This is CNBC’s live blog covering Tuesday’s midterm elections. Monday’slive blog can be found here.
Voters across the country are lining up to cast their ballots Tuesday in federal, state and local elections that could shape the U.S. political landscape for years to come.
The midterm elections will determine whether Democrats keep their slim majorities in the House and Senate, or if Republicans will seize control of one or both chambers of the legislature.
The outcome could make all the difference for President Joe Biden, whose legislative hopes rest on whether Democrats can push his agenda through a hyper-partisan Congress.
Millions of Americans will also cast their votes in key races for governor, secretary of state and other offices down the ballot.
Visit NBC News for the latest Governor, Senate and House midterm elections results.
Abrams reminds Georgia voters to stay in line, check their precinct before casting their ballots
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said she’s feeling good in an interview Tuesday morning, adding she believes Democrats can win in Georgia.
“This is winnable and we know it’s winnable because they are working so hard to convince you not to try,” Abrams said in an interview with the radio show The Breakfast Club with DJ Envy, Angela Yee and Charlamagne tha God. Abrams, who is running against incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp for the second time, has spent the last four years advocating for voting rights in the state after her first loss.
“We’ve been encouraging people to get it done fast, get it in early, get it out of the way so that we only have to focus on the folks who had no other choice or didn’t know that they can do it a different way,” Abrams said, “but we can get this done.”
She stressed the importance of voters casting ballots at their correct precinct, saying a law change since the last election means votes cast in the correct county but wrong precinct will not count. Abrams said prior to the law change, in the 2020 election, more than 7,000 provisional ballots were cast in the wrong precinct. The votes counted then, but would no longer under the new rules.
— Emma Kinery
PA’s top election official accuses GOP lawmakers of parroting ‘internet election deniers’
Pennsylvania’s acting secretary of state clapped back at Republican legislators who had raised concerns to her about alleged “unverified voters” casting ballots.
“The claims made in the letter by fifteen members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives were parroted from internet election deniers,” Leigh Chapman, the acting secretary, wrote in a letter sent Monday to two Republican state Senate leaders.
Chapman, the state’s top election official, noted that unverified ballots by state law shall not be counted unless a voter provides proof of identification that can be verified by a county election board within six days after Election Day.
“As of today, there were fewer than 6,900 ballot applications statewide that still require voter identity verification as provided by law,” Chapman wrote.
Later in her letter, Chapman urged the Senate leaders to back legislation that would allow Pennsylvania to begin counting mail-in ballots before Election Day.
The state has been criticized by national Republicans after the 2020 presidential election for delays in tabulating ballots.
“I too agree that voting is the cornerstone of democracy and share the opinion that election results should be available sooner,” Chapman wrote.
“To that end, I again encourage the General Assembly when they return next session to prioritize making changes to allow counties meaningful pre-canvassing time in future elections.”
— Dan Mangan
Control of Congress at stake in midterms
It’s become common for party control to change in Congress, but it wasn’t always so. The Senate has flipped eight times since 1980 – prior to that it had remained in the same party control for 26 years. The House has flipped five times since 1994 after 40 years under the same party.
With such slim margins in both the House and the Senate, every seat counts. Even small gains by Republicans could result in either chamber changing party control and that would lead to big changes in the legislative agenda. The party in power decides which bills are put up for a vote and when.
— Emma Kinery
How the midterms will impact the future of abortion rights in the U.S.
The outcome of Tuesday’s midterm elections will decide whether Democrats have any prospect of reinstating federally protected abortion rights in the near future.
President Joe Biden has promised to sign legislation reinstating Roe v. Wade if Democrats pick up at least two Senate seats and maintain control of the House. Twelve states have completely banned abortion since the Supreme Court struck down federal protections in June.
But Democrats are up against historic inflation, pessimism about the economy and a long-standing pattern of voters rejecting the incumbent president’s party during midterms.
Heading into election day, Republicans were favored to retake the House while the Senate is considered a tossup. If Congress is divided or the GOP takes back both chambers, the battle over abortion will continue to play out at the state level for the foreseeable future.
