CNN Projects Ossoff Win in GA as Dems Take Early Leads in Key Races

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1:07Jake, they don't have the big monitors of CNN on right now because the mayor and Andre Dickens is speaking, mayor of Atlanta is speaking. But yes, the campaign has felt good about their position for some time. Republicans early in this day have been concerned. A GOP official said that even beyond the Ossoff-Collins race, they were concerned that the election day turnout was not going to get Republicans across the finish line. Not just the Senate race, but all the way down the ballot. And you can hear now that they are seeing on CNN that Senator John Ossoff has been reelected. And consider one year ago, Senator Ossoff was the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent in a state that Trump won.

1:54And here tonight, even before eight o 'clock, less than an hour after the polls closed, CNN is able to project that Senator Ossoff has been reelected. Back to you. Victor Blackwell and Ossoff campaign headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Hi, Atlanta. We see you. Thank you so much for watching CNN. So just to tell you where we are, just a reminder, the balance of power. Democrats have 36 Senate seats. Republicans have 31 Senate seats. There are 33 seats remaining to be called this evening. Remember, at the beginning of the night, I told you the Democrats have to pick up four Republican seats. They still have to pick up four Republican seats.

2:36Ossoff was a hold, not a pickup. Where are Democrats right now in their task of picking up four seats? Democrats are leading in three Republican seats as of right now as the votes come in. Republicans are leading in zero Democrat seats as of right now. So, Dana Bash, again, it's early. But first of all, I mean, speaking of it's early, we just called John Ossoff early. It's not even eight o 'clock, my bedtime. It is very early for us to be calling it. But that shows you of how handily he won this race. And just a reminder, this race, the Georgia Senate race, up until maybe this time last year, even more recently, was going to be the marquee battleground race.

3:22Because he's the only Democrat who's running in a state that Donald Trump won two years ago, an incumbent. And he was thought to be very, very vulnerable. He ran a race that, by all accounts, Democrats and Republicans, was stellar. and he also had an opponent who was incredibly flawed. And those two factors combined with the underlying Trump factor, which maybe is not just underlying, it's overarching everything, it turned out not to be at all. And a lot of Republicans in the state, allies of Brian Kemp, who was a very popular governor, survived attempts to take him down by President Trump, were kind of bewildered by this, by Mike Collins as the candidate, never thought he was a strong candidate.

4:09Six weeks ago, we're telling me he's going to lose and he's going to lose badly. So they were not surprised by this. But I'll tell you, Jake, the fact that we are calling it for John Ossoff so early in the night and just looking ahead to where this goes. And we don't know right now. So far, the president has been watching all the returns coming in at the White House. He is not liking what he is seeing coming in. He's been complaining about polls, the way questions are phrased, the answers. He's using some expletives to describe that. And so he's not pleased with what he's seeing so far. And John Ossoff has been actually a senator that has urged the White House the most.

4:40Because remember when he got famously in that back and forth with Jay Clayton about whether or not Trump won the 2020 election? And he asked, isn't it embarrassing? You can't just say he didn't win it. He's one of those senators that the White House knows has been effective and would be should the Senate and Democrats retake control. And one of the interesting things, it was a storyline as Ossoff was running for reelection, was that there were a bunch of Republican mayors that endorsed him. Because the constituent service was so good because he did answer their questions and answered their phone calls.

5:13So that's a that's the that's a big race, not completely unexpected, but a big race. John, tell us what's going on here. So I've moved. You're talking about Georgia, right? So Georgia looks like it's going to be a convincing win. We've projected it already. We've got to count the final votes. But explain, you know what? Explain to our viewers. Why are we calling this so early? Like what? Because we have a we have a I think it's fair to say a cautious. desk, decision desk. We do. I mean that as a compliment. That is a compliment. Sometimes, if you're paying attention on your phone, there might be another organization that calls a race, and we don't, not criticizing them by any means.

5:50We just have a process that, why not? Let's be safe. Let's be cautious, especially in an age when some people, I won't name them, but you can figure it out, sometimes question the integrity of elections or things things are happening. Let's be cautious so we can make the case. You want me to make the case. Why did we do this? Number one, that's a big lead out of the gate. Number two, you're looking at where does a Democrat have to perform in Georgia to be successful statewide? Well, this is your first stop right here. The largest of the 159 counties in the state of Georgia is Fulton County. Democrat needs to get above 70.

6:18You'd want to be above 75 percent. The Democrat right there is getting above 80 percent. Same things with the counties around. You go down to Clayton County. This is where the airport is in Atlanta. Overwhelmingly African-American, strong Democratic county. Democrat needs to run it up. That's what John Ossoff did. And then you go out to these rural counties. I want to show you something here. So see the counties that are lit up on the map right now. OK, so now we're going to see where in Georgia is Mike Collins underperforming Donald Trump. Look at that. See all those see those lit up. A lot of them stay lit up right in every county you just saw there that stays on the map.

6:53Mike Collins, the Republican candidate, is underperforming the president who won Georgia two years ago. And so the Democrat is doing what he needs to do in places and the Republican is underperforming Donald Trump's numbers in 2024. So that's the one. So let's just move down to the south in Florida, where, again, it's been a long time since we're talking about Florida in a competitive race. In the Senate race, Angie Nixon was ahead early on. This would be enormous. It was not on the map until the final weeks of the campaign. But Ashley Moody, the Republican, has pulled ahead now by 30 ,000, almost 31 ,000 votes with 84 percent of the vote in.

7:28So when you have a panhandle, yes, the panhandle, panhandle still to come in. So that's exactly the point I was going to get to. So at this point, you're saying 84 percent is in. So what's out? You know, what's left to get? The size of the circle tells you there's a sizable amount of votes. A tiny circle, a small amount of votes left. The big circle tells you a sizable amount of votes left. So you see, we still have a lot of votes to come in these blue areas. But you're absolutely right, Jake. We have no votes up here. So we're waiting up there, which means we're going to stay and we're going to count them.

