(NEW YORK) — ABC News can project that Georgia’s incumbent governor, Republican Brian Kemp, will win his rematch election against his Democratic opponent, Stacey Abrams.

Kemp, a conservative stalwart who broke with Donald Trump when the former president called for him to help in overturning the 2020 election in the state, faced off against Abrams, a staunch voting rights activist, in a lengthy 2018 contest that ended in a recall.

During their 2022 faceoff — one of the Peach State’s marquee contests — Kemp has remained about five points above Abrams since March, with a New York Times/Marist poll published on Nov. 1 finding that voters still narrowly preferred the incumbent to his Democratic challenger.

Abrams, a lawyer who was propelled into Democratic stardom following her failed 2018 gubernatorial attempt, made her last pitch to voters on Saturday during a campaign event, criticizing Kemp for refusing to expand health care, loosening gun restrictions and enacting an abortion restriction in the state.

“But here’s the thing, he gave me a perfect understanding of who he is. He doesn’t care about other people losing their houses, so it’s time for us to evict him from his mansion. It’s time for us to take back the governor’s mansion. That’s what we’re gonna do,” she said.

Kemp spent his last few days on the campaign trail squeaking out an 11th-hour endorsement from Trump. During a rally in Ohio on Monday, the former president listed a number of GOP hopefuls that voters should cast their ballots for, during which he added, “Brian Kemp for governor in Georgia.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

 

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(NEW YORK) — Republican J.D. Vance will win the race for Senate in Ohio, ABC News has projected.

Vance, a venture capitalist known for authoring the memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” was up against Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan for retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman’s seat.

FiveThirtyEight’s polling average showed a tight race, with Vance pulling ahead of Ryan slightly in the final days of the campaign.

Vance had the backing of former President Donald Trump, who won Ohio by 8 percentage points in 2020. Trump’s endorsement was key in Vance getting through a crowded GOP field in the primary.

In their spirited debates, Vance and Ryan candidates clashed over abortion, the border and Jan. 6.

Vance said he’s “pro-life” and would support some “some minimum national standard” for abortion restrictions, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham’s proposed national abortion ban at 15 weeks.

Ryan said he would vote to codify the abortion rights previously protected under Roe v. Wade, and criticized “political extremists” for enacting near-total abortion bans that’s forced Ohioans, including a 10-year-old rape victim, to travel across state lines for care.

On Jan. 6, Vance slammed the House select committee investigating the riot as a “political hit job.” Ryan, meanwhile, accused Vance of “running around with the election deniers, the extremists” supporting some of the rioters.

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the House Jan. 6 committee, crossed party lines to back Ryan in the race. Cheney said she wouldn’t vote for Vance, but would cast her ballot for Ryan if she lived in Ohio.

Ryan, in an effort to court conservative voters, at times distanced himself from President Joe Biden and Democrats on the campaign trail. When asked whether Biden should run for reelection in 2024, Ryan said no.

“I like to see a generational change. With Mitch McConnell. Donald Trump. The president. Everybody,” he said.

On the border, Ryan said there’s “a lot of work to do” and disagreed with statements from Vice President Kamala Harris that the border is secure. “I’m not here to just get in a fight or just tiptoe the Democratic Party in line,” he said.

But it ultimately wasn’t enough to overcome Vance in Ohio, a once perennial swing state that’s shown signs of becoming more red in these past few election cycles.

 

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(NEW YORK) — Voters headed to the polls Tuesday for the midterm elections that will determine which party holds the Senate and House of Representatives and could significantly impact President Joe Biden’s agenda for the final two years of his first term in the White House.

According to a recent ABC/Post poll, 80% of likely voters said the economy was their top issue in their vote for Congress and 77% said the same about inflation.

Even after the polls close and votes are counted Tuesday night, it could be days or even a week before final midterm election results are known in every state, according to election experts and officials.

Latest headlines:
-Nearly half of voters say they are worse off financially, more than double what it was 2 years ago
-More than two thirds of voters say Democracy in US is threatened, preliminary exit poll results show
-Majority of voters say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, preliminary exit poll results show
-Voters trust the Republican Party over Democrats to handle inflation, preliminary exit poll results show
-Broad economic discontent among voters, preliminary exit poll results say

Here is how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Nov 08, 8:07 PM EST
New Hampshire swing voters favor Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan

Voters among two potential swing voter groups, moderates and independents, leaned toward New Hampshire incumbent Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan, according to preliminary exit poll results. The lead is wider among moderates over independents.

Hassan also leads among voters who say abortion was their most important issue, but her challenger Republican candidate Donald Bolduc leads with over two-thirds among voters who said inflation was the most important issue in their vote for Senate.

Nov 08, 7:55 PM EST
Trust to handle inflation widens in favor of Republicans

Republicans have widened their lead when it comes to trust to handle inflation with more than half of voters saying they favor the GOP over Democrats, according to preliminary exit poll results.

