If you didn’t stay up late last night to watch returns from the 2022 midterm elections pour in, you didn’t miss much.
So far, control for both houses of the U.S. Congress hangs in the balance, with all major networks refusing to call which party has won control of the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate.
So, where do things stand currently?
As of publishing time, Republicans are projected to win 206 seats in the House compared to 177 for Democrats, Fox News projects. It takes 218 seats in the House for a party to gain control of the chamber.
The race for control of the U.S. Senate is very close at 49-48 with Republicans one seat ahead, Fox News also projects. Races that have yet to be called include Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada. For Republicans to take control of the chamber, the party needs to win 51 seats, since Vice President Kamala Harris currently serves as the chamber’s tiebreaker.
Most governor’s races around the country have already been called. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis easily sailed to a second term, beating his Democrat opponent Charlie Crist 59% to 40% with nearly all the results in. Gov. DeSantis won the Sunshine State by the largest margin since 1982. In his election night victory speech, the governor thanked his supporters for a “win for the ages.”
Republicans also won governor’s races in New Hampshire, Vermont, Texas, Iowa, and Ohio. Democrats won governor’s races in Colorado, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas and Colorado.
Several races for governor are still too close to call across the nation, including in Oregon, Nevada, Arizona and Alaska.
Many prognosticators and pundits had predicted a “red wave,” which last night quickly petered out into more of a “red trickle,” as conservative commentator Ben Shapiro called it.
As it stands, what’s the most likely outcome moving forward?
More likely than not, at some point soon the main media networks will call the House of Representatives for the Republicans, reestablishing divided government compared to the currently unified Democratic control of Congress and the White House.
As for the U.S. Senate, we may not know the final outcome for weeks. Republicans must win Arizona and Nevada to get to 51 seats. If they lose one and win the other, then control of the U.S. Senate will be decided by a runoff election in the state of Georgia on December 6.
That’s because under Georgia law, a candidate must receive over 50% of the vote to win an election outright. Currently in the Peach State, with 98% of the results in, Democrat incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock has earned 49.4% of the vote compared to his Republican challenger Herschel Walker’s 48.5%.
All told, we might know as soon as today which party will take control of the U.S. Congress for the next two years. Or we might know tomorrow. Or later this week. Or we might not know until next month.
This year, it seems the old adage that “every vote counts” is ringing true.
In a statement on the election results, Focus President Jim Daly said that while results are still coming in, “it’s clear to me that our charge as Christian citizens remains strong.” This is especially true, as voters sided with the pro-abortion lobby in five related ballot measures around the nation. Stay tuned to the Daily Citizen for an upcoming article on those results specifically.
“I hope you will join me in praying for all those willing to sacrifice their time and lives in service to this country,” Daly added. “The real work in Washington begins when the cheering stops and the campaigning ends.”
