The Louisiana Senate race is a face-off between Republican Julia Letlow and Democrat Jamie Davis, and the Mississippi race is between GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Scott Colom. Prior to election night, neither race was widely viewed as a competitive contest.

The Nebraska Senate race is competitive between independent Dan Osborn and Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts. 

Speaking at a watch party in Columbia, South Carolina, Republican Sen. Darlene Graham said it's been a "very difficult few months" — a reference to the death of her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham.

"I lost my dear brother Lindsey and one of our South Carolina's greatest leaders in July," she said. "Since then, I've run in a contentious primary and runoff extending into mid-August, and now a general election. I would trade this all 1,000 times over to have my brother back, but God had a different plan."

President Trump took to Truth Social, saying he will "become a political pundit" on why his favored candidates lost in the midterms. 

He quickly followed through on that promise, writing that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lost because he's a "RINO."

"If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn't become a RINO in the last six months of his Political Life, he wouldn't have lost," Mr. Trump wrote. "He went back to his original formula, and it wasn't pretty!"

In Texas, Republican Ken Paxton congratulated Democratic Senate winner James Talarico. He is the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate seat in Texas since 1988.

Keeping his remarks brief, Paxton called it a "difficult" night for Republicans. 

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement congratulating House Democrats, and throwing her support behind House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries for speaker.

"Tonight, the American people have changed the course of our country," she said. "By electing a Democratic House Majority, they have broken Washington's Republican monopoly on power and restored a constitutional check on a President who has governed as though none should exist. They have demanded lower costs, better healthcare and a government that fights for working families."

"With tremendous personal pride, I congratulate our next Speaker, Hakeem Jeffries," she added. "Exactly twenty years after I became the first woman to hold the gavel, he will make history as the first Black Speaker of the House. I know the strength, judgment and resolve that office demands. Hakeem has those qualities in abundance. He has led Democrats to this extraordinary victory, and he will be a magnificent speaker."

Speaking to CBS News' senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang, the president congratulated Democrats on their victories. 

"My message is congratulations to the Democrats, and I look forward to working with you for the good of our country," the president said. 

Read more here.

Democrats have gained control of the Senate, CBS News projected shortly after 11:30 p.m.

That means Democrats will be able to block President Trump's nominees, and Democrats will have a better chance at passing legislation. On Tuesday night, the president has said he plans to work with Democrats, but he's also said he will use his veto powers as needed.

Democratic Iowa Senate candidate Josh Turek has defeated Republican Ashley Hinson, CBS News projects.

Democrat Adam Hamilton defeated GOP Sen. Roger Marshall in the Kansas Senate race, CBS News projects, unseating the incumbent in a major upset that comes as the state hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate in nearly a century.

Read more here.

Speaking on Politico's livestream, President Trump said he'll work with Democrats — and freely use his veto power. During the phone call with Politico's Dasha Burns, which aired live, the president did not argue with the legitimacy of the election results.

"We'll work with the Democrats," the president said. 

Mr. Trump said he'll consider doing everything that's good and appropriate for the country. 

Asked how Democratic control in Congress will change his presidency, he said, "I'll let you know a year from now." 

The president said he'll have a "powerful" veto power, "and if I think it's good, we're just gonna veto." 

On the possibility of further Iran strikes, the president said "we're going to take a look" and decide if further strikes are necessary. 

The president said House Speaker Mike Johnson has done a good job, but declined to fully endorse Johnson to continue to lead Republicans in the House. 

"I think he's done a very good job," the president said, when asked if Johnson should continue to lead Republicans in the House. "I think he's done a good job, they're going to have to make that decision," the president said again, when asked the same question again. 

CBS News assesses the Iowa Senate race as leaning Democratic.

Democrat Josh Turek is facing off against Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson.

Democrat Rob Sand has won the Iowa gubernatorial race, CBS News projects, defeating Republican Zach Lahn.

Once a swing state, Iowa has grown increasingly conservative in recent years. But the state has struggled economically in recent years, particularly under tariffs and high energy prices wrought by the Iran war. President Trump's favored gubernatorial candidate — Randy Feenstra — also lost the GOP primary to Lahn.

Democrat Sherrod Brown, a former senator from Ohio, will be a senator once again, CBS News projects. He's defeated Republican Sen. Jon Husted.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has lost to Democrat Gina Hinojosa in his bid for reelection, CBS News projects. After her upset win, Hinojosa will be the first Democrat to serve as Texas governor since Ann Richards in the early 1990s.

Abbott has called Hinojosa to concede, two sources tell CBS News.

Democrat James Talarico will defeat Republican Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race, CBS News projects, marking a major flip that Democrats have long sought in the Lone Star State.

CBS News estimates that Democrat Sherrod Brown is likely to win the Ohio Senate race against Republican Sen. Jon Husted. A winner has not yet been projected.

Democrat Amy Acton is the victor in the Ohio gubernatorial race against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, CBS News projects. 

Ramaswamy's controversial ad featuring Acton's estranged mother dominated the news cycle in the race, and Ramaswamy initially stood by the ad before eventually taking it off the air. 

Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who lost his primary race to the now-defeated Ken Paxton, congratulated Democrat James Talarico. 

CBS News has not yet projected a winner in the Texas Senate race, but rates the contest as likely to be won by Talarico.

"The voters have spoken, and I want to extend my congratulations to James Talarico on his election to the U.S. Senate," Cornyn wrote on X. "I look forward to meeting him and offering my assistance with his transition as he prepares to serve Texans in the U.S. Senate."

As Republican losses continue to roll in, President Trump took to Truth Social. 

"I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!" he posted. "Thank you for your attention to this matter."

On the campaign trail, the president told voters to "pretend" he was on the ballot. 

After CBS News and other outlets projected Democrats will win the House, Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries posted on X: "Victory for America!"

He will likely be the next speaker of the House.

A senior Republican party strategist directly involved in GOP midterm strategy is placing the blame for the GOP's bad night on one person: President Trump. The operative sent CBS News the president's low approval ratings and said, "The Story of the night."

A separate senior Republican Party official involved in House GOP midterm strategy called it a "bloodbath."

"I don't think anybody imagined the bottom falling out the way it did," the party official said. 

The Senate race in Texas is likely to go to Democrat James Talarico over Republican Ken Paxton, CBS News has assessed. 

Biden-era former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg described the midterm results as "absolutely tectonic" during CBS News' election broadcast, saying, "Good news after good news keeps rolling in."

"We are seeing the early signs of something that is less of a result than it is a revolt," he said. "It is a sign that the American people are comprehensively rejecting Donald Trump's policies and the congressional Republicans who enable them."

Buttigieg spoke to CBS News from Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed's watch party. The crucial race remains a toss-up. He remained optimistic, saying that "different states are different" and doubting Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens' endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers had a major impact. 

Buttigieg ran for president in 2020, and is widely viewed as a potential future Democratic contender.

