Polls began closing across the United States on Tuesday as millions of voters cast ballots in midterm elections that will decide control of Congress for President Donald Trump’s final two years in office. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats were up for election.
Among the early Senate results, Democrat Roy Cooper defeated Republican Michael Whatley in North Carolina, flipping a Republican-held seat. The seat was open after Senator Thom Tillis chose not to seek another term. Democrat Jon Ossoff also won re-election in Georgia, while Mark Warner held his Senate seat for the Democrats in Virginia.
Republican Ashley Moody won Florida’s Senate race, defeating Democrat Angie Nixon. Moody was appointed to the seat in 2025 after Marco Rubio became secretary of state and will serve the final two years of the term Rubio won in 2022. The result was the first Senate seat secured by Republicans, according to the report.
In New Hampshire, Democrat Chris Pappas was projected to defeat Republican John Sununu. Other Senate winners reported included Democrats Ben Luján in New Mexico, John Hickenlooper in Colorado, Edward Markey in Massachusetts, John Reed in Rhode Island, Cory Booker in New Jersey, Juliana Stratton in Illinois and Chris Coons in Delaware. Republicans Harriet Hageman in Wyoming and Shelley Moore Capito in West Virginia were also reported as winners.
Several governors’ races were called as results came in. Democrats Phil Weiser in Colorado, Kathy Hochul in New York, Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, Wes Moore in Maryland, Maura Healey in Massachusetts and JB Pritzker in Illinois won, according to the results reported. Republican Eric Barlow also won a governor’s race.
Polls closed in successive groups of states during the evening, including Florida, Georgia, New Hampshire and Virginia at 7 p.m. ET, and North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia at 7:30 p.m. Further closures followed at 8 p.m. in 19 states and Washington, DC, and at 9 p.m. in ten states, including Arizona, Colorado, New York and Wisconsin. Polls also closed in Arkansas, where Senator Tom Cotton and Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders were seeking re-election.
The report identified the economy, the war in Iran and Trump as issues likely to weigh on voters. Midterm elections take place halfway through a president’s four-year term and are often treated as a measure of public opinion on the administration. Before polls closed, Trump told CBS News he could veto Democratic legislation if Democrats took control of either chamber of Congress.
Sources: Euronews English.