On the Record Live Election Coverage
Tonight your On the Record team will give their reaction as the results roll in. We will update this page every time we have something new to say, so please check back throughout the night!
11:32 pm
MAX MAGID: I’m checking out for the night! It looks like the result of this election is essentially a draw. It was not the blue wave Democrats had hoped for, but it was a solid night over all. Republicans lost the House, but they can feel good about holding some key governorships and increasing their lead in the Senate. Democrats will hold about 230 seats in the House and Republicans will hold either 53 or 54 seats in the Senate. And now the stage is set for 2020!
11:15 pm
MAX MAGID: DeWine (R) defeats Cordray (D) in the Ohio’s governors race.
11:06 pm
CAROLINE GARDNER: Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib won her election in MI-13 after running unopposed. She is the first ever Muslim woman elected to Congress.
11:00 pm
MAX MAGID: CNN projects DeSantis will be the next governor of Florida. A moment later, they project the Democrats will take the House.
10:42 pm
CAROLINE GARDNER: On election day, President Donald Trump tweeted 5 times, and retweeted First Lady Melania Trump. One of his tweets said “POLLING PLACES” with a link to a database with polling locations. He tweeted about Republicans Bob Hugin (NJ), Lena Epstein (MI-11), Michael Waltz (FL-6) and Randy Hultgren (IL-14)
Hugin lost his race to incumbent Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) while Michael Waltz (FL-6) won his election. The remaining races have yet to be called.
10:40 pm
JEFF CIRILLO: As results continue to roll in, shades of Ossoff in the reaction: A strong Democratic performance underwhelms a party with pie-in-the-sky expectations.
10:36 pm
QUINCEY WILSON: The nail-biting race between Stacey Abrams (D) and Brian Kemp (R) for Georgia Governor becomes more competitive as the election precincts report more ballots. In the beginning of the race when less than 1% of votes were in, Kemp led by a landslide. Now that 58% of the votes are in, Abrams closes the gap little-by-little, making her 44.7% of votes still behind Kemp’s 54.4%.
10:35 pm
CAROLINE GARDNER: In a tight Senate race in Texas incumbent Republican Ted Cruz holds his seat. He won with 51.1% of the vote in one of the most watched elections of the year.
10:30 pm
JEFF CIRILLO: Massive boos in the Healey Family Student Center as CNN announces the Cruz win.
10:30 pm
CAROLINE GARDNER: Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney returns to Washington, DC in the Utah seat. He served as the governor of Massachusetts from 2003-2007 until running for president in 2008 and 2012 which were all unsuccessful.
The GOP have clinched Senate control for the next two years according to Politico. The House is still in contention. Right now the GOP has secured 50 seats in the Senate while the Democrats hold 38. 12 seats are still in contention.
10:27 pm
MAX MAGID: Nate Silver projects the Republicans will win the Senate.
10:23 pm
CAROLINE GARDNER: Democratic incumbent Robert Melendez won the NJ Senate race with 53.5% of the vote. The New York Times labeled this race a toss-up.
Bernie Sanders keeps his seat in the senate, earning 66.2% of the vote in Vermont for the Green Party.
10:21 pm
QUINCEY WILSON: The GOP won six congressional districts in Georgia and the Democratic Party won two. Six more districts have yet to be finalized but it looks like the GOP will take the majority of Georgia’s congressional districts. This is not surprising as Georgia has leaned red for decades.
10:17 pm
CAROLINE GARDNER: Ted Cruz leads in the polls over Beto O’Rourke, holding 50.6% of the vote.
NJ-11 has been picked up by the Democrats, after the Republican incumbent, Rodney Frelinghuysen, retired after 12 terms. The seat was won by Mikie Sherrill former Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecuter.
10:13 pm
JEFF CIRILLO: A Democratic hero falls: ABC News projects the Texas Senate race for incumbent Ted Cruz (R).
10:06 pm
JEFF CIRILLO: The New York Times, Fox News, and veteran pollster Stuart Rothenberg have all projected the Democrats will take the House. Whether or not tonight lives up to “blue wave” aspirations, according to these projections the Democrats will win tonights holy grail.
A big non-House win for Democrats: Laura Kelly has defeated Trump ally Kris Koback for the governor’s mansion in Kansas. Big cheers go up in the Healey Family Student Center.
10:04 pm
MAX MAGID: Laura Kelly (D) defeats Kris Kobach (R) in the race for Kansas governor.
9:50 pm
JEFF CIRILLO: Students at the crowded GU Politics watch party are tense but optimistic. The TV is tuned to CNN, whose race calls are lagging well behind most other major networks. CNN just now called the New Jersey Senate race for incumbent Bob Melendez, while Fox News has already projected that Democrats will take control of the House.
9:40 pm
MAX MAGID: Connor Lamb wins reelection in the PA-17.
9:35 pm
MAX MAGID: Fox News calls House control for the Democrats.
9:25 pm
CAROLINE GARDNER: Florida votes to restore ex-felons’ voting rights with Amendment 4 in a referendum.
9:10 pm
CAROLINE GARDNER: Joe Manchin keeps his senate seat in West Virginia, despite being the only Democrat to cast a vote in favor of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Mike Braun wins the senate seat for Indiana. He will join his Republican counterpart Todd Young in Washington.