Democrats will gain control of the House, CBS News projects.

Democratic control of the House will mean subpoena and investigative power for Democrats, which will characterize President Trump's final two years in office.

Read more here.

Polls have closed in Nevada, Utah and Montana. 

The Senate race in Montana and the governor's race in Nevada are competitive.

Democrat Annie Andrews defeated GOP Sen. Darline Graham in the South Carolina Senate race, CBS News projects, in a major upset.

Read more here.

The White House has ordered food from the Cheesecake Factory for dinner, according to a post from principal deputy communications director Kaelan Dorr. 

"WH eating good on a big day," Dorr posted. 

The move is a reference to former President Barack Obama's comments on the campaign trail that the president's White House renovations look "like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory."

CBS News now rates the South Carolina Senate contest as likely Democratic.

Incumbent GOP Sen. Darline Graham — who was appointed to fill her brother Lindsey Graham's seat — is running against Democrat Annie Andrews.

Both the Senate and governor's races in Kansas lean Democratic, CBS News estimates. 

Adam Hamilton is leading Republican incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall. A Democrat hasn't won a Kansas Senate seat in nearly a century.

And in the gubernatorial race, Democrat Cindy Holscher is leading Republican Ty Masterson. The state currently has a Democratic governor.

A White House official told CBS News the mood in the White House is "defiant." 

"President Trump was not on the ballot, and it's proven that Trump voters show up when he is on the ballot," the official said.

"Also, candidate quality matters, and President Trump did a better job promoting many of the candidates on the ballot than the candidates did themselves," the White House official continued.

"And a final note here: regardless of how today plays out, President Trump's resolve to stop the Radical Left is only going to become stronger. Buckle up," the official said. 

In pre-midterm rallies, the president frequently encouraged voters to "pretend" that he was on the ballot, even saying at times that he was on the ballot, in a sense.

Both the Senate race and the governor's race in Texas lean Democratic, CBS News estimates.

A Democrat has not won statewide in the Lone Star State in more than three decades. Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is running against Republican Ken Paxton, while GOP Gov. Ken Paxton is trying to fend off a challenge from Democrat Gina Hinojosa.

Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who won reelection, took to the stage to thank the voters and volunteers. 

"Georgia, you did it!" he said. 

Ossoff also congratulated fellow Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, who won the governor's race. 

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms has won Georgia's race for governor, defeating Republican Rick Jackson, CBS News has projected.

Bottoms is the first Democrat to win a Georgia governor's race since 1998.

She will be the first woman to serve as governor in Georgia, the first Black governor of Georgia and the first Black woman to serve as governor of any state. 

Republican Rep. Byron Donalds has defeated Democrat David Jolly in Florida's gubernatorial election and is set to become the first Black governor in the state's history, CBS News projects.

Donalds' victory marks another major win for Republicans in Florida, extending the party's control of the governor's office after eight years under Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was barred from seeking a third consecutive term.

The victory also carries national significance. Donalds would become the first Black Republican elected governor in U.S. history. Only three Black governors have previously been elected nationwide, all Democrats.

Read more here.

President Trump has no public appearances on his schedule Wednesday, according to a schedule released by the White House. He has several closed-press policy meetings, but there is no post-midterms press conference scheduled as of now.

Two senior Republican Party operatives involved in the party's midterm strategy told CBS News there is growing concern within top Senate GOP circles over the election results.

"It looks biblically bad," one of the operatives told CBS News.

Another top GOP operative directly involved in Senate midterm strategy was similarly blunt.

"Dude," the strategist said. "Bloodbath."

Democrat Jamie Ager flipped control of North Carolina's 11th Congressional District, CBS News projects, marking the first time a Democrat has won the seat since 2010. 

Ager, a fourth-generation farmer, was initially supposed to face GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards, who ended his reelection bid in early August. State Rep. Jennifer Balkcom replaced Edwards on the ballot less than 90 days before the election, putting her at a disadvantage in an already tough political climate for Republicans. 

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted the race from lean Republican to toss-up after Edwards suspended his campaign. As Election Day neared, election forecasters shifted the race again to lean Democrat. 

Read more here.

The South Carolina Senate race leans Democratic, CBS News estimates. Annie Andrews, the Democratic candidate, is leading Darline Graham, the Republican incumbent and sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.

The last time a Democrat won a Senate race in South Carolina was 1998, and that was a longtime incumbent senator, Fritz Hollings. 

Speaking after his victory in the New Hampshire Senate race, Democratic winner Chris Pappas said New Hampshire owes his opponent, Republican John Sununu, a "big debt of gratitude" for his service to the state. Sununu is a former U.S. senator. 

"A few minutes ago, I just got a very gracious call from John Sununu," Pappas told the crowd in his victory speech. "He wished us and our team well. And I wish the same for him and his family. And I think we all owe John Sununu a big debt of gratitude for his public service for the people of New Hampshire."

Pappas told the crowd it had "been a long campaign against a backdrop of the chaos, corruption and chaos, coming out of Washington." He said voters showed Washington "needs a new generation at the table to fix things."

At 9 p.m., polls closed in 15 more states:

• Arizona
• Colorado
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Texas
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Key races include the Senate race in Texas, the Senate race in Michigan, the Senate and governor's races in Iowa, and the Senate race in Kansas. 

GOP Sen. Ashley Moody defeated Democrat Angie Nixon in the Florida Senate race, CBS News projects, keeping the seat under Republican control. 

Moody, 51, was appointed last year to fill a vacancy left by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. She previously served as Florida's attorney general, after working as a commercial litigator and federal prosecutor. 

Moody faced off against Nixon, who's represented portions of the Jacksonville area in the Florida statehouse since 2020. Nixon, 42, is a democratic socialist candidate who pulled off an upset victory against a more moderate opponent in the primary, setting up the race against Moody. 

Nixon's primary victory was among a series of wins by progressive-left candidates this cycle, in a key midterm dynamic as the Democrats grappled with differing visions for the party's future. But the general election contests are another story, especially in a state like Florida. 

Read more here.

Two Florida Democrats whose districts were made more favorable to Republicans survived redistricting, CBS News projects. 

Rep. Kathy Castor, who has been in Congress since 2007, won reelection in the 14th District. 

And Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who was first elected in 2022 and beat a democratic socialist in the primary, won the race in the 25th District. 

The 22nd District was also redrawn to favor the GOP, but Democratic candidate Pia Dandiya is projected to win.

Democrat Roy Cooper defeated Michael Whatley in the North Carolina Senate race, CBS News projects, marking the Democrats' first flip of the night.

Cooper, 69, is a popular two-term governor and the longest-serving state attorney general in North Carolina's history. His Senate candidacy set up North Carolina as Democrats' best chance to win a Republican-held seat during the 2026 midterm elections after GOP Sen. Thom Tillis opted not to seek reelection. 