Nov 08, 7:31 PM EST
Just about a 3rd of Georgia voters say Walker has good judgment, preliminary exit poll results show

Republican Herschel Walker, who’s been embroiled in a personal scandal, is seen as showing good judgment by just about a third of Georgia voters in preliminary results.

By contrast, just over half of voters say incumbent Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock shows good judgment.

But, nearly half said Warnock has views that are too extreme, with less than half saying the same of Walker.

Nov 08, 7:19 PM EST
Georgia suburban women favor Warnock, Abrams in preliminary exit poll results

Georgia Independents leaned toward incumbent Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock over Republican candidate Herschel Walker, according to preliminary exit poll results. The group favored Warnock in 2021 by 4 points.

Statewide suburban voters favored Walker, but Warnock leads in Atlanta suburbs, according to preliminary exit poll results.

However, suburban women voters favored Warnock over Walker.

Suburban women voters favored Democratic candidate Stacy Abrams over Republican incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp, according to preliminary exit poll results.

Kemp, however, has a wide lead over Abrams among voters who cite inflation as the most important issue when it comes to their vote.

 

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(WASHINGTON) — The 2022 midterm elections are shaping up to be some of the most consequential in the nation’s history, with control of Congress at stake.

All 435 seats in the House and 35 of 100 seats in the Senate are on the ballot, as well as several influential gubernatorial elections in battleground states like Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Democrats are defending their narrow majorities in both chambers. Republican control of either the House or Senate would be enough to curtail most of President Joe Biden’s agenda, and would likely result in investigations against his administration and even his family.

Key updates:
-These three races will determine balance of power in the Senate: Klein
-DeSantis, Rubio projected to win again in Florida
-Potential ‘firsts’ this Election Day
-Two poll workers fired due to ‘threatening’ social posts
-Maricopa County sees issues with tabulators

Here is how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Nov 08, 8:28 PM EST
Lee projected to keep Tennessee governor seat

ABC News can project that Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee will win against Democratic challenger Jason Martin.

Nov 08, 8:28 PM EST
These three races will determine balance of power in the Senate: Klein

Senate races in Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania will determine which party controls the chamber next year, according to ABC News Political Director Rick Klein.

Whoever wins the two of those three are probably going to win the whole Senate,” Klein said as the first race projections started to come in from across the country.

The best chance for Democrats to pick up a seat is in Pennsylvania, Klein said, where Democrat John Fetterman faces celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz.

“In Nevada, that’s probably going to be Republicans’ best chance,” Klein said. “They see Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto as the most vulnerable Democrat anywhere on the map.”

Nov 08, 8:18 PM EST
Beasley sees early lead in North Carolina Senate race

Considered the sleeper Senate race of the election cycle, Democratic candidate Cheri Beasley in North Carolina leads Republican candidate Ted Budd 58%-41%, with 36% of the expected vote reporting as of 7:45 p.m. ET.

In the heavily blue areas of the state, Mecklenburg County, which encompasses Charlotte, Beasley leads Budd 69.3%-29.1% with 50% of the expected vote reporting. For Wake County, which encompasses Raleigh, Beasley leads 68.2-30% with 54% of the expected vote reporting.

ABC News’ Hannah Demissie

Nov 08, 8:13 PM EST
Chris Sununu projected to win reelection in New Hampshire

ABC News can project that Republican Gov. Chris Sununu will win reelection in New Hampshire, defeating his Democratic challenger Tom Sherman.

 

 

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(ORLANDO) — Republican Marco Rubio is expected to keep his seat as the senior senator of Florida as polls project him to defeat his Democrat opponent, Val Demings.

During the Senate debate on Oct. 18, Demings challenged Rubio on his stance on abortion rights, accusing the two-term senator of supporting “no exceptions” to abortion bans and often changing his stance.

“He can make his mouth say anything today,” Demings said. “He is good at that, by the way. What day is it and what is Marco Rubio saying?”

Demings also accused Rubio of not doing enough to support legislation that would prevent shootings, including those at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016 and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018.

Rubio argued that some proposals for gun restrictions would not have stopped many of the mass shootings, evoking the Second Amendment and Americans’ right to protect themselves.

“Every one of these shooters would have passed the background check that she keeps insisting on,” Rubio said of Demings. “No one here is in favor of mass shootings and violence.”

During the debate, Rubio criticized federal spending, partly blaming pandemic relief funds and said that the country needs to boost domestic oil production. He also accused Demings of accomplishing little in terms of passing legislation during her time in Washington and criticized her for supporting President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“In the two terms I’ve been there, no U.S. senator has gotten more done than I have,” Rubio said. “The only thing she does is vote 100% with Pelosi.”

Rubio began serving in the Senate in 2011 after defeating Charlie Crist, then governor of Florida. He has served as the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee since 2021 and previously served as chair of the Senate Small Business Committee from January 2019 to February 2021.

