After a few days of suspense, it’s official. The Democrats managed to keep control of the Senate.
Over the weekend, a few key races were called that determined that chamber’s fate. The Democratic incumbent Mark Kelly secured the win against Peter Thiel crony and pistol enthusiast Blake Masters in Arizona. And after a neck-and-neck race, on Saturday night, Nevada announced that Democratic incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto is the winner against Republican Adam Laxalt.
[Read: How’s Ol’ Mitch McConnell Feeling?]
It’s a relief that we won’t have to wait until the Georgia runoff to know what party controls the Senate! Control of the House is still up in the air. Here are the key elections where votes are still being counted:
Arizona
Two House races are still ongoing in the Grand Canyon State, in Arizona’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts. Additionally, the state’s closely watched gubernatorial election between Democrat Katie Hobbs and Republican Kari Lake hasn’t been called. Estimates vary on when all the counting will be done, especially because many ballots in the state’s populous Maricopa County are still being tallied, but we should learn more this week. The state has until Nov. 28 to certify the results.
Alaska
Every race in Alaska is pretty much still TBD—and we might not know who the winners (of a House seat, Senate seat, and for governor) are until Nov. 23. There are many more mail-in ballots to be counted and Alaska has a state law that allows ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they arrive up to 15 days later. But also, the state has a new ranked choice voting system, so we have to wait and see who put which candidates second (and third) on their ballots. Will Democrat Mary Peltola, a pro-fish candidate, keep the House seat she won in a special election in August? Which kind of Republican will win the Senate seat—incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski or MAGA faithful Kelly Tshibaka? Stay tuned!
California
There are still twelve House races in California that haven’t officially called a winner (though one is a guaranteed Democrat win). Ballots postmarked by Election Day have a week to arrive, so we could be waiting a bit longer. Los Angeles’ mayoral election is also still in progress, though Karen Bass’ lead over Rick Caruso is widening. Sorry, Katy Perry.
Colorado
On Tuesday, Democrat Michael Bennet beat Republican Joe O’Dea, keeping that Senate seat for Democrats. However, two House races still haven’t been called. In the race for the state’s newly drawn 8th Congressional District, state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer conceded to Democrat Yadira Caraveo, though the AP hasn’t called the race. There’s also the race between Lauren “I’m Tired of This Separation of Church and State Junk” Boebert and Democrat Adam Frisch for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. If Frisch wins, it would flip a seat in the House. The race is very close: The New York Times estimates it could take weeks—and a recount—before a winner is announced.
Georgia
In the much-anticipated Georgia Senate race, no candidates received over 50 percent of the vote, which is the required threshold for a winner to be declared. The two top candidates, incumbent Raphael Warnock and former football star Herschel Walker, will be competing in a runoff on Dec. 6.
Maine
Democrat Jared Golden had a solid lead over Republican Bruce Poliquin in the state’s 2nd Congressional District race. However, because neither of the candidates reached the threshold of 50 percent of votes needed to declare victory, the state will be holding a ranked choice runoff on Tuesday, Nov. 15.
New York
Republicans picked up three House seats, officially, but we are waiting on official calls in several more House races.
Oregon
Votes in Oregon are still being counted to decide representatives from the state’s 5th and 6th Congressional Districts. Oregon votes entirely by mail and ballots postmarked by Election Day will be counted up until Nov. 15.