Cooper faced off against Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chairman who had never previously run for office but was backed by President Trump. 

Whatley, 57, worked in former President George W. Bush's administration and as chief of staff for former North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole before serving as chairman of the state Republican Party. He went on to play a central role in President Trump's reelection effort as RNC chair, and entered the Senate race with the president's encouragement. 

North Carolina hasn't elected a Democratic senator since 2008. And even before Tillis decided not to seek reelection, facing a primary threat from the president, the race was expected to be competitive, since Mr. Trump won the state by just three points in 2024.

Read more here.

Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas has defeated former GOP Sen. John Sununu in the New Hampshire Senate race, CBS News projects, keeping the seat in Democratic control after Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's retirement. 

Pappas, 46, has represented New Hampshire in the House since 2019, where he's a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. He campaigned as an independent voice for New Hampshire, taking on a formidable opponent in Sununu, whose family has widespread name recognition in the state.

Sununu, 62, is the son of former Gov. John H. Sununu and brother of former Gov. Chris Sununu, and his name carries significant weight in New Hampshire. He sought a comeback bid to the upper chamber — after representing New Hampshire in the House and Senate for more than a decade, he was defeated by Shaheen in 2008.

With Sununu, Republicans saw one of few opportunities for a pickup this cycle, looking to flip the seat although New Hampshire hasn't elected a Republican to the Senate since 2010. And though a Republican also hasn't won in the state at the presidential level since 2000, Republicans have controlled the governor's mansion since 2017. 

Read more here.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is in a toss-up race against Democrat Troy Jackson, took to the stage minutes after polls closed in Maine. 

She thanked her family members individually for their support, along with her staff and volunteers. 

"You made the case, and I am so grateful to each and every one of you," she said. 

Collins gave no indication as to how she thinks the race is leaning. Maine uses ranked choice voting, meaning it will likely take longer to determine a winner compared to other states.

CBS News characterizes both the Senate and governor races in Florida as toss-ups as of 8 p.m., with roughly 90% of votes counted. Votes are still coming in from Florida's panhandle, however, which leans Republican.

There are several House races we're watching in Florida. As of 8 p.m., here's where they stand.

These three Republican-held districts are competitive:

• Florida's 7th District: CBS News rates the race as a toss-up between Democrat Bale Dalton and Republican Ryan Elijah. 
• Florida's 13th District: CBS News rates the race as a toss-up between GOP incumbent Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and Democrat Leela Gray. 
• Florida's 27th District: CBS News rates the race as a toss-up between GOP Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar and Democrat Eliott Rodriguez. Salazar made news earlier this year after the Miami-area lawmaker broke with President Trump on immigration. 

These four Democratic districts were redrawn by state lawmakers to make them more GOP-leaning:

• Florida's 9th District: CBS News rates the race as a toss-up between Democratic Rep. Darren Soto and Republican Dan Green. 
• Florida's 14th District: CBS News rates the race as lean Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor. 
• Florida's 22nd District: CBS News rates the race as likely Democratic candidate Pia Dandiya. 
• Florida's 25th District: CBS News rates the race as likely Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz. 

At 8 p.m., polls closed in 16 more states and the District of Columbia. Those states are Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Maryland, Missouri, Alabama, Connecticut, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Delaware. 

Key races in those states include the Senate and governor's races in Florida, multiple House races in Pennsylvania, a House race in New Jersey, the Senate race in Maine and the Senate race in New Hampshire. 

Joe Manchin, former U.S. senator from West Virginia, said Mr. Trump is failing to meet the moment for the American people. 

"He's not coming across with any empathy whatsoever as to how difficult it is to live today," Manchin said on CBS News. 

Groceries and gas prices are "unbelievable," he said. "And all we hear about is how rich America is." 

If there was ever a blue wave, this is set up to be one, Manchin said. 

Manchin, a Democrat for most of his political career, left the Democratic Party in 2024 to become an independent. 

President Trump has been watching election coverage all day, and he remains cautiously optimistic about the results, senior administration officials told CBS News. But the president is anxious about knowing what environment he faces for the remainder of his term, the officials said. 

The president planned to watch returns with Cabinet members, senior staff and advisers in the East Room and State Dining Room. Senior administration officials described it not as a viewing "party," but as a "low-key reception." 

The overall mood in the West Wing is muted, several sources said. Staff are already bracing for Mr. Trump's anger and frustration in the days to come.

The president feels like he "left it all on the field" with his campaign strategy, one official said, and that the past four weeks' worth of work has tightened the margins. His team believes the outcome "would be far worse" if he had not held the large number of rallies that he did. Sources also point to internal data that shows a strong GOP turn out on Tuesday, especially in Florida and Iowa where they are feeling more confident about winning. That said, they are concerned about most of the tight Senate races, and they have accepted that they will lose the House barring some unexpected shift.

One senior administration official acknowledged that the Republican candidates could have been stronger, specifically naming Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham.

The president recently said he would accept the election results if they were "honest." Senior administration officials said the president is not considering declaring martial law or pushing officials not to certify the results. The officials, however, will be going through the results to make sure there are no "irregularities," they said.

Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff defeated GOP Rep. Mike Collins in the Georgia Senate race, CBS News projects, holding onto his seat in the upper chamber. 

Ossoff, 39, was the sole Democrat seeking reelection in a state that President Trump won in 2024. He first came to the Senate in 2021, when he delivered Democrats one of two runoff victories in Georgia. This cycle, Republicans saw the race as a key prize as they sought to keep control of the chamber. But after a messy primary fight, and facing personal controversies and national headwinds, Collins was unable to make significant inroads in the Peach State. 

Read more here.

As of 7:30 p.m., three more states have closed their polls: Ohio, North Carolina and West Virginia. 

The contest for governor and Senate in Ohio are both battleground races, as is the Senate race in North Carolina.

The Senate race in Georgia is currently leaning toward incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff, who first won election in 2021, according to CBS News' race ratings. The contest in South Carolina between GOP Sen. Darline Graham and Democrat Annie Andrews is rated a toss-up, as is the governor's race in Georgia.

Meanwhile in Virginia, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner has secured another term in the Senate, CBS News projects.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Tuesday night that Democrats "are on the verge" of taking back control of the House, but added that they "take nothing for granted."

"We're going to continue to run through the finish line," he told reporters in Washington, D.C. "The early vote numbers were strong, and today's vote numbers all across the country are strong in blue states, in swing states and in red states."

Jeffries declined to predict how many seats Democrats could win, saying "we're working hard to get to 218, and then to win as many seats as we can on top of that."

Asked whether he would reach out to President Trump if Democrats win the majority, Jeffries said, "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Jeffries said the first person he will call after the election is "my mother."

Polls have fully closed in the following states, the first of the night: Indiana, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia.

The Senate contests in Georgia and South Carolina are both battleground races, as are the governor's race in Georgia and two House races in Virginia.

