WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans and Democrats were in a tight race for control of Congress and governorships Tuesday, with the outcome determining the future of Joe Biden’s agenda as polls closed across much of the country.
In Virginia, Rep. Elaine Luria, a Navy veteran serving on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 uprising, was the first Democrat to lose a highly competitive House district, falling to former Navy helicopter pilot Jen Kiggans.  But Democratic Reps. Abigail Spanberger and Jennifer Wexton fended off strong Republican challengers in districts the GOP had hoped to flip.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSandis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, two potential future Republican presidential candidates, beat Democratic challengers to win re-election in the nation’s two biggest red states.  For Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who lost to Abbott, it was his third failed campaign since 2018.
It’s too early to say which party will be in charge of the Senate, which Democrats currently control because of Vice President Kamala Harris’ 50-50 vote tie in the chamber.
The outcome of the House and Senate races will determine the future of Biden’s agenda and serve as a referendum on his administration as the nation grapples with high inflation and concerns about the country’s direction.  Republican control of the House would likely trigger a round of investigations into Biden and his family, while a GOP takeover of the Senate would limit Biden’s ability to make judicial appointments.
Democrats were facing historic headwinds.  The incumbent party almost always suffers losses in the president’s first midterm election, but Democrats hoped anger over the Supreme Court’s abortion rights decision could mobilize their voters to reverse historic trends.
In Georgia, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker were vying for a seat that could determine control of the Senate.
Republicans are betting that messages focused on the economy, gas prices and crime will resonate with voters at a time of soaring inflation and rising violence.
The AP VoteCast, a broad survey of the national electorate, showed that high inflation and concerns about the fragility of democracy weighed heavily on voters.
Half of voters said inflation has been significantly affected, with groceries, gas, housing, food and other costs having soared in the past year.  Slightly fewer – 44% – said the future of democracy was their primary concern.
Overall, 7 in 10 voters said the decision overturning the 1973 decision that guaranteed abortion rights was an important factor in their midterm decisions.
VoteCast also shows that the reversal was generally unpopular.  About 6 in 10 say they are angry or unhappy about it, while about 4 in 10 were happy.  And about 6 in 10 say they favor a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide.
No widespread problems with ballots or voter intimidation were reported across the country, although there were hiccups typical of most election days.  Some tax collectors did not work in a New Jersey county.  In Philadelphia, where Democrats are counting on a strong turnout, people complained of being turned away as they showed up in person to try to resolve problems with their previously mailed ballots.
In Arizona’s Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and is the state’s largest county, officials reported problems with vote counting machines in about 20 percent of voters.  That has fueled anger and skepticism about the turnout that has been growing among some Republicans since the state narrowly carried Biden in 2020.
Voters were also deciding high-profile Senate or gubernatorial races in places like Pennsylvania, Nevada, Wisconsin, Arizona and Michigan.  Contests were also on the ballot for secretaries of state, roles that typically draw little attention but have come under increasing scrutiny as GOP candidates who refused to accept the results of the 2020 campaign race to control the management of future elections. .
In the first national elections since the January 6 uprising, the country’s democratic future is being called into question.  Some who participated in or were close to the attack are poised to win elected office Tuesday, including several candidates for House seats.  Concerns about political violence are also mounting less than two weeks after a conspiracy theory suspect targeted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home and brutally beat her 82-year-old husband.
The 2022 election is expected to cost $16.7 billion at the state and federal level, making it the most expensive midterm election ever, according to nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets.
Republicans entered the final stretch of the campaign in a strong position to regain control of at least one chamber of Congress, giving them the power to thwart Biden’s agenda for the remaining two years of his term.  The GOP needed a net gain of just one seat to win the US Senate and five to retake the US House.
All the House seats were up for grabs, as were 34 Senate seats – with cliffhangers particularly likely in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona.  Thirty-six states are electing governors, with many of those races also poised to reach the narrowest of margins.
The dynamics were more complicated in state capitals.  The GOP faced unexpected headwinds in upending the governor’s office in conservative Kansas.  Democrats, meanwhile, were nervous about their gubernatorial prospects in Oregon, usually a liberal stronghold.
Democrats easily pushed back Republicans backed by former President Donald Trump in several left-leaning states, while tougher tests that could determine control of Congress and the future of Joe Biden’s presidency awaited on more competitive ground.
Despite their liberal histories, states like Massachusetts, Maryland and Illinois have elected moderate Republican governors in the past.  But Republicans this year appeared to be too conservative in those states, giving Democrats easy wins in midterm elections that could otherwise prove difficult for the party.
Massachusetts and Maryland also saw historic firsts: Democrat Maura Healey became the first woman elected governor of Massachusetts, as well as the first openly lesbian governor of any state, and Wes Moore became the first black governor of Maryland.
Healey beat Geoff Diehl in Massachusetts and Moore beat Dan Cox in Maryland, while Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker defeated state Sen. Darren Bailey.  Cox and Bailey were among the far-right Republicans that Democrats spent tens of millions of dollars to boost during the primaries, betting they would be easier to defeat in the general election than their more moderate opponents.
If the GOP has a particularly strong run, winning Democratic-held congressional seats in places like New Hampshire or Washington state, it could put pressure on Biden to avoid re-election in 2024. Trump, in in between, he may try to build on GOP gains by officially launching another bid for the White House during a “very big announcement” in Florida next week.
The former president endorsed more than 300 candidates in the midterm cycle and hopes to use the Republican victories as a springboard for the 2024 presidential campaign.
“Well, I think if they win, I should take all the credit.  And if they lose, they shouldn’t blame me at all.  But it’s probably going to be the exact opposite,” Trump said in an interview with NewsNation.
It could be days or even weeks before the races — and possibly congressional control — are decided.  Some vote-by-mail states, such as Michigan, saw an increase in ballot returns compared to the 2018 midterms. Counting those votes could take longer because, in many states, ballots must be sealed by Tuesday, but they may not arrive at polling stations until days later.  In the Georgia Senate race, candidates must win at least 50% of the vote to avoid a Dec. 6 runoff.
—
Associated Press writers Corey Williams in Southfield, Mich., Anita Snow in Phoenix, Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia and Jacquelyn Martin contributed to this report.