In that case, abortion will remain illegal in the 12 states that currently have bans in place and other conservative states will likely follow suit. In these states, there is little prospect for the reinstatement of abortion rights in the absence of federal intervention.
Four states are voting directly on abortion Tuesday.
Voters in California, Michigan and Vermont are voting on state constitutional amendments that would protect abortion rights. Kentucky, on the other hand, is voting on an amendment that explicitly says the state constitution does not protect abortion.
— Spencer Kimball
The cost of everyday life is top of mind for voters, says pollster Frank Luntz
White House goes dark for the day
The White House issued a lid at 11:25 AM on Tuesday, meaning don’t expect any appearances from President Joe Biden today.
Biden received his daily briefing Tuesday morning and participated in a taped interview with the D.L. Hughley Show before calling a lid for the day.
The election following a president’s first term in office is typically seen as a referendum on their performance. Biden said Monday evening he felt optimistic about Democrats’ odds of keeping the House and Senate, but added he’s always optimistic and maintaining a majority in the House will be “tougher.”
— Emma Kinery
Recounts and election audits could delay results in balance of power in Congress
The balance of power in the narrowly controlled Congress may not be known by the time polls close across America late tonight.
Several states have laws that require automatic recounts in tight races. Several Republican candidates also have already said they plan challenge the results — if they lose — setting the U.S. up for another round of contentious and drawn out legal battles and recounts reminiscent of the 2020 race in which former President Donald Trump still falsely claims he won.
Recounts or audits that could delay final results are likely in 2022 in Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Texas.
— Jack Stebbins
Blake Masters on Arizona Senate race: ‘We’re the underdog but we’re gonna win’
Blake Masters expressed confidence that he would unseat Democratic incumbent Mark Kelly in the hotly contested Arizona Senate race as voters started heading to the polls Tuesday morning.
“We’re the underdog but we’re gonna win,” Masters told conservative radio show host Hugh Hewitt.
The Republican Senate candidate said his campaign can fight Kelly to at least a draw in Democratic Maricopa County where Phoenix is located and will win in rural counties.
Spencer Kimball Masters said Democrats have an advantage in early voting but was confident his voters would show up at the polls today.
“We’ve got the momentum. Again, we’re not we’re gonna get complacent,” Masters said.
Masters, in an interview with Fox Business News, accused Kelly of failing to secure the U.S. southern border.
The Republican candidate has come under fierce criticism from Kelly and Democrats for his anti-abortion positions, particularly his previous support for a federal law that would grant the same rights to fetuses as any other person.
Masters has since sought to soften his position somewhat, saying he supports a ban on abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy.
— Spencer Kimball
Trump pick J.D. Vance is confident he’ll win Senate in Ohio
Republican venture capitalist J.D. Vance said on Fox News he is confident he will be part of the incoming U.S. Senate freshman class of U.S. senators and he expects his party to win so many seats that the White House will take notice.
“I do expect to be part of the incoming Senate majority on the Republican side,” Vance said. Vance is running in Ohio against Democratic U.S. Representative Tim Ryan for the seat made vacant by retiring Republican Senator Rob Portman.
“Joe Biden will still be president, but I actually think after the shellacking we hope to deliver tonight, I’m hoping the Biden administration will actually work with us.”
— Emma Kinery
Herschel Walker says ‘we can avoid a runoff’ in Georgia Senate race vs. Raphael Warnock
GOP candidate Herschel Walker said he felt “we can avoid a runoff” in Georgia in his race against Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock.
“We’re looking for a big win tonight,” the former football star Walker said in an interview with The Hugh Hewitt Show.
“People in Georgia, they’re speaking louder, speaking clear, that they want … change,” he said.
If neither Walker nor Warnock garners more than 50% of the vote in Georgia, they will head to a runoff on Dec. 6. Recent polls have shown a very close race.
Warnock, and fellow Georgia Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff, both won their seats due to runoff elections in January 2021.
Their victories gave Democrats majority control in the Senate. And if the party is to maintain control starting in 2023, it may again require Warnock to win.