7:55And Florida, at least for tonight, is a battleground again, at least as of right now. We're going to come back to you in a second, John. It's now time for the biggest round of poll closings of the entire night, because it is 8 p.m. Eastern and polls are closing in six seconds in 16 more states, plus the District of Columbia. And we can now make some projections. CNN is projecting that in Delaware, incumbent Democratic Senator Chris Coons will be reelected. CNN is also projecting that in Illinois, Juliana Stratton will be the new senator. She's a Democrat. She will be the new senator from Illinois, replacing the retiring Senator Dick Durbin.

8:38And in Massachusetts, CNN can project that incumbent Democratic Senator Ed Markey will also be reelected. reelected. We also have two other projections. In New Jersey, CNN can project that Democratic Senator Cory Booker will be reelected. And in Rhode Island, CNN can project that incumbent Democratic Senator Jack Reed will be reelected. It is too early to call a number of other states where there were Senate races, where the polls are closed. And those states are Alabama and Florida and Maine and Mississippi and New Hampshire and Oklahoma and Tennessee. Let us remind you where we are in the balance of power.

9:18Democrats have 41 U.S. Senate seats. Republicans have 31 U.S. Senate seats. There are 28 Senate seats remaining to call. What do Democrats have to do in order to recapture the Senate? Well, as we told you, Democrats have to pick up. They have to flip for currently Republican seats. How are Democrats doing in that task? As of now, as the votes come in, Democrats are currently leading in three Republican Senate seats. How are Republicans doing? They are currently leading in zero seats. And Dana Bash, the votes are coming in in some of these Senate races, and they're keeping us all on the edge of our seats.

9:56They are, and I want to start with Ohio because Sherrod Brown, the Democratic challenger, is not only ahead, his lead has grown. He's at 61.3 percent. The Republican incumbent John Husted, who again is filling out J.D. Vance's Senate term in Ohio, is 35.5 percent. It's still 26 percent of the vote in. So we're going to definitely check back in with John and see what the remaining vote out is. Now let's look at another red seat where the Democrat is leading. And Annie Andrews, the pediatrician running on the Democratic ticket, she's ahead by a little bit more than 15 ,000 votes, 51.5 percent. Darlene Graham, the appointed senator who is now running for a full term in the seat that her late brother held, she's at 47.2 percent.

10:44It's very early in this seat, in this state, I should say. I'm told that we have votes in from West Virginia. We're just going to look at this right now. It is very early. Right now, the Democrat, Rachel Fetty Anderson, is ahead 50.9 percent. The Republican incumbent, Shelley Moore Capito, is trailing 46.5 percent with 10 percent of the vote in. It is very early. This was not on anybody's battleground list. We're going to continue to watch that. New Hampshire definitely is on the battleground list. It's an open Democratic seat. Gene Chahin is retiring. Chris Pappas, the Democratic candidate, continues to have a lead.

11:24It's a relatively small lead by the votes, but by the percentage, it's pretty big, 60.7 percent. John Sununu, the Republican who was defeated by the retiring Democratic senator back in 2008, he's at 37.5 percent, only 15 percent of the vote. And I want to go back to Florida, another red seat. Ashley Moody is now in the lead. Last time we checked, Angie Nixon was in the lead, the Democratic challenger. But the incumbent has now taken the lead. She's at 49.7 percent. It is very, very close. Angie Nixon at 49.2 percent. Eighty seven percent of the vote is in. I'm told we have Texas votes in. OK, let's look at it.

12:12Texas, James Tallarico, the Democratic candidate, is ahead by 73.2 percent. He's up almost 300 ,000 votes. Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate, who is Donald Trump's hand-picked candidate. He defeated incumbent Republican John Cornyn in that bitter primary. He's at 25.4%. Again, we're just getting these votes in. It is very early. Only 6 % of the vote in, Jake. Texas, Texas, Texas. The marquee race. Very exciting stuff. The Senate races are coming in right now. But let's take a look at the House for one second, if we can. Remember, Democrats have to pick up three House seats that are currently occupied, currently held by Republicans.

12:55How are Democrats doing in that task right now? Well, right now, Democrats are leading in 21 Republican districts as votes come in. Republicans are leading in only one Democratic district. So should that hold, we'll be a good night. Oh, it just went to 23 Republican districts. But, Boris, I know you have some news for us. Yes, Jake, four projections to make all Democratic holds, three that have potential 20-20. implications including in your home Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Their incumbent Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro seeking his second term. He is not denied that his aspirations for the White House.

13:27He does after all run the biggest swing state electorally on the map and he just got reelected defeating Stacey Garrity the state treasurer. Also another projection to bring you from Illinois. Their incumbent Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker seeking his third term. He's the billionaire heir to the Hyatt fortune. He has spent millions of dollars, boosting Democrats around the map, perhaps buying him some goodwill in a 2028 primary. He defeats Darren Bailey, a state lawmaker, in a 2022 rematch. Pritzker gets that third term. Another potential 2028 candidate to tell you about, Wes Moore. He has quite a long resume for someone that may run for the White House.

14:02He's a best-selling author, an Army veteran, a Rhodes scholar, lauded for his response to the Baltimore Bridge collapse. Moore seeking a second term, also a rematch from 2022. He defeats Dan Cox, a former state delegate. Who knows if these three will serve out these terms. They may be running for the White House in less than two years. Beyond that, let's take a look at another projection to bring you from Massachusetts. No surprises there. Maura Healy, the incumbent Democrat, seeking a second term, the first female governor elected in Massachusetts. She defeats Michael Minogue, a Republican businessman.

14:32I want to get you some updates now on Florida, because that race has gone back and forth between former Republican Congressman David Jolly and current Republican Congressman Byron Donalds. Look at that. Jolly, 53 ,000 votes ahead right now. It just updated, adding a couple 10 ,000 or so votes for Jolly. This race extremely close with 89. And it just went back down again to 46 ,000 votes. 0.6 percentage points separate these two candidates. Razor thin margins in a surprisingly competitive race in Florida where a Democrat has not been elected to the governor's mansion in Tallahassee since 1994. 89 % of the vote and 11 % of the vote still out there, Jake.

