Millions of Americans voted Tuesday in midterm elections that will decide whether Democrats take control of the House, the Senate or both. Many see the outcome as a national verdict on President Donald Trump, PBS News reported as its election night coverage began.
Early risers lined up before sunrise. One voter called this midterm "a turning point." Contentious campaigns wrapped up in battleground states from Maine to Alaska.
Michigan drew special attention after a surprise weekend. Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost her party's Senate primary, endorsed Republican Mike Rogers over Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed. Rogers praised the endorsement. El-Sayed's supporters said they were focused on affordability. One said filling a small car now costs almost $50 instead of $30.
Trump mostly stayed out of sight on Election Day. In a TV interview, he brushed off voter worries about prices driven up by the war with Iran and predicted results "better than you think." For the first time, the Justice Department sent election monitors to all 50 states.
There were some problems. In Westchester County, New York, voting machine trouble affected a key House race between Republican Rep. Mike Lawler and Democrat Cait Conley. Officials said emergency paper ballots would be counted, but it was not clear when.
In Ohio, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton made final pitches in the governor's race. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico was trying to become the first Democrat in three decades to win statewide, against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. Election officials from Minnesota to Arizona told PBS News that voting was mostly running smoothly.
PBS was tracking 89 competitive House seats. Democrats needed a net gain of three seats to win the House. In the Senate they needed a net gain of four, and North Carolina was one of the first seats they expected to flip.
Sources: PBS News