You can find full election results for all races in the CBS News Election Center.

"I have the ultimate power — it's called 'veto,'" President Trump told CBS News in an exclusive phone interview before polls close, when asked about the prospect of a Democratic-controlled Congress next year.

Mr. Trump says he is prepared to veto Democratic legislation if necessary, and he welcomes the moniker "Mr. Veto," in terms of describing his approach to Democrats, should they win a majority in the House or Senate. 

Pollsters have been predicting some GOP losses and in late October, CBS News' polling suggested Republicans could be on track to lose control of the House.

Still, Mr. Trump remained optimistic on Tuesday when asked about the Republican Party's chances during the phone interview. And he said that regardless of the results and the makeup of Congress next year, he feels confident about his ability to pursue his agenda in the coming two years. He remarked that recent Supreme Court decisions have empowered him and his administration to wield expansive executive powers inside the federal government even if Congress tries to block him. 

In the interview, Mr. Trump cited Trump v. Slaughter, a Supreme Court decision from earlier this year that allowed him to fire Rebecca Slaughter, a member of the Federal Trade Commission, and said that 6 to 3 decision enables him to exert sweeping control over many federal agencies, boards and commissions, regardless of who holds majorities in the House and Senate.

"We won the Slaughter case and the Slaughter case gives the president tremendous powers that it never had before," Mr. Trump said.

Read more here.

Voters are just plain not happy.  

Current exit polls show roughly three-quarters of voters are at least dissatisfied with the direction of the country. More are angry now about how things are going than they were in 2024, as economic anxiety persists. Those voting for Democrats are particularly likely to be angry.  

The issue of the economy, and trust in Mr. Trump to fix it, helped propel him to victory in 2024, but voters feel no better about the condition of the economy today. 

In fact, more voters have negative views of the economy now than they did two years ago, and views of the economy are more in line with what we saw in the 2022 midterms, when the party in power lost seats. 

President Trump said on Truth Social that he's been watching election coverage on Fox News, although he said he'll have to watch results elsewhere for a while, complaining about the voice of one of Fox's female contributors.

The president said he'll turn to Fox News again later in the evening. 

Mr. Trump is watching election night coverage from the White House. His schedule says he'll join an election night viewing reception in the East Room around 7 p.m.

Mr. Trump's job approval is currently underwater in nearly all the Senate battleground states, according to early exit polls, including in states that he won by double digits in 2024.

In all the Senate battlegrounds, more say their finances are worse, not better, compared to years ago.

And party control of the Senate was on the minds of voters. Majorities of those voting for Republican candidates and those voting for Democrats say which party controls the Senate was a major factor in their vote.

Read more here.

The clerk for Will County, Illinois, confirmed Tuesday that the county has received Pope Leo's ballot, CBS News Chicago reported. 

The pope, born Robert Prevost, is the first pope to ever vote in a U.S. election. Last week, the Vatican said the pontiff submitted his mail-in ballot. 

President Trump is on track for the lowest approval rating for a president in a midterm, according to early exit polls. Currently at 38%, it's lower than it was during the 2018 elections in his first term and lower than it was for George W. Bush in 2006 when his party lost both houses of Congress. 

Midterm elections have often been a referendum on the sitting president, and this one is no exception. Roughly six in 10 said Mr. Trump is a factor in their vote for the House. 

This is being driven largely by voters backing Democrats, who are overwhelmingly motivated by opposition to the president.

But for those backing Republicans, it's less about the president. Back in 2018, most Republican voters said their vote was to support Mr. Trump. That figure is lower today.

The president has often told his supporters to pretend he is on the ballot, and for many in the MAGA base, they may be doing just that. Most MAGA Republicans say their vote is to support Mr. Trump, but most non-MAGA Republicans say he is not a factor.

Read more from the exit polls here.

Speaking to reporters at the University of Michigan, Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed said he is "bracing for all outcomes" if Republicans challenge the election results. But he said he's hoping the "outcome is decisive" to prevent challengers acting in "bad faith." 

El-Sayed was asked if he would blame Democrat Haley Stevens if Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers wins. Stevens crossed party lines to endorse Rogers. 

"I'm not thinking about Haley Stevens," El-Sayed said. 

— Imani Agbionu

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Americans shouldn't be worried about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents or any other DHS employees showing up at polling places. 

"Our Immigration and Customs Enforcement, there would be no reason for us to be at a polling place because, as I said, only Americans should be picking our leaders," Mullin told CBS News in an interview Tuesday afternoon. 

Mullin said the suggestion that ICE agents would be at polling places was "absolutely ridiculous," blaming liberals and the media for such suggestions. Some on the right, such as Steve Bannon, have called for the Trump administration to deploy ICE agents to polling locations, and some Democratic senators have expressed fears about ICE being at the polls.

"ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, shouldn't have to be there, because there shouldn't be immigration issues going on at polling places," Mullin said. 

Mullin said there would have to be a very specific security threat for DHS officials to show up at a polling place, such as a bomb threat or a hack. And even then, he said, local police would likely be the ones responding.

The Justice Department previously said that neither FBI employees nor ICE agents will be monitoring polling places. 

The North Carolina Board of Elections said following an emergency session that it is extending voting hours at five precincts in four counties — Columbus, Hertford, Lenoir and Wilson — because of interruptions in voting during Election Day.

The elections board said statewide results will be posted 45 minutes later than scheduled, at around 8:15 p.m.

State law gives the North Carolina Board of Elections the power to extend voting hours at sites where it has been disrupted for at least 15 minutes.

"With about 2,625 polling places statewide, it is not unusual for minor issues to occur at polling sites that result in brief disruptions to voting," the board said. "The State Board routinely meets to discuss the extension of hours when the need arises on Election Day."

Gas prices on Tuesday are averaging $4.15 per gallon, according to AAA, the highest of any Election Day in U.S. history. 

On Election Day in 2022, the previous record, gas averaged $3.80 a gallon. 

In 2024, when Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris, the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. was $3.10. 

Election officials in Fulton County, Georgia, are warning voters about unauthorized text messages claiming polling places have changed, raising concerns about potential voter confusion as Americans head to the polls.

"Some Fulton County voters have reported receiving text messages regarding polling place changes. These text messages were not sent by Fulton County," the county said on X. "Voters should verify their polling place on the Georgia My Voter page or call 404-612-7020."

It remains unclear how many voters received the messages, who sent them or whether anyone was prevented from voting as a result. Fulton County includes Atlanta and is the most populous county in Georgia.

The warning comes amid heightened scrutiny of election security in the state, where misleading information and threats have disrupted past elections.

During the 2024 presidential election, several polling locations in metro Atlanta were temporarily disrupted by bomb threats that officials determined were not credible. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the threats appeared to originate from Russia.