15:09Let's look at Ohio now. Our first numbers we're getting tonight. Amy Acton, the former state health director, 362 ,000 votes ahead of former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, 28 percent of the vote in the former state health director. Acton currently leading in that race. One more update for you from the state of Georgia, the peach state here. Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, 308 ,000 votes ahead of Republican businessman, billionaire entrepreneur Rick Jackson. 47 percent of the vote in there. A lot of results coming in still early in the night, but obviously the difficult political climate for Republicans reflecting in these Democratic leads in the governor's races.

15:48All right, Boris, thanks so much. And now CNN can make a projection in two House races in Florida. These are districts that have been redrawn due to the Republican governor's redistricting efforts, shepherded by the governor, and Republicans did it. And CNN is projecting that in Florida, House District 22, Democrat Pia Dandia is going to be the next congresswoman. And in Florida, incumbent Democratic congressman Jared Moskowitz is going to win. These were seats that Republicans had redistricted to make them more Republicans so that they could be Republican seats. And that task, that goal, failed.

16:30There are other seats in Florida. Let's take a look at them. Other seats that Republicans were trying to redistricted to target. And right now, Democrats are leading. This is not, we're not calling these. These are key race alerts. But in House District 9 in Florida, the incumbent Democratic Congressman Darren Soto is leading 50.3 percent to the Republican Dan Green's 49.7 percent. So that's about 1 ,400 vote lead. That's with 96 percent of the vote in. So honestly, that could favor either one by the end of the night. House District 14 in Florida, that's incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor.

17:12She is leading right now with 51.2 % of the vote against her Republican challenger, Mike Beltran, with 45.9 % of the vote. She has about 15 ,000 vote lead with 98 % of the vote in. We're not calling these, but in terms of these being Republican pickups because of the redistricting, that task is not working as of right now. So let's take a look at what Republicans and Democrats need to do in order to control Congress. right now Democrats have to pick up three Republican seats. So how are they doing in that task right now? Democrats are leading in 28 Republican districts. How are Republicans doing?

17:51They're leading in one Democratic district. So Boris, in terms of what's going on in the House, Democrats continue to have a good night. What do you got for us in the governor's race? It is continuing to be a good night for Democrats, including in surprisingly competitive races for with a governor like Texas. There, incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott seeking his fourth term. If he serves it out, he would be the longest serving governor in the Lone Star State's history. When I was looking at this board a moment ago, Jake, Gina Hinojosa was in the lead, the Democrat in this race, a state legislator, the daughter of a long time Texas State Party chair.

18:24She was ahead by a few thousand votes. Now it's Abbott, 6 ,637 votes ahead of Hinojosa. But this is expected to be a very close race. Keep in mind, Abbott is very, very popular in Texas, a reliably red state. He has never won a governor's race by fewer than 10 percentage points. But Hinojosa's team, they are bullish. They feel strongly about her. She came up through a local school board into politics because her son's school was almost shut down as a result of budget cuts. No surprise, she's running on education as Abbott runs on school choice. Let's get an update now on Florida. That race swinging back and forth all night.

18:59Right now, David Jolly, his lead a moment ago, wow, it was 33 ,000 votes just a second ago. Now it's 21 ,000 votes. 0.3 percentage points separate the Democrat David Jolly from Republican Congressman Byron Donald's. 91 % of the vote in there. I mean, it doesn't get more dramatic than that. Razor-thin margins in a state that really hasn't been competitive for Democrats in quite a while. And right now you've got a Democrat in the lead for the governor's mansion, Jake. Yeah, some of us old folks are getting flashbacks to close races in Florida. So, so far, Democrats seem to be having a good night.

19:32But let us remember, their task to recapture the House and Senate remains. Democrats still have to pick up three Republican seats in the House to win the control. And they still have to pick up four Republican seats in the Senate to take control. Let's go over to John King. And, John, right now, I said Democrats have to win four Republican seats to win. Right now, they're leading in five Republican seats and Republicans are leading in zero Democratic seats. Some very early results just ticked in here in the state of Kansas. This is the one that came late to the board in terms of battlegrounds or key races you want to watch.

20:11Pastor Adam Hamilton at the moment with a 57 to 41 percent lead over the incumbent Republican. Roger Marshall, let's again, you see the map filling in. And I just want to show you these votes are. The Douglas County is a Democratic county. It's only one percent. It's only 1%. That's pretty close. That's tied in that county there. We'll see how that plays out. The largest area of the state right in here. This is by far the biggest population center in the state right here in Johnson County. We don't have any votes yet. But again, so if you're looking at this map, let's pull it all the way and stay at home.

20:42If this stays blue and this stays blue, forget about it. However, very early there, both in the governor's race, which the Republican is leading in the Senate race, I just want to make clear. Look what we got. One, two, three, four results, not even full results, results from five counties. There are 254 counties in the state of Texas. So we got a ways to go. But let's just see what we're getting. All right. Here you're along the coast. This is South Harris County is right here. Houston. That is by far the most populous county in Texas. Democrats need it and they need it big, both Tallarico and Hinojosa.

21:14So here you're down here south of that 82 percent. The Democrat leads. This is a Republican 20 points. Donald Trump carried this county by 20 points just two years ago. So that is significant. That is significant that the Democrat is running ahead of Ken Paxton there. The rest of the votes coming in, the only large population center is Dallas, which is the second largest county population wise in the state. Traditionally blue. But again, look at the margin. About 48 points. Is my math right there? That's about 48 points. Kamala Harris carried this by 22 by 22. So Tallarico is overperforming at the moment, and that's 75 percent of the vote.

21:50Now, Democrats have every reason to get excited by that. I just want to remind you, and if you're a Democrat in Texas, you've seen this movie way too many times before. It has been 38 years, 38 years since we ended a night in a Senate race in Texas, and that was blue. 1988, Lloyd Benson. Lloyd Benson. 38 years. Yeah. So we can now make another projection. It's in the House. In Florida, I was just telling you about this race, and we're now going to call it. Democrat Kathy Castor will win re-election to an 11th term. This is a seat that Florida Republicans targeted and redistricted. When they redrew the state's congressional map, they put Castor in a district that Trump theoretically would have won by double digits.

