Archives for 2026

“Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time.”

— Elon Musk, on X.

“JD… There is this delicious irony in the fact that you’re constitutionally obligated to swear me in. Do you know what that means? Wolverine 1, Buckeyes 0.”

— Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-MI), at his victory speech last night.

Politico: “In the Senate: North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Ohio and Maine all flipped blue. Democrats now have 54 seats, Republicans have 44 seats, with two left to be called: Mississippi — which is a nail-biting toss-up right now — and Alaska.”

“In the House: Democrats have claimed 228 House seats so far, to 139 for Republicans — with 68 races still to be called.”

“The American voter dealt President Donald Trump a historic rebuke on a scale not seen since 1974, propelling Democrats into control of both houses of Congress with commanding wins in places they hadn’t carried in decades,” the Washington Post reports.

“A new age of Democratic power is coming to Washington,” Politico reports.

“The party Tuesday swept both chambers of Congress as Republicans faced generational-level losses across the country. As of publication time, Democrats have won at least 54 Senate seats and have flipped about 20 House seats, with many competitive races still uncalled. Voters pummeled the GOP out of power and effectively cemented President Donald Trump’s lame-duck era.”

“Ahead of the election, most senior House Democrats dared not imagine more than a 10-seat majority. Now it’s looking like 250 seats or more are not out of the question — all but assuring Hakeem Jeffries will cruise to the speakership.”

“In the Senate, Democrats won Kansas for the first time in nearly a century, sent a Texan to the chamber after a more than 30-year absence, broke a nearly 30-year losing streak in South Carolina and elected the first Iowan in more than a decade.”

“They could even be on the cusp of a Mississippi Senate seat for the first time in roughly four decades. Scott Colom has a less than 50 vote lead on Cindy Hyde-Smith as we write. The Alaska race between incumbent Dan Sullivan and Mary Peltola also remains in tossup territory.”

“President Trump implored voters over the course of the midterm campaign to ‘pretend I’m on the ballot.’ He said it not once, not twice, but 47 times this fall,” the New York Times reports.

“And voters did — just not the way he hoped.”

“The Democratic wave in the congressional elections on Tuesday amounted to a stinging rebuke of a deeply unpopular president after more than a decade in which he has dominated the national stage. More than any of his predecessors, Mr. Trump deliberately made the midterm contest a referendum on himself, only to pay the price.”

It’s midnight on the East Coast, and polls have now closed in Hawaii and most of Alaska.

Key races to watch

• Alaska Senate: Dan Sullivan (R) vs. Mary Peltola (D), with additional candidates on the ballot.
• Alaska Governor: Open-seat contest.
• Alaska House: At-large congressional seat.

What to watch: Peltola’s performance in areas that supported her earlier House campaigns. Alaska’s ranked-choice system and late-arriving ballots mean final results could take considerably longer.

Although most polls close at midnight Eastern, Alaska’s final polls close at 1 a.m., when the first statewide results are expected.

Meanwhile, plenty of races elsewhere in the country are still undecided, particularly in states with large numbers of outstanding mail ballots.

What’s still worth watching as election night turns into election morning?

Polls have closed in California and Washington, along with the remaining portions of Oregon and Idaho.

Key races to watch:

• California House races: Five Republican-held districts targeted by Democrats through redistricting, along with other competitive seats.
• Washington’s 3rd District: Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D) is defending her seat.
• Oregon Governor: Tina Kotek (D) vs. Christine Drazan (R).
• California Governor: Xavier Becerra (D) vs. Steve Hilton (R).

What to watch: House results from Southern California and the Central Valley, and Oregon’s competitive gubernatorial contest.

California’s mail-ballot counting means the final House picture may remain incomplete for days.