Fulton County also has a history of confusion involving polling locations. During the 2022 midterm elections, independent observers from the Carter Center reported significant numbers of voters arriving at incorrect precincts, likely because of changes associated with redistricting. (That confusion was not attributed to a coordinated misinformation campaign.)

Fulton County operates its own legitimate text notification system, known as FALCON, which can alert voters to actual polling-place changes.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has reinstated a decision from three judges on the court that granted a Justice Department request to freeze a district court's temporary restraining order. Under that order, the Trump administration could not request election officials set aside ballots returned from alleged noncitizens and threaten prosecution of those who fail to comply with the demand.

The 9th Circuit has been at the center of several appeals involving the Trump administration's efforts to force state and local election officials to separate mail ballots received from people that it alleges are not U.S. citizens. The Justice Department had asked California to put to the side ballots from more than 20,000 alleged noncitizens and called for Washington's secretary of state to sequester mail ballots returned by up to over 400 people it claims are not U.S. citizens.

The Trump administration also said in letters to officials in the two states that "knowingly facilitating" voting by noncitizens is unlawful.

Two labor unions, the NAACP and the League of United Latin American Citizens filed a lawsuit and secured an order from a federal judge that barred the Trump administration from making further demands for election workers to separate ballots and "threats" of prosecution.

The Trump administration appealed to the 9th Circuit. A panel of three judges sided with the Justice Department and agreed to freeze the district court's decision. Then, a fuller complement of judges on the 9th Circuit set aside the ruling from the panel and reconsidered the issue.

On Tuesday afternoon, the appeals court put the earlier order from their three colleagues back in place.

Judge Eric Miller, joined by Judge Mark Bennett, said in a concurring decision that a district court does not "generally have the authority to enter an injunction prohibiting the Department of Justice from expressing its views about criminal statutes, even if the court determines that those views are incorrect." 

Five of the judges dissented and said that election workers must now choose whether to refuse to set aside ballots cast by alleged noncitizens or risk prosecution.

The secretaries of state of Michigan and New Mexico said they have received reports of Justice Department election monitors acting unlawfully. 

At two polling sites in Michigan, monitors allegedly asked poll workers for their training materials and unlawfully asked poll monitors questions, according to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office. In New Mexico, monitors asked voters "some unusual questions," a spokesperson for New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver told CBS News. 

Both offices said they have received assurances by the Justice Department that their concerns would be addressed.

In regards to Michigan, a Justice Department spokesperson said that the monitors "asked their typical questions about election official training," and said the questions are "the same questions asked by monitors in the past, including during the previous administration."

In New Mexico, the DOJ spokesperson said that the department had a "productive call" with Oliver's office and "believe[s] the issue is resolved and will not affect our ongoing monitoring for the rest of the day."

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was asked why the president chose to deliver his closing message on the eve of the midterms from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. 

Burgum said the Reflecting Pool and the president's other renovation projects in Washington prove "Americans do not have to accept decline and squalor in our major cities."

"It's a role model for the country," Burgum said of Washington.

The interior secretary said he'll be watching Tuesday night's election results from the White House. 

Marc Elias, a longtime Democratic attorney and vocal opponent of the Trump administration, is a target in the Justice Department's criminal investigation into whether Democrats sought to confuse voters in Alaska by recruiting a candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, according to a law enforcement official and a second source familiar with the matter.

Elias is just one of a number of individuals who received either target letters, preservation letters or grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department in connection with the investigation, which is being led by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Alaska and also involves prosecutors from the Civil Rights Division's criminal section, multiple sources said. 

Approximately 20 target and preservation letters have been issued to date in the probe. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, meanwhile, has separately received a grand jury subpoena, a law enforcement source told CBS News. 

Read more here.

The Biddeford Police Department in Maine said it is investigating reported vandalism outside Sen. Susan Collins' office in the town, which is located south of Portland.

The department said it received a call for vandalism just before 11 p.m. Monday. 

"That matter is currently under investigation," the police department said.

Footage taken by the Biddeford Buzz, a local news outlet, showed the words "Blood on her hands" written in what appears to be red paint outside of Collins' office.

Federal prosecutors in Kansas unveiled a grand jury indictment charging a woman who works for the Postal Service with stealing thousands of pieces of mail, including nearly 400 political mailers supporting Republican candidates and committees.

Kelly Cram, from Baxter Springs, Kansas, faces one count of unlawful secretion, destruction and delay of mail, according to the indictment. 

The indictment said Postal Service investigators searched her home in early October and found 4,404 pieces of mail in her garage, including 394 "political mailers — all related to Republican candidates or Republican Party affiliated political action committees."

"The agents found no political mail related to candidates of any other political party or any political action committees affiliated with another political party at Cram's residence," the indictment said.

Court records did not list an attorney for Cram.

GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is facing off against Democrat Troy Jackson, told CBS News at an event in Houlton, Maine, that she was not concerned about polls that show her trailing in the race.

"Well, first of all, as you may recall, six years ago, all the polls were wrong. Literally all of them. They showed me losing, and I ended up winning by nine points in a state that President Joe Biden carried by nine points," Collins said. "The latest poll I saw last night from Emerson College actually had me up by two points." 

She added: "The only poll that counts is the one on Election Day."

After casting his ballot at an elementary school in Manchester, New Hampshire, this morning, Rep. Chris Pappas said it "feels like change is in the air in New Hampshire."

The Democratic candidate for Senate said "voters are ready for this election to happen."

"Voters are turning out. Democracy is in action today, and I think people are going to choose a different course for our country, and this is a positive thing, you know, we can have the power in our hands," Pappas said.

The New York State Board of Elections said in a statement on X that problems with voting machines in Westchester County stemmed from a late programming change to a race in one municipality that was never loaded onto Election Day machines elsewhere in the county.

"A change affecting a contest in one municipality required updated election programming, which was subsequently tested and deployed for early voting and for Election Day machines in that municipality," the board said. "However, Election Day machines elsewhere in the county continued to use the original programming and therefore could not recognize and accept the ballots being used for Election Day."

The board said that voting is being conducted "through established emergency ballot procedures" and it is working with the Westchester County Board of Elections with the goal of "restor[ing] scanning capability to at least one voting machine at every polling location, with additional machines being brought online as the day progresses."

"Importantly, the affected scanners rejected ballots they could not properly recognize rather than incorrectly tabulating them," the statement said. "Every valid vote will be counted, and the established canvass, recanvass, and post-election audit procedures will remain in place. Accuracy will never be sacrificed for speed."

An Oklahoma man faces federal charges after allegedly sending hundreds of letters containing white powder to public officials and media outlets ahead of both the 2024 and 2026 elections. 

According to charging documents unsealed on Tuesday, Robin Patrick Martin allegedly sent more than 700 envelopes to public officials of both parties across the country. Authorities said the powder contained in the envelopes was nontoxic and said the envelopes had messages written in UV-reactive ink, not easily seen by the naked eye. 