22:36And yet, and yet, we are calling it for Kathy Castor right now. So that is three out of the four seats that they redistricted to pick up four Republican seats, three that we have called for Democrats. Right now, as I said, Democrats have to pick up three Republican seats. Right now, Democrats are leading in 32 Republican districts and Republicans are leading in two Democratic districts. So right now, Democrats are on track to recapture the House. It is not we're not calling it. It is early, but right now they're on track. Results are pouring in from some of our key races, including Georgia and Florida.

23:18And we're counting down to the next round of poll closing with one more state closing in less than 20 minutes. We're going to squeeze in a quick break. We'll be right back.

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24:34All right, just to reset where we are in the night. In order to recapture the House of Representatives, Democrats have to pick up three Republican seats. That was their task at the beginning of the night. And even though they're having a good night, that task remains. So how are Democrats doing right now as votes come in? Right now, Democrats are leading in 39 Republican districts. That number jumped up during that break. Republicans are leading in two Democratic districts. So were that to hold, that would actually be a rather good night for Democrats. But again, it's early. These are votes coming in.

25:08These are not races called. What about the U.S. Senate? Well, the task there for Democrats is a little bit more daunting. Democrats have to pick up four Republican seats. How are they doing in that task as the votes come in? Well, I'll tell you, Democrats are currently leading in five Republican Senate seats. What about Republicans in their hopes? Republicans are leading in exactly zero Democratic Senate seats. Again, we're not calling anything, but this is just as the votes are coming in. you'd rather be team blue than team red. Tell us more about some of these votes as they come in, Dana. And I'm going to start with South Carolina, Jake, because it continues to be the Democrat that leads here.

25:45Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who's up by 50.5%. Darlene Graham, the incumbent Republican, is trailing at 48%. It is still early. We only have 25 % of the estimated vote in. So let's just keep watching this. Kansas. By the way, Kansas, The fact that we're talking about Kansas on an election night, that tells you everything you need to know. The Democrat, Adam Hamilton, first time politician, pastor, is at 56.7 percent. The incumbent Republican, Roger Marshall, is trailing with 41.4 percent. It is also very early, only 8 percent of the vote in. Now let's look at Texas. James Tallarico maintains his lead.

26:27He actually has expanded his lead since the last time we looked at this. He's at 60.2 percent of the vote in. Ken Paxton, the Republican, at 38.3 percent. It is still really early. Only about a quarter of the vote is in in Texas. We will continue to watch that. Another red seat that we're watching is Ohio. It is another seat where the Democrat is leading. Sherrod Brown is ahead, keeps expanding his lead. 320 ,000 and change. That's the number of votes said he's ahead 58.4 percent. John Husted, the incumbent Republican at 38.3 percent. About a third of the vote is in here. Now let's look at Michigan.

27:10We're just starting to get the votes in in Michigan. This is an open seat. The Democrats are trying to hold. The Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is currently ahead at 60.7 percent. Mike Rogers, the Republican, is at 37.7 percent. It is just the beginning of the votes coming in only five percent of the estimated vote in let's look at another blue seat that democrats are hoping to hold it's another open blue seat in new hampshire chris pappas has maintained his lead all evening as the votes have come in he's at 60.6 johnson nuner the republican at 37.6 we're still waiting for a sizable number of votes because only 27 20 % of the votes are in.

27:56Let's look at North Carolina. Another open seat. This is an open Republican seat that Democrats are hoping to move into the blue column. The former governor, Roy Cooper, Democrat, is ahead by almost 800 ,000 votes. Look at that, almost 800 ,000 votes. He's at 66.8 % of the vote. Michael Watley, the former RNC chair, he is trailing big time at 31.6%. of the vote and 56 % of the estimated vote is in. This is one of those, Jake, that Democrats and Republicans actually agree on. They think that this ultimately will be a Democratic pickup. It's fascinating stuff. And just to put a button on what Dana, well, that one, no way.

28:41But okay, let us talk now about the U.S. House of Rep. Here it is. Let us talk about the House of Representatives right now. As I told you, Democrats have to pick up three House Republican seats. Democrats are currently leading in 50, 50 Republican districts. They only need to pick up three. Right now they're leading in 50. Republicans are leading in two Democratic districts. So as of right now, it seems like Democrats are on to their task. Boris, tell us what's going on in these very competitive governor's races. A similar situation in the governor's races, Jake. Three updates now from red states where Republicans are currently trailing in governor's races.

29:22Right now, Keisha Lance Bottoms, former mayor of Atlanta, 469 ,000 votes behind billionaire Rick Jackson. Jackson largely self-funded his campaign, touting his rags to riches story from foster care to being a billionaire health care CEO. But right now he's behind Lance Bottoms, 469 ,000 votes, 57 percent of the vote in right now in Georgia. Let's get you an update from Ohio, a state that Donald Trump won three consecutive times where no Democrat has won the governorship in 20 years. They're in the act and 353 ,000 votes ahead of Vive Gramaswamy with 33 percent of the vote in the Buckeye State.

29:56She currently has a substantial lead. Let's take a look now at Texas. They're running for a fourth term as Greg Abbott, the incumbent Republican. But Gino Hinojosa, state lawmakers, currently in the lead. 401 ,000 votes there in the Lone Star State. 23 percent of the vote in. This is seismic right here. Hinojosa would be the first Democrat elected governor in Texas since 1991. She would become the first Latina governor in the Lone Star State's history. Meantime, let's take a look at Florida, a race that has been back and forth. Let me interrupt one second because we have a projection. I'm so sorry, Boris.