— Dan Mangan
DOJ officials agree to ‘stay outside’ of Missouri polling sites after complaint from Secretary of State
The Justice Department said officials visiting polling sites in Missouri as part of its routine mission to ensure election integrity will “remain outside” after the state’s secretary posted a complaint on Twitter.
Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft posted a Nov. 3 email to his Twitter account Sunday from Charles M. Thomas, an assistant U.S. states attorney working for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division to Steve Korsmeyer, identified by Ashcroft as a clerk in Cole County, Mo., about the officials’ intent to monitor polls on Tuesday.
Korsmeyer had “rightfully declined to allow this over-reach,” wrote Ashcroft, a Republican. “And the secretary of state’s office fully supports him,” he added.
“While the U.S. DOJ could clearly learn a lot from Missouri about non-partisanship and how to administer accessible, secure and credible elections, it would be highly inappropriate for federal agents to violate the law by intimidating Missouri voters at the polls on Election Day,” Ashcroft wrote.
Senior Justice Department officials later told NBC that “Department of Justice staffers will visit Cole County polling sites on election day but have agreed to remain outside.”
—Chelsey Cox
Pennsylvania Senate GOP candidate Oz calls Fetterman “more radical than Joe Biden”
Democratic Senate nominee Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is “even more radical than Joe Biden,” Republican challenger Dr. Mehmet Oz said on Fox News.
“What I’m hearing is folks are upset that Washington keeps getting it wrong with radical positions,” Oz said. “I’ve been arguing that I stand for balance. I’ll cut through bipartisan bickering, I know how to bring solutions to the forefront, and that’s what people want. They’re angry, they’re frustrated, what they desire is hope.”
Oz added that he thinks the Democrats have “no real agenda for prosperity. That we’re not actually going anywhere with the current Biden agenda — and Biden is – is more moderate than Fetterman.”
Fetterman and Oz are engaged in one of the most closely-watched races in the country that will help determine which party will control the Senate. Fetterman has been outspoken about issues like ending the filibuster to protect voting rights and protecting reproductive healthcare access.
Fetterman’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
— Lauren Feiner
U.S. cyber watchdog sees no imminent threats
The top U.S. cybersecurity agency doesn’t see any major threats to the midterm elections as voters head to the polls across America, NBC News reported.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has been helping state and local election officials prepare for the race over the last two years, a senior agency official told reporters on a call. The official, who asked not be named as part of the terms of the call, said the agency knew of “no specific or credible threats to disrupt election infrastructure today.”
However, the official cautioned: “There are 8,800 election jurisdictions and we see issues pop up every election day.” Low-level cyberattacks against election websites or accidental website outages are always potential issues, the official said, adding “it’s important to remember that such incidents would not affect a person’s ability to cast a ballot.”
— Dawn Kopecki
Biden ‘optimistic’ about the midterm, says Democrats keeping the House will be ‘tough’
President Joe Biden says he’s “optimistic” about the Democrats’ chances on Election Day.
“But I’m always optimistic,” Biden told reporters as he exited Marine One at the White House. The president was returning from a campaign stop supporting Maryland gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore at Bowie State University on Monday night.
“I think it’s going to be tough, but I think we can,” Biden said when asked if Democrats could keep the House. “I think we’ll win the Senate. I think the House is tougher.”
The president said a Republican-controlled Congress would make his reality “more difficult.”
— Emma Kinery
Polls open along West Coast
Polls open in California, Nevada, Alaska and elsewhere in the West at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. local time).
Races to watch in these states include Alaska’s incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who’s facing Kelly Tshibaka, also a Republican, and Democratic opponent Patricia Chesbro for U.S. Senate.
Incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-N.V., will also defend her Senate seat against former Arizona attorney general Adam Laxalt, who’s been endorsed by former president Donald Trump.
— Chelsey Cox
Pennsylvania Senate hopefuls cast their ballots
Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidates John Fetterman, a Democrat, and GOP challenger Dr. Mehmet Oz cast their ballots in person Tuesday morning.
Fetterman voted at New Hope Baptist Church in Braddock while Oz cast his ballot at Bryn Athyn Borough Hall in Huntingdon Valley.
Pennsylvania is one of a handful of Senate seats that’s open due to the retirement of an incumbent senator.