Martin is charged with one count of conveying false or misleading information and hoaxes and another count of mailing threatening communications. It wasn't immediately clear whether Martin had been taken into custody.

According to an FBI affidavit, Martin "described perceived issues with the 2020 election, claimed that President Donald Trump won the 2020 election, and voiced concerns regarding some of the same issues recurring in the then-upcoming 2024 election."

Read more here.

Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, who is facing off against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, cast his ballot on Tuesday morning, saying he felt "really good about where we are today."

Over the weekend, Rogers received a last-minute endorsement from Democrat Haley Stevens, whom El-Sayed narrowly defeated in the primary. Rogers on Tuesday said that Stevens "ought to celebrate her courage," claiming that other Democrats have agreed El-Sayed is too "extreme." 

Fulton County officials say there are two separate ballot machine issues affecting two polling locations and roughly 1,000 early-voting ballots. 

There have been persistent paper jams at one location, and another location is having a power issue that has raised concerns about data corruption. 

Fulton County initially said it would ask its election board to formally adopt modified tabulation procedures this evening but soon afterward said in an updated statement that it would ask the election board to rescan the affected ballots in public view this evening. 

The county is proposing transferring machine memory cards or rescanning the physical ballots on a central scanner. 

Officials will discuss this at a meeting at 6:30 p.m. Once approved, the ballots are expected to be counted this evening between 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. 

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he doesn't expect these issues to delay any results. 

Democrat Josh Turek cast his ballot in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Tuesday morning, and told CBS News that he's feeling "great" as Iowans head to the polls on Election Day. He's running against GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson for the Senate seat that Joni Ernst is vacating.

"I feel great in the same way that I think I felt with basketball. The confidence comes from the preparation," Turek said. "And for 450 days, worked as absolutely as hard as I could to put my heart and my soul into this."

Turek billed the contest as a "real clear choice" between him and Hinson, pledging to fight for Iowans. Throughout the campaign, he's worked to tie her to corruption issues, and pointed to her getting wealthy in office. But Hinson has been clear that she does not trade stocks and has denied Turek's claims that her husband is operating as a "shadow lobbyist." 

PolitiFact noted that the source of Hinson's wealth is her husband Matt Arenholz's stake in Highstreet Insurance Partners. He sold his insurance agency to the private-equity-backed company and received a stake in Highstreet following the sale.

Still, Turek pitched himself as someone more aligned with the Hawkeye State, where he said, "Too many people here in Iowa are hurting and struggling."

Turek also says he's willing to work across the aisle, and he told reporters that he voted for some Republican candidates on Tuesday. He said he will spend the rest of the day talking to as many people as he can, noting that he's "a little superstitious" after winning his first election — for a seat in the statehouse — by just six votes.

"I worked all the way until polls closed. I still brought a handful of people to the polls at the end. And so, just work until the last minute," he said. "But I feel good and I feel confident. I think Iowans and the country is ready for change and I think it's a real clear contrast between myself and Ashley Hinson."

House Speaker Mike Johnson's closing message on the eve of Election Day is that the "polls are wrong." 

With the optimistic outlook he's espoused throughout the campaign season, he said, "It feels like 2024 to me when we swept the table and we won the White House, the Senate and the House. That's what's going on. The polls are wrong."

Johnson joined former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin at a campaign stop for Rep. Jen Kiggans at a rally in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District in the Virginia Beach area on Monday night. 

"We are going to shock the world," Johnson said, and added, "We're going to win these races, okay?"

He told voters that he expected that control of the House "is going to come down to the outcome of about 21 House seats." 

He urged voters to turn out, reminding the crowd that "especially in a race like this one, it's going to be thin margins." Johnson also noted that "we won 10 races last cycle in 2024 by 6,000 votes or less."

More than 886,000 Minnesotans have voted early in this year's midterm election, the highest number of early votes ever cast in a midterm in the state, according to the secretary of state's office.

The office was reporting that total as of Monday morning. Its count of 886,427 early ballots through Sunday topped the 2022 midterm record of 687,062. The previous record was broken days ago, but the enthusiasm hasn't dropped.

Nearly 69,000 people had voted early in Minneapolis. The city set a record for early voting in a non-presidential election year when it had accepted 52,661 early and absentee ballots as of Oct. 28, CBS News Minnesota reported Thursday. The city's elections director had said earlier that week that early voting sites were bustling.

Read more at CBS News Minnesota. 

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson voted in person Tuesday in Forsyth County, saying the experience reinforced his confidence in Georgia's voting system.

"It makes you feel very comfortable in the integrity of our voting system," Jackson said.

Jackson said he had voted absentee in recent elections but wanted to cast his ballot in person while running for governor. He estimated 15 to 20 people were in line and praised workers for their efficiency and professionalism.

"I feel like I've done all I can do. I'm leaving it up to God," Jackson said. "Whatever happens, my purpose in life is for kingdom impact and to help the least of us. No matter what happens, that's what I'll be doing tomorrow."

Read more at CBS News Atlanta. 

The Board of Legislators in New York's Westchester County said Tuesday that "every eligible vote will be counted" despite an ongoing issue with ballot scanners.

The Board of Legislators said that while the issue is being resolved, voters should continue to cast their ballots as instructed and ballots that cannot be scanned will be "securely collected and counted in accordance with election procedures."

Attorney General Letitia James posted on social media that her office is monitoring the issue.

Parts of Westchester County are in the battleground 17th U.S. House District, where incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Lawler faces Democrat Cait Conley. Both candidates urged voters to stay in line and cast their ballots.

House Administration Committee Republicans said they have official "election observers" on the ground gathering information in Westchester County.

 By 7 a.m. Tuesday, 32.9% of Michigan's active registered voters had already cast ballots, according to state data, as Election Day began.

That includes 750,469 people who voted early in person this election. The remaining votes will come from people voting on Election Day and from absentee ballots turned in late.

In the 2024 presidential election, more than 1.2 million people voted early in person.

Voters are deciding the race for governor between Democrat Jocelyn Benson and Republican John James, and an open U.S. Senate seat, where Democrat Abdul El-Sayed faces Republican Mike Rogers. Both pairs won their party primaries in August.

Read more at CBS News Detroit. 

Control of the House and Senate may not be immediately clear on election night, and some of the 2026 midterm election calls will take longer than others. But that's not unusual or an indication of fraud, as some candidates may claim.

As the nation watches to see how the elections unfold on Tuesday night, election experts advise voters against listening to politicians who cry foul without offering evidence of fraud as ballots are being cast or counted. Many key races will be close. And when they're close, the results are likely to come later. 

David Becker, executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation & Research and a CBS News contributor, says he has some doubts about whether Americans will even know who controls the House or Senate on election night. 

"If we do, then there's a very big wave going on," Becker said.

Read more here. 