30:29We have arrived at a big moment in the night. CNN can make now a major projection. Democrat Chris Pappas will win the Senate seat in New Hampshire. He's a four-term congressman. He's going to defeat former Republican Senator John Sununu. He is succeeding retiring Democratic Senator Gene Shaheen. So this is a Democratic hold. Pappas, incidentally, will be the first openly gay man to ever serve in the US Senate. So let us take a second here. Where are Democrats in their task in recapturing the Senate? Right now, the balance of power is 42 Democrats, 31 Republicans. There are 27 Senate seats remaining for us to call at the beginning of the night, I told you.

31:08And it remains True. The Democrats need to pick up four Republican seats. Chris Pappas is a hold. It's not a pickup. So where are we in the task? Where are Democrats in the task as we look at this night? Democrats are currently leading in seven Republican seats. Seven. What about Republicans? Republicans are currently leading in zero Democratic seats. So let us go to the magic wall and talk about these Senate seats. So, well, John, you're at House here. I'll come back over for you. OK, so here we are. Touching the button. So leading the vote right now, Democrats are leading in eight seats right now.

31:46Eight. Now, that would be a monster bluenami if that were to happen. We don't think it will. But eight right now, and Republicans are leading in zero Democratic seats. Yeah, I'm going to almost pause for a second and give Democrats, if you want to take a screen grab of that. I don't know what's going to hold up through the end of the night. But you have Democrats. Because of all the Southern states. You have a Democrat leading a Senate race in Texas, a Democrat leading a Senate race in Oklahoma, and a Democrat leading a Senate race in Kansas. It's early. But two of those threes actually could happen theoretically.

32:19Two of those three. Three of three could happen theoretically. I'm just saying, like, two of those three are actually competitive. OK. You're challenging my grammar now. Yes, theoretically, anything could happen. But two of those three seats that you just mentioned, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas are actually competitive. Yes. And let's start with the Kansas map as it fills in. Adam Hamilton, moderate Democratic pastor recruited to run against the Republican incumbent Roger Marshall. He's up by you see it right there. He's up by 17, almost 18 points right now. And and the largest county in the state and the Democratic county, which is here, hasn't reported any votes yet.

32:58So if you're in Democratic headquarters, you're thinking we're off to a good start. I want to remind you, you see all of this rural red. That's Trump country. If you fill it in. However, however, one of the biggest questions in this campaign, I might as well do it here. We did it once earlier today. I'm going to do it again. This is the price of gas, the change in the price of gas since February, since the start of Donald Trump's Iran war. Why are we talking about Kansas? If you live in one of these counties where it is purple, your gas prices have gone up more than 73 percent since the war started.

33:28If you live in one of these counties that are more pink, which is much of the state, your gas prices have gone up between 63 and 73 percent. If you live in one of these counties that are gold, which is a big part of the state, well, it's only 54 to 63 percent. And gasoline is cheaper than diesel. And a lot of people in Kansas and rural America use diesel. So one of the big issues across the Midwest, across Trump country, is the Iran war has punished people financially on top of tariffs and everything else. We'll see how this plays out. We're only at 12 percent. But these states are much more competitive because of that.

34:06That's Kansas. So let's move back down. Your theory proved to be correct, sir. All right. I got to interrupt. At least at the moment. I got to interrupt. I'm so sorry. Go ahead. We're at a little night in tonight's contest because CNN can now make a major projection. CNN projects in a big win for Democrats that Democrat Roy Cooper will win the Senate seat in the Tar Heel state of North Carolina. The former two-term governor will defeat the former Republican National Committee chairman, Michael Watley. Cooper is going to succeed retiring Republican Senator Tom Tillis, making this a Democratic pickup.

34:42It has been 18 years since North Carolina last elected a Democrat to the Senate. So CNN's Jessica Dean is at Cooper campaign headquarters in the research triangle. Raleigh, North Carolina. Jessica, big, big pickup. This is a big pickup, and we're on a slight delay here, so you're going to hear them go. There they go. They've just announced right on that CNN TV right there. You can see that they are reacting to you, Jake, calling this race. Look, the Cooper campaign knew that if they could get this done, this would be a foundation that would hopefully set the stage for a big blue night, for the possibility for Democrats to flip the Senate when, as we talked about, that seemed like a pipe dream not too long ago.

35:31The Cooper campaign was focused relentlessly on affordability. They were focused relentlessly on making sure that North Carolina voters were comfortable sending a Democrat to the Senate, and that early sustained lead allowed them to then be able to send money to red states. So the Cooper campaign, quite pleased, and this crowd is going crazy right now, Jake. All right, Jessica, that's awesome. Hello to all my friends in North Carolina. My mom is from Chapel Hill. I love you so much. All right, let us talk about what this means in the scheme of the Democrats' hopes to recapture the Senate. Right now, the balance of power is There are 43 senators who are Democrats, and that includes a pickup.

36:14I'll get to that in a second. There are 31 Republican senators. We are waiting to call 26 senators. So remember, I told you at the beginning of the night the Democrats needed to pick up four Senate seats. They now only need to pick up three Senate seats, Republican Senate seats, because they have just flipped the Cooper seat. So where are they? They need to pick up three. Right now they are leading in five Republican seats. That does not include North Carolina. We are not including that. We are counting that as a pickup. Republicans are leading in zero Democratic seats. John King, not unexpected, but still we have to take a moment here.

36:54A Democrat has been elected to represent North Carolina and that he was running against Trump's handpicked Republican National Committee chairman. Remember that point. Remember that point. Remember that point. Trump's handpicked, not just in North Carolina. As we go through the And I remember that point. You say not unexpected because Roy Cooper has won twice statewide. He's clearly popular. He's the governor. However, it has been since 2008. That was the last time North Carolina sent a senator to Washington. North Carolina has been very hesitant in the last almost 20 years to send people. If the job ends up in Washington, they send Republicans.

37:29At the state level, they're willing to get moderate Democrats. So what happens when you have a blowout like this? We'll see if this margin holds up. We'll see if this margin holds up. But this is this. This is right now the governors. I mean, the Senate race statewide, 66 to 32. Remember, Republicans pulled millions of dollars out of this race at the end because they wanted to rush it into other states like Kansas and like Iowa. So the money came out of here. Well, what happens when the money comes out? I want to show you this is this is the current North Carolina House delegation, 10 Republicans and four Democrats.