Demings, who has served as the U.S. representative from Florida’s 10th Congressional District in Orlando since 2017, announced last year that she would run against Rubio for his Senate seat. The three-term congresswoman was also the chief of the Orlando Police Department for 18 years.

Demings was one of about a dozen women Biden considered as his pick for vice president. She also served as one of seven House managers at former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial.

The Senate has had no Black women serving as senators since the departure of Vice President Kamala Harris.

ABC News’ Meg Cunningham contributed to this report.

 

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(ORLANDO) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is projected to defeat his Democratic rival, former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, to serve a second term as the Sunshine State’s governor.

The race for Florida governor was heated in the lead-up to the midterm election season as the incumbent governor, one of the favorites to become the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election, sought to remain in the governor’s mansion over an opponent who had lived there before him.

Crist served as Florida’s 44th governor from 2007 to 2011 as a Republican. He did not seek reelection for governor in 2010, instead running for a seat in the Senate. Crist lost to Marco Rubio in the 2010 Senate race.

DeSantis, an aspiring GOP presidential candidate described by President Joe Biden last week as a “Donald Trump incarnate,” would not commit at the pair’s gubernatorial debate that he would serve out a full four-year term if reelected.

“I know that Charlie is interested in talking about 2024 and Joe Biden, but I just want to make things very, very clear,” DeSantis replied after Crist demanded that make plain his future career plans. “The only worn-out old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist.”

Apart from DeSantis’ political aspirations, the sitting and former governors riffed over the state’s abortion laws, COVID-19 mandates and DeSantis’ decision to use tax funds to send migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, a move the governor argued shed light to the “immigration problem” at the southern border.

Crist accused DeSantis of signing a bill that would restrict that abortion rights, even in cases of rape or incest, while DeSantis stated that Crist would have weakened businesses during COVID-19 and allowed for more abortions had he served as governor in the past several years.

Crist also evoked his time as governor during the debate, describing himself as a uniter of people and vowing not to take away Floridian’s ability to access abortion.

The state’s current law bans the procedure after 15 weeks, even in cases of rape and incest, though there are exceptions for the health of the mother and fetal abnormalities. The ban is being reviewed by the courts.

Recent voter registration trends show an uptick of Republican voters in Miami-Dade County, previously considered a Democratic stronghold, The Associated Press reported. Losing Miami-Dade County could eliminate a Democratic path to victory in future statewide elections, according to the AP.

 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The 2022 midterm elections are shaping up to be some of the most consequential in the nation’s history, with control of Congress at stake.

All 435 seats in the House and 35 of 100 seats in the Senate are on the ballot, as well as several influential gubernatorial elections in battleground states like Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Democrats are defending their narrow majorities in both chambers. Republican control of either the House or Senate would be enough to curtail most of President Joe Biden’s agenda, and would likely result in investigations against his administration and even his family.

Key updates:
-Potential ‘firsts’ this Election Day
-Two poll workers fired due to ‘threatening’ social posts
-Maricopa County sees issues with tabulators
-DOJ monitors will stay outside of polling places in Florida

Here is how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Nov 08, 7:04 PM EST
Polls start to close in some states

Polls have now closed in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia.

Nov 08, 7:00 PM EST
Senate races: Young projected to win in Indiana, Scott in South Carolina

ABC News can project that Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., have held on to their Senate seats.

Their Democratic challengers are Thomas McDermott Jr. and state Rep. Krystle Matthews, respectively.

Nov 08, 6:41 PM EST
Harris talks up Dem candidates in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania

Vice President Kamala Harris spent part of her day on radio shows expressing support for Democratic candidates in key races in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

In a brief appearance on The Earl Ingram Show Tuesday morning, Harris pushed Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ reelection bid.

“He has cut taxes for working families. He’s lowered costs for small businesses in Wisconsin in Milwaukee, and he must be reelected because he really does stand for our democracy and for freedom and equality,” she said.

Harris also said electing Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes to the Senate would play a crucial role in the president’s ability to sign the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act into law.

“It would be so important to put back teeth in the Voting Rights Act that folks marched and died for, and these are the things that are at stake,” she said.

In another radio interview later in the day on Philadelphia’s Evening WURDs, Harris urged voters in Pennsylvania to vote for Lt. Gov. John Fetterman for Senate, particularly as the Senate attempts to pass an assault weapons ban.

“Democrats understand the need to extend and to renew the assault weapons ban, and we need John Fetterman in the United States Senate to have the votes toward doing that,” she said.

Harris also called on voters to elect state Attorney General Josh Shapiro as the governor of Pennsylvania “because people have a right to live in safe communities” and not be threatened by gun violence, she said.

ABC News’ Armando Tonatiuh Torres-García

Nov 08, 5:43 PM EST
What preliminary exit poll results show so far

What’s the single most important issue among voters? Who do they trust to handle inflation? For ABC News’ analysis of preliminary exit poll results, head here throughout the night.

 

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