An extreme rainfall event in parts of Florida could impact voting on Tuesday, as what's known as a "1,000-year" incident brings flooding to areas along the state's southwestern coast. 

In St. Lucie County, about an hour or so north of Palm Beach by car, the supervisor of elections announced changes to the county's polling places on Monday afternoon, as a result of flooded roads.

"Due to inclement weather and flooding that has affected road access to certain polling locations, the following precincts have been temporarily relocated to ensure voters have safe and accessible locations to cast their ballots," the elections supervisor said, adding that staff would continue evaluating sites to determine whether they're "functional" or not.

More rain is expected to fall in sections of Florida already affected by inclement weather, including St. Lucie County, through Wednesday, forecasters said. According to the National Weather Service in Melbourne, Florida, a "1,000-year" rainfall event "means there is a 0.1% chance of rainfall of this magnitude occurring in any given year — not that it can only happen once every 1,000 years."

"This exceptionally rare event underscores the importance of flood preparedness and flood insurance, even in areas outside designated high-risk flood zones," the weather service said.

Voting machines at most polling sites in Westchester County, north of New York City, are not accepting ballots due to an issue with the scanners, according to the county executive.

The scanners started experiencing problems when the polls opened at 6 a.m. Tuesday. 

Voters are being instructed to stay in line and fill out a paper ballot, which will be put into a secure box. Officials stressed that every ballot will be counted.

Both candidates in the district's hotly contested House race, Republican incumbent Rep. Mike Lawler and Democrat Cait Conley, urged voters to stay in line and cast their ballots.

County Executive Ken Jenkins said there is no word as to when the problem will be fixed. The New York State Board of Elections is working with county officials to handle the situation. 

Read more at CBS News New York. 

The Department of Justice issued a release early Tuesday saying that for the first time, it will be deploying approximately 1,000 election monitors and observers to all 50 states. 

According to the release from the Justice Department, the election monitors will be checking for compliance with the federal voting rights statutes that fall within their jurisdiction, which include federal statutes that protect the right to vote, including the Voting Rights Act, National Voter Registration Act, Help America Vote Act, Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, and Civil Rights Acts.

In a statement, Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said she is "very proud we are deploying the largest monitoring effort in DOJ history, and pursuing transparency for elections in an assertive and nondiscriminatory manner."

As polls are starting to open in the U.S. early Tuesday, President Trump piled more criticism onto Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, accusing him of hating Jewish, Black and White people.

"Abdul El-Sayed Hates Jews and Hates Blacks. Don't feel bad, he also Hates Whites," Mr. Trump claimed in a post on his Truth Social platform.

The president said "only fools" would vote for El-Sayed, whom he claimed would "100% do you in!"

The battle for the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, between El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers, which could prove decisive in the race to control the Senate, has been contentious. A late surprise endorsement by Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens of Rogers over her own Democratic colleague last week shook up the race. According to Stevens' House colleague Rep. Debbie Dingell, however, it is having the opposite effect of what Stevens intended, "galvanizing many communities" behind El-Sayed.

The shocking cross-party endorsement over the weekend that shook up Michigan's Senate race featured heavily in Republican Mike Rogers' final speech Monday night before Election Day — while Democrat Abdul El-Sayed steered clear of the topic in his own Detroit rally.

Rogers spent much of his speech highlighting Democrats who have switched over to his side, including Rep. Haley Stevens, who withdrew her endorsement of El-Sayed over the weekend. 

"Our Sunday … wasn't really planned to look like it was," Rogers told supporters. "But someone else had enough courage to believe that that was more important than party."

Stevens, for her part, addressed the decision in a lengthy social media post late Monday, calling it a "decision of conscience" that she made after deciding El-Sayed was "not fit to serve." She pointed to El-Sayed's decision to disinvite her from campaign events, and their public dayslong rift over the Democratic nominee and his allies' vehement criticism of U.S. aid to Israel.

Stevens' decision outraged many Democrats. But El-Sayed made no mention of the situation in his remarks on Monday, instead focusing on his campaign's core message.

He said that "it shouldn't be this hard" to "afford a tank of gas," to "buy a second bag of groceries" or to "pay your taxes and know that that money is going to be spent on you and your kids instead of dropping bombs on somebody else and their kids."

He called his campaign a "bet on the goodness of the people of the state of Michigan."

In dueling rallies the night before Election Day, the candidates for Texas' Senate seat expressed optimism about one of the closest — and most expensive — races of 2026.

Speaking to supporters at a restaurant in Allen, Texas, Republican Ken Paxton noted that most polls show the race is "going to come down to the wire." 

Paxton highlighted Democrat James Talarico's partisan loyalties, noting the race could decide which party controls the Senate. He accused Talarico of being a tax-and-spend progressive and — fighting words for Texas — a vegan. He told the crowd: "Texas has never been this close to slipping away."

"I'm not asking you to imagine what I'd do as your U.S. senator. I'm asking you to look at my record, look at what we've already accomplished and then compare that to James Talarico," Paxton said.

At his own concert-style rally in Austin, Talarico predicted that "we are going to shock the nation." His speech was riddled with references to the TV show "Friday Night Lights" and its come-from-behind storylines — nodding to the fact that no Democrat has won statewide in Texas in decades.

Talarico railed against "corrupt tariffs," the "corrupt war in the Middle East" and the hundreds of millions of dollars that Elon Musk has poured into the race to aid Paxton.

"We have an affordability crisis because we have a corruption crisis," he said, calling Paxton "the embodiment of this corrupt system."

In his final rally before Election Day, Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton acknowledged that his bid to represent Kansas in the Senate hinges on the state's voters making a history-defying decision.

"The last time a Democrat was elected from Kansas to the United States Senate, Amelia Earhart flew across the Atlantic Ocean for the very first time," he said at an event next door to Church of the Resurrection, the large Methodist church outside Kansas City that he has led for decades.

To defeat Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, Hamilton will need to win over an electorate that backed President Trump by double-digit margins in all three of his presidential runs. He leaned hard into bipartisanship during Monday's rally.

"If I get elected tomorrow night, I'm going to become Jerry Moran's best friend," he said, referring to the state's other Republican senator. "Because I want to model from Kansas for the rest of our country: This is what it looks like when a Republican and Democrat work together. I'm going to work the Democratic side of the aisle. He's going to work the Republican side of the aisle, and we're going to get things done."

His speech focused on the cost of living, healthcare and "decency."

"We've got a lot of people who've lost their freaking minds. They are no longer asking questions like, 'Is this right? Is it decent? Is this good? Is it moral?'" he said.

CBS News spoke to Hamilton supporter Cherri Shannon, who said she and her husband have knocked on doors for about four hours every Saturday for the last few weeks.

"My husband and I sat and complained about politics for a long time," she said. "And finally, I looked at him. I said, 'We got to get off the couch. We got to go do something.'"

President Trump will be monitoring election night from the White House, an administration official said. 