38:02OK, this is the current North Carolina House delegation. This is where things stand right now. It's early. I don't think they'll all stay this way. But look at that. That's what happens when you have a blowout in a Senate race. It can impact other races statewide. Now, are Democrats going to win every district in North Carolina? No. But I just want to show you this was a district that was redrawn to beat the Democrat. Don Davis won two years ago. He's a Democratic incumbent. He just barely won two years ago. North Carolina Republicans redrew the lines to make it a Trump plus 10. It's only 38 percent of the vote.

38:37But Don Davis is running ahead right now. When I go out 500 miles, North Carolina is the widest state east of the Mississippi. 500 miles from here to here. This is North Carolina 11. A Democrat has not won this district. Remember Heath Shuler, Tennessee quarterback, former it was the Redskins in those days, former Washington Commanders quarterback. He was the last Democrat to hold this seat. They redrew the lines in 2010. Democrats have not been competitive since. Federal aid, a big issue out there. Hurricane Helene. Yep. Hurricane Helene. Trump's handpicked candidate was for a short period of time the Helene czar.

39:12They remember that out here, which is why Michael Watley is losing that Senate race. But look at that. The Republican incumbent decided not to run for reelection after a health ethics committee investigation. Jennifer Belcombe was brought in late in this race at 73 percent. Jamie Egger. significantly, if Jamie Yeager comes to Washington, the Democrats are going to have a little tug of war about moderates versus socialists. He calls himself a mountain Democrat out there. I've been out in this district several times as part of all over the map, and I can tell you very well organized, had a lot of energy out there.

39:42I just want to look at this again. If this ends up this way at the end of the night, this is a blowout of historic proportion. If it ends up anything close to this, it's a blowout of historic proportions. But at the moment, at the moment, Democrats are leading in every single congressional district across North Carolina because of that Senate race. It's not going to stay that way. I'm just trying to show you the energy in the race right now. And Jake, you just come over here and look at it just before you go. I just want to show you the closest races. Maria Salazar has the closest House race right now in the country.

40:11She's a Republican incumbent who did an on-camera ad saying, Mr. President, your immigration policy is too tough. She's in a tie right now. That would go into recount territory if it stays. She won by 21 points two years ago. That's the climate. That's the climate tonight. That is fascinating. So hold that thought, John, because we're at a big moment in tonight's contest. CNN can now make another major projection. And CNN projects that Republican Senator Ashley Moody will win the Florida Senate special election. She is defeating state representative Angie Nixon, a Democratic socialist. Senator Moody was appointed to the seat by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to replace former Senator Marco Rubio, who resigned to become the Secretary of State.

40:55Moody will serve the remaining two terms of Rubio's term, and that she's going to have to run for re-election again in 2028. So let's take a look at the balance of power. What does that mean? Well, that was a Republican hold, so it's pretty unchanged since the last time we spoke. 43 Democrats are in the Senate, including one pickup, Roy Cooper in North Carolina. 32 Republicans are in the U.S. Senate. We are still waiting to call 25 U.S. Senate seats. Remember what I told you at the beginning of the night? Democrats had to flip four Republican seats. Now they only have to flip three Republican seats.

41:26What about the remaining seats? Where are they? How are Democrats doing? Democrats are currently leading in six Republican seats. How are Republicans doing in Democratic seats? Republicans are leading in no Democratic seats. So let's look at the Texas race right now because a lot of people are interested in that. Right there, we have the Texas Senate race. James Tallarico, the Democrat, has 59.5 % of the vote. Ken Paxton, the Republican, has 39 % of the vote. Tallarico is more than half a million votes ahead, 528 ,600 votes ahead. That's with 25 % of the estimated vote in. In the Texas governor's race, Democrat Gina Hinojosa has 57.2 % of the vote.

42:10Incumbent governor Greg Abbott has 41.5 % of the vote. That has Hinojosa 405 ,448 votes more with 25 percent of the vote in. You will notice that Tallarico, with the same percentage of the vote in, is leading Hinojosa. Let's go to Aaron Burnett, who is in Austin, Texas. Aaron, a lot of fascinating stuff going on in the Lone Star State tonight. A lot, a lot. And, you know, talking earlier to the Tallarico campaign, they were expecting possibility if things went the way they wanted that at Eastern time between 10 and 11 o 'clock that this race would be called, they think, for James Tallarico. Let's go county by county because everyone's watching Texas.

42:53Is James Tallarico going to make history here or not? I'm here with Jeff Zeleny, and I want to go into some of the data here because obviously the polls are not all closed yet in Texas. Okay, you've got El Paso and you've got western Texas. important Hispanic votes, also important votes that Paxton's looking for. So that is happening in the next few moments. But of what we've got, you have no votes in yet from the most populous part of Texas, obviously Harris County and Houston. So that's important. But we do have numbers in from Dallas and around Dallas, and they tell you a lot. They certainly do.

43:25I mean, look, this is the early vote. This is the part of that 7.7 million early voters who casted their ballots. And Democrats knew that they had an edge here. But when you look at these numbers, county by county, yes, of course, he's leading in Dallas County, James Tallarico. That's a blue county. Tarrant County is very instructive. It's long been seen. This is Fort Worth, long been seen as one of the largest red counties in America. James Tallarico now, with 78 percent of the vote in, is about up 60 to 39 percent. Look at Denton County, right above there, an affluent suburban County. Trump won Denton County by 13 points.

44:02Tallarico is up by 9 points, 54 to 45. In Williams County, right here outside Austin, Tallarico also has a very wide lead with 80 percent of the vote counted. So a strategist told me a couple minutes ago, how does Tallarico do in the Dallas suburbs? This will determine who wins the race. So key to that is the election day vote that happened today. How does that break? And that will give us our answer. And it's going to be crucial. Also, when you look at Tarrant County that you were just talking about with what, about 78, close to 79 percent of the vote in Tallarico winning what, 60 to 39. For those watching and looking at history and saying, well, compare this to how Beto O 'Rourke did, right, when he lost the statewide race against Ted Cruz by about two and a half percent.