It’s considered to be one of the most hotly contested races in the country with the Cook Political Report reporting the race as a toss up.
The candidates are statistically tied, Oz with a 0.4 percentage point edge, in the Real Clear Politics average.
— Emma Kinery
Midterms usually don’t favor the incumbent party
Though President Joe Biden has asked voters to think of the upcoming election as a “choice” rather than a “referendum,” midterms historically have been a referendum on the party in power.
That’s not a great sign for Democrats who control the presidency and both chambers of Congress. Former President George W. Bush was the exception to the trend. Political analysts attribute the GOP gain in the House to the rallying effect post 9/11 attacks.
Here’s how recent presidents’ parties have fared in the U.S. House in the midterm races held during their first terms:
- Bill Clinton: Democrats lost 54 seats
- Bush: Republicans gained 8 seats
- Barack Obama: Democrats lost 63 seats
- Donald Trump: Republicans lost 41 seats
— Emma Kinery
Biden’s approval rating at 44%, voters slightly prefer Democrats to control Congress in NBC poll
Biden’s approval rating stands at 44% going into Election Day, according to a poll released Sunday by NBC News.
It puts him in similar standing as former Presidents Donald Trump (46%) and Barack Obama (45%) in the final NBC News/WSJ poll taken before the midterm elections.
The poll, which has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points among likely voters, found 48% preferred Democrats to control Congress and 47% preferred Republicans. It’s a reverse from October when 48% of likely voters preferred Republicans and 47% preferred Democrats in the NBC News poll. Both are within the margin of error.
— Emma Kinery
Polls open for voters in the Midwest, Mountain regions of the country
Voters in the middle of the country started heading to the polls at 7 a.m. ET in Missouri and lined up for voting starting at 8 a.m. ET in Arizona, both 6 a.m. local times.
The races between Democratic senatorial candidate Trudy Busch Valentine and Republican rival Eric Schmitt in Missouri and incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly and Republican senatorial candidate Blake Masters in Arizona are big ones to watch in these states.
Polls also open at 8 a.m. ET in Wisconsin (7 a.m. local time) where Republican incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson is running against Democratic candidate and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes.
Voters choose between Republican incumbent Mike Lee or Independent Evan McMullin for U.S. Senate in Utah, starting at 9 a.m. ET (7 a.m. local time).
— Chelsey Cox
Trump suggests he’ll announce presidential run Nov. 15
Former President Donald Trump said Monday night he will make a “big announcement” on Nov. 15 at his Mar-a-Lago resort, where he is widely expected to launch his 2024 presidential campaign.
“I’m going to be making a very big announcement on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida,” Trump said at a Save America rally in Vandalia, Ohio on the eve of the midterm elections.
Trump is eager to jumpstart his third run for president, and staffing conversations have ramped up significantly in recent weeks. An early list of potential top aides has already trickled out.
Trump’s line about Nov. 15 came near the end of a more than 90 minute speech for GOP candidate J.D. Vance in Ohio. Instead of focusing on Vance, the former president railed against Democrats, judges who have ruled unfavorably in cases against his family, run down U.S. airports and above all, President Joe Biden.
A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request from CNBC to confirm that his Nov. 15 event will be a campaign launch.
As Trump inches closer to formally kicking off the 2024 presidential race, polls show he enjoys unparalleled support among Republican voters.
Trump would also enter the race with more than $60 million in cash held by his leadership PAC, Save America, and a prodigious small dollar fundraising operation that vacuums up online donations from the Republican base.
— Christina Wilkie
Polls open for voters along the East coast
Voters can head to the polls as soon as 6 a.m. ET in Virginia and as early as 6 a.m. ET in New Hampshire, with North Carolina and Ohio following close behind at 6:30 a.m. ET.
Polling places open at 7 a.m. ET for voters in Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Big races to watch in these states are the showdown between incumbent Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic Rep. Val Demings in Florida for U.S. Senate. Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock is also running against controversial Republican first-timer Herschel Walker in Georgia, and incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer takes on Republican Tudor Dixon for governor of Michigan.
— Chelsey Cox
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