Mr. Trump held several telerallies on Monday and gave remarks at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. 

"We gave this a very strong shot," Mr. Trump said Monday. 

The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a last-ditch effort from the Trump administration to require California to separate mail ballots received from thousands of people that it claims are "likely" not U.S. citizens.

The court said in a one line, unsigned order that it was denying the Justice Department's request for an injunction requiring election officials from California to set aside the ballots from 20,000 alleged noncitizens. There were no noted dissents. 

The Justice Department sought the Supreme Court's intervention earlier in the day after a divided federal appeals court refused to order California election workers to set aside mail ballots cast by people on a government list.

Read more here.

Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan said Rep. Haley Stevens' stunning endorsement of GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is having the opposite effect of what Stevens intended. 

"You're seeing a backlash," Dingell said in an interview on "The Takeout with Major Garrett" on Monday. "It's galvanizing many communities." 

El-Sayed's campaign says it raised more than $2.4 million on Sunday, the same day that Stevens — his former Democratic primary rival — came out in support of Rogers. 

"I've had Black pastors talk to me and say, 'Who said she represented us?' There's a lot of anger in how she did what she did yesterday," Dingell said. 

The endorsement came after days of hostility between El-Sayed and Stevens, who were expected to appear together on Sunday before tensions boiled over. 

Read more here and watch Major Garrett's full interview with Rep. Dingell here. 

President Trump wrapped up his monthlong blitz of campaign appearances with remarks Monday at the Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. 

"With your vote, we will decide these extremists will be given power or not power," Mr. Trump said. "We'll either keep America strong — I think we're having, this is the golden age of America. We've never done anything like it."

Mr. Trump said all the records he's made won't matter "if we're going to be foolish and let people who hate our country win an election."

The president acknowledged that a sitting president's party often loses in the midterms. 

"For some reason, the sitting president doesn't win the midterms," the president said. "But we gave this a very strong shot."

Alaska's Senate race has garnered widespread attention amid scrutiny over the presence of a candidate bearing nearly the same name as the sitting Republican senator, Dan Sullivan. The New York Times reported members of Democrat Mary Peltola's campaign recruited Daniel J. Sullivan, a teacher, to join the race, but she said she knew nothing about it.

The winner will be decided under the state's system of ranked choice voting, which was first implemented in 2022.

The top four candidates from the primary are listed on the ballot. Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank as many or as few candidates as they'd like in order of preference, rather than selecting a single candidate on the ballot. 

If nobody wins an outright majority in the first tally, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their supporters' votes are redistributed to each voter's second choice. That process continues until one candidate wins more than 50%.

Read more here.

Two years ago, President Trump made historic gains with Hispanic voters nationwide and won a majority of Texas Hispanics, upending conventional wisdom.

But now, Democrats see signs that Hispanics could shift back, pointing to widespread frustration with the state of the economy and immigration enforcement, and Mr. Trump's sagging approval ratings.

Hispanics make up more than 30% of Texas' eligible electorate, making them a key constituency in the state's Senate, gubernatorial and House races. Polls show a tight contest between Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton, and GOP Gov. Greg Abbott's reelection bid against Democrat Gina Hinojosa could be close, too.

"There's a Hispanic hurricane coming," predicted Democratic strategist and CBS News political contributor Chuck Rocha, who advises Talarico and Hinojosa's campaigns. "We just don't know quite yet if it's going to be Category 2 or Category 5, but it's washing ashore right in front of the GOP, and they don't know what to do about it."

But Republicans say enthusiasm for Democrats is still muted.

"I think most voters couldn't tell you what the Democrat plan is for bringing down prices," said Daniel Garza, president of the conservative LIBRE Initiative.

In one competitive House race in South Texas, both candidates expressed concerns to CBS News about the Trump administration's immigration tactics.

The Democratic candidate, Tejano music star Bobby Pulido, said "there's chaos in the streets" due to "aggressive ICE enforcement."

Incumbent GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz predicted that Texas will remain red. "But I do think that it's a wake-up call for Republicans to remain focused on affordability, and to come to a solution when it comes to immigration," she said.

Read more here.

Control of the House of Representatives will come down to a number of battleground seats. CBS News has identified 47 House districts that will likely determine which party will have the majority.

Of those seats, 20 are currently held by Democrats and 27 are held by Republicans. Republicans currently hold a razor-thin majority, with 218 seats, plus an independent who normally caucuses with them. Democrats hold 214 seats. There are two vacancies.

CBS News' Battleground Tracker model estimated on Oct. 25 that Democrats are on track to take control of the House with 229 seats. There is still a path for the GOP to keep the House: The Battleground Tracker's estimates ranged from 215 Democratic seats — which would give Republicans a narrow majority — to 237 seats.

On the Senate side, CBS News has identified 11 key races that could determine control of the Senate.

Eight of those seats are currently held by Republicans: Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas.

The other three are held by Democrats: Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire.

Republicans currently hold 53 Senate seats to the Democrats' 47. 

Sen. Susan Collins is being challenged by Democrat Troy Jackson. Voters in Maine know their decision could impact the rest of the country. 

Norm Belanger said for him, it's about having "a balance of power and the checks and balances can hopefully once again work to make sure no one branch of government takes control, I think it's important."

Belanger said he and his wife Elizabeth typically vote for a person over a party. 

"Troy Jackson doesn't excite me. He would not have been my choice for the Democratic candidate," Belanger said. "On the other hand, I think he's the best choice of the two."

Another voter in Kittery said, "There's no white knight here in either party," adding, "Who I end up voting for, is going to be who I think is going to be the least damaging."

Read more from CBS News Boston here. 

CBS News will have extensive live coverage throughout the day, with election results and analysis on all platforms after the polls close Tuesday evening.

• What: Election coverage and results of the 2026 midterms
• Date: Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026  
• Time:
      - All day live coverage streaming on CBS News 24/7
      - 5 p.m. ET:  "Election 2026: The Nerd Show" on CBS News 24/7
      - 7 p.m. ET:  "America Decides: Election 2026," on TV, cable and streaming
• On TV: CBS television stations (find your local station here)
• Online stream: Live on CBS News in the video player above and on your mobile or streaming device 

Beginning at 5 p.m. ET, dive into the latest data on "Election 2026: The Nerd Show," hosted by CBS News executive director of elections and surveys Anthony Salvanto and CBS News congressional correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns, joined by Democratic and Republican pollsters and other election data experts. Watch here until 2 a.m. ET.

At 7 p.m. ET, CBS News prime-time special, "America Decides: Election 2026," covers the latest election results as polls close around the country, anchored by Tony Dokoupil and  Norah O'Donnell, with "CBS Mornings" co-host Gayle King, "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan, and a team of correspondents and political analysts around the country.

Watch on the free CBS News app on your connected TV or smartphone, on Paramount+, and all platforms where CBS News 24/7 is available, including CBSNews.com and YouTube.