Despite Taylor Swifts’s efforts Marsha Blackburn took the Senate seat in Tennessee. She won with 61.7% of the vote.
9:07 pm
MAX MAGID: CNN analyst reports “this is not a blue wave election.”
9:00 pm
CAROLINE GARDNER: Rep. Andy Barr holds on to his KY-6 seat, winning 50.9% of the vote. He won by 22 points in 2016.
André Carson (D) of IN-7, keeps his seat representing the capital city of Indianapolis. He won with 61% of the vote. His fellow Indiana Democrat, Visclosky is leading in IN-1 with 68% of the vote. The 7 remaining seats are trending red. Banks (R) of IN-3 keeps his seat with 67% of the vote and Bucshon (R) keeps his IN-8 seat with 68% of the vote. Hollingsworth keeps his seat with 60% of the vote. IN-5 has yet to be called, however incumbent Susan Brooks is leading the polls with 56% of the vote.
Indy Sta
8:58 pm
QUINCEY WILSON: In Georgia’s House race, Democrats and Republicans go 1-1 with official wins. Votes are still being tallied for the remaining 11 districts with Republicans leading eight districts and Democrats leading three.
8:50 pm
JEFF CIRILLO: The race for Florida governor and senator are neck-and-neck, with the Republicans in both races ahead by about one percentage point as of 8:45 pm. In a video call with students in the HFSC, New York Times political reporter Jeremy Peters said his sources close to the evangelical community had noted remarkably high turnout for a midterm election. Evangelical voters lean Republican and could be helping DeSantis and Scott hang on, Peters said.
Meanwhile, Amy McGrath has lost her House race agains the vulnerable Andy Barr in Kentucky, the AP calls. Democrats were hoping to flip the seat and had poured a good deal of money into McGrath’s campaign. For Republicans, at the very least this means “the bottom isn’t falling out,” Peters told Georgetown students by video chat.
8:48 pm
SINA NEMAZI: Democrat Donna Shalala defeats incumbent Republican in Florida. Also, Richard Cordray (D), is leading 49.1% to 48.3% with 8% reporting in the Ohio Governor’s race.
8:45 pm
CAROLINE GARDNER: Also Democrat Elizabeth Warren keeps her seat in the US Senate, winning 75.5% of the vote. In addiction, Greg Pence confirmed for the win in IN-6, and Charlie Baker will serve a second term as governor of Massachusetts with 52.5% of the vote.
Cheers are erupting in the Healey Family Student Center as CNN shows Beto polling ahead of Ted Cruz.
8:43 pm
CAROLINE GARDNER: Democrat Jennifer Wexton officially won the VA-10 race. She earned 54.4% of the vote against her opponent, two term incumbent Barbara Comstock. Wexton will leave the state VA senate for the US House of Representatives in January.
8:40 pm
MAX MAGID: with over a quarter of Texas reporting, Beto O’Rourke has a lead of about 3 points over incumbent Ted Cruz.
8:30 pm
CAROLINE GARDNER: Vice President Mike Pence’s brother Greg is running for a house seat in their home state of Indiana. He is running in IN-6, the district that Luke Messer dropped to unsuccessfully run for the Senate seat. Mike Pence reportedly called his brother Greg to congratulate him on his victory and Greg gave a speech with his family on the stage “Go, Grandpa,” his grandchildren shouted. The AP has yet to call the race for the sixth district of Indiana.
8:20 pm
QUINCY WILSON: With 4% of the votes counted in the race for Georgia Governor, Republican Brian Kemp leads with 64% and Democrat Stacey Abrams follows with 35.4%
8:10 pm
MAX MAGID: DeSantis and Scott just took the lead according to CNN with the panhandle yet to report. FiveThirtyEight has moved to 3/4 chance Democrats take the house and 1/30 Democrats take the Senate. Joe Donnelly looks very likely to lose.
7:59 pm
MAX MAGID: FiveThirtyEight has adjusted their forecasts projecting a higher likelihood of both a Democrat-controlled house and a Republican-controlled Senate.
7:50 pm
MAX MAGID: CNN projects Jennifer Wexton (D) will defeat incumbent Barbara Comstock (R) in a DC suburb congressional race.
7:44 pm
CAROLINE GARDNER: Mike Braun (R) holds a significant lead over incumbent Joe Donnelly (D) in the Indiana senate race. Braun holds 57% of the vote.
Indy Star
7:40 pm
CAROLINE GARDNER: According to CNN, Steve Stivers, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee is hopeful about the GOP hanging on to the house. He wrote in an email “We hold a slim majority.” Many top pollsters on both sides of the aisle disagree.
7:25 pm
MAX MAGID: CNN is already predicting Tim Kaine will win reelection in Virginia. Such a blowout in historically purple Virginia is likely a good sign for those in tougher races like Jennifer Wexton.
7:00 pm
MAX MAGID: The results from Indiana are have been trickling in since 6:00. Republican Mike Braun is in the lead, but so far only rural counties are reporting. Either way, it will be a very close race for incumbent Joe Donnelly.