44:47Beto O 'Rourke won Tarrant County by less than one percent. Now, we've got a lot more votes to come in, but obviously at this early point, Tallarico is outperforming Beto O 'Rourke. He is in that county, there's no doubt. And if you look at Ken Paxton, how he is doing, one of his strongest counties in Abilene. This is in Taylor County. He's up 63 to 35 percent. The reason that's important, Abilene is one of the areas where there's been a data center proposed, and that is one of the interesting things. So even if Tallarico loses the majority of Texas counties, which he likely will, there are 254 counties in Texas, the margin to which he loses by is key.

45:25So even in Paxton counties here, Tallarico getting about a little over a third of the vote, that's also significant. So the party you can hear behind us here, it's an event right now for James Tallarico. People have gathered here. We will see if it's a party. We do not know that yet, but the numbers are finally coming in. No, we do not know that yet. And part of the reason we do not know that as I look here is we have about 20 minutes until the next polls and close in Texas. We've got two time zones here. And as I mentioned, the polls still to close are going to bring in votes that Ken Paxton sees as crucial, right, from western Texas, but also El Paso.

45:58And El Paso is such a crucial part of the story here for James Tallarico in terms of the Hispanic vote, which is where he's been trying some of those early counties that are in trying to run it up there. what are we going to get from El Paso? I mean, El Paso will be key, as will the votes in the Rio Grande Valley. I mean, as we've been talking all night, the story of this election will be how Republicans and others have changed from 2024. What did Trump supporters do this time? So Latino voters are at the center of that. And the votes in the Rio Grande Valley, just looking over here right now, are largely not in yet.

46:33So we will see as they come in and take our time and wait for those votes to be counted. But the early vote, again, James Tallarico is up. Not a surprise. But how he does on Election Day vote will be so key. But again, the Latino vote, I think, will be a storyline, particularly younger voters, out of this race. Yeah, absolutely. And just as we're looking at this right now, you can see on your screen 59 to 39.5. But as you see, only 26 percent of the vote in. And I keep emphasizing this. You still have polls still to close in the western parts of Texas as well. So we're going to keep watching this trickle by trickle and waiting for Harris County and Houston.

47:10Right now, though, I know we've got some big projections. We're going to send that back to you, Jake. All right. Thanks so much, Erin Burnett. And yeah, we can now make a projection. It's the first Democratic pickup of the night in the House of Representatives. Democrat Jamie Ager will win North Carolina's 11th congressional district. It's a flip for the party. He's defeating Republican Jennifer Baucom. President Trump carried this district just two years ago by about 10 points. and we're now calling it for the Democrat. The seat's currently held by Republican Chuck Edwards, who dropped his re-election bid in August after a House Ethics Committee investigation into his conduct toward female staffers.

47:44It was quite a bizarre moment. In any case, that resignation has now led to the pickup by the Democrats. So remember when I told you at the beginning of the night that Democrats have to pick up three Republican seats in order to take control of the House? That number is now two. Democrats now have to pick up two Republican seats. How are they doing in the remaining seats that we have not called yet? that the votes are coming in. Democrats are leading in 56 Republican districts right now. 56. How are Republicans doing in Democratic districts? Republicans are leading in four congressional districts.

48:14So, I mean, again, we don't necessarily expect this to hold, but I'm pretty sure that 52 is greater than two. David, tell us about some of these seats. Excellent math. I'm not strong at math, but that much I know. 52 is greater than two. David, There are a bunch of undecided seats that we haven't called yet. Tell us what's going on there. Totally. And I want to just use a different tool here, Jake, to sort of look at this potential blue wave that we are watching form. I say potential because it's still early in these vote counts. And like you said, I don't think anybody expects Democrats are going to win all of the 59 seats that they're leading in right now in Republican districts.

48:54Those are not going to be all flips. But take a look at this board right now. And I'm going to start in the Senate. These are races that we haven't called. But what you see up there right now are the potential flips to the Democrats. So right now, there are six Senate races where a Democrat is leading in what is a currently Republican-held seat. South Carolina, Alabama, Ohio, Texas, Kansas, Mississippi. And it is still early in the vote counting. But I want you to understand what the colors are here. That orange you see in the top two in South Carolina and Alabama, That's because the margin right now in the vote count is between 5 and 10 percent.

49:32The other four, Ohio, Texas, Kansas, Mississippi, right now in the early vote count, the margin for the Democrat is greater than 10 percentage points in these very red states. So you can see the potential flips there. Now, you were just saying there are 56 House seats where Democrats are leading in a Republican district. And I want you to see what that looks like when we move over and just look at that. Now it's up to 60. So right now we are tracking 60. I'm going to start scrolling, guys. OK, this is everywhere. A Democrat is currently leading in a Republican district. The yellow, the Democrats leading between one and five percent.

50:14The orange race is here. The Democrat is leading between five and 10 percent in in the vote right now. This is no way is this all going to hold. But I just want to see what we're tracking in all of this gray. The Democrat is leading in these Republican districts by greater than 10 percentage points. OK, I'm going to scroll way down to the bottom so I can get to where there are Republicans leading in Democratic districts. and there are four of them. That's it. Four Republicans leading in Democratic-held districts right now. And as I scroll back up, look on the side. Do you see those white stars in purple boxes?

50:51Yeah. Those are what we identified as key races going into the night. Look how many are not identified as key races. Again, they may come off this board. The Republican may catch up. They were not key races because we didn't see them as potential flips. That is the case for a lot of these. But I just want to note that right now, Democrats are leading in these 60 Republican-held districts, way beyond what we saw as the real House battleground. And then just to show you finally, you can look at the governor's races right now that we're tracking, and you can see the same thing here. Look how close.

51:25Green means the margin right now is between zero and one percent. So in Alabama, that Caitlin and that gubernatorial race there, you know, look how close that is. That is razor thin. Doug Jones knows a close margin. I mean, we'll see if Doug Jones can hang on to that. But again, in Alabama, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, Texas, Georgia and Ohio, you've got six states where the Democrat is currently leading in a governor's race that is currently held by a Republican and only one in Maine right now where a Republican is leading in a currently Democratic. But this just looking at this stuff, to me, is what we're what this is a potential blue wave forming.

52:02Yeah. And I have to say, like North Carolina 11. I mean, we looked at all the House seats, if you had to say at the beginning of the night, which House seat is going to be the first Democratic pickup. You wouldn't have picked North Carolina 11. I don't want to get too much in the weeds. But that's just like in the toss up section that wasn't in the leans Democratic or likely Democratic pickups. So that suggests that some of the seats that if there is a wave are going to go win the wave. That suggests that maybe we're watching the beginning of that. Maybe, maybe. It's early. We're going to watch the vote.

52:33But again, look across the board. Senate House governors on this board. And look how many were not identified as key races that currently Democrats are threatening victory in. Look at the Senate side of that. You see Andrews, Annie Andrews versus Darlene Graham. I'm getting texts from Republicans in South Carolina. They are nervous. We don't we don't know. They don't know exactly where the votes are coming in, whether it's giving the Democrat a lead because it's early votes. And Republicans tend sort of culturally across the board, but especially in South Carolina, to vote day of. They're trying to track that right now.

53:09Another Republican reminded me that if it's under one percent, there's an automatic recount. Yeah. And also, of course, you know, Ralph Norman, who was trying to be the Republican candidate in this race, has been so furious about how Darlene Graham was basically hand selected by President Trump, even though she didn't have a lot of experience, obviously, in this. She had that flub on the campaign trail in this. And this is something that the Annie Andrews campaign has been going after those voters in upstate South Carolina, where Ralph Norman made a lot of inroads. Some of his family members have said that they are voting for Andrews in this race.

53:41And really the key criticism and point from the president has been calling her tranny Annie. And obviously that's really been the only thing that they've used to go after her with using that. And also something Tim Scott himself has even echoed. The Annie Andrews campaign is hoping that they can appeal to those moderate, more centrist voters who don't like the war with Iran, who don't like what they're paying in gas prices, and that they can appeal to those voters who voted for Ralph Norman here. And the point that you or John or somebody was making earlier about the fact that it's the Trump picked candidates.

54:12I mean, a lot of Republicans are having trouble, but particularly in South Carolina, a Trump picked candidate. We'll see what happens. Michael Watley and that Trini Annie line clearly didn't take the race off the board. So, I mean, that's the thing. It's like that's the line of attack he went that Trump is using. And in South deep red, South Carolina, the race is still razor. Well, I think he called John Ossoff, Alfred E. Newman. And that didn't work either. The new nickname for him is Senator Ossoff. We're about to get our biggest batch yet of new votes as we're just minutes away from polls closing in a staggering 14 states.

54:44At 9 p.m. Eastern, polls are set to close in these states. Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota. I'm not done yet. Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming. That's a heck of a lot of states that we are keeping a close eye on. And Caitlin and Dana, Democrats keep hoping and not for nothing that the sky high prices from the tariffs and the war and Trump's unpopularity and people having concerns about whether or not he has the right priorities, not to mention some other concerns, are going to feed a blue wave, if not a blue NAMI.

55:27Yeah, and obviously right now, the race they're watching the closest for that, and there would be a huge indicator that things are not going well for Republicans, is that Texas Senate race, where, of course, Jeff Zellany was just talking about what he's been hearing on the ground. The Democrat, James Tallarico, President Trump has focused on him like few Democrats in this election cycle. He has gone after him. He's said things that aren't true about him. But the president isn't loving his candidate that he did handpick. He handpicked him. It's his candidate. He handpicked him, but he doesn't like the way he dresses.

55:55He doesn't like the way he talks, but he says he still wants Republicans to vote for him. That's the same case in Michigan. The president has not said as much about Mike Rogers, but he has gone after Abdul El-Sayed. They have tried to make him the face of Democrats who were running the progressive left in this race by saying that's why you shouldn't vote for Democrats here tonight. But Abdul El-Sayed, of course, is hoping to pull that off. And the president actually mirrored a policy position of his this morning by saying that he was going to cut off aid to Israel, which is something that Abdul El-Sayed's campaign has been pushing.

56:27I'm looking at Iowa. Iowa is a state that has been totally Trump country since he's been on the scene for 10 years. Before it was a little more purple. Took it off the board. Totally took it off the board. Joni Ernst is retiring. The question is whether Ashley Hinson can move from the House to the Senate and keep it in GOP territory. And then Kansas. Again, one of those. What is happening? We're talking about Kansas. 94 years. That's how long it's been since a Democrat represented Kansas in the United States Senate. But Adam Hamilton, who is a pastor, he's got a megachurch with more than 20 ,000 parishioners.

57:06He is running to unseat the incumbent Republican Roger Marshall. And Democrats are bullish. Republicans are worried. Yeah. I mean, Texas and Kansas can be observed. Candidate quality matters. Candidate quality matters. Anderson. Yeah, Jake. President Trump actually had the midterm convention in Texas, of course, has campaigned there multiple times for Paxton. Erin Burnett is at Tallarico headquarters at Austin, Texas. Erin? All right. Yeah, we're here. And we're starting now to hear a little bit of cheers from the assembled crowd here as some of these numbers start to come in and be projected early.

57:45More polls about to close in western Texas. And as we've said, biggest population center, Harris County, Houston, we don't have numbers in yet. But we're getting numbers in around Dallas, including, just a second ago, I'm here with Jeff Zeleny, in Collin County. That's Paxton's home county. Very important. Ed Lavender has been at polls there all day. And the numbers we see there are really notable right now. There's no doubt. This is likely all the early vote coming in. But right now in Collin County, right north of Dallas, Tallarico is up 56 to 43 with about 80 percent of the vote in. So, again, these Dallas suburbs are going to be so crucial here.

58:21But as we wait for the other vote, the central question remains. Rural Texas, talking to a Tallarico advisor, if they can keep their loss numbers down across the state from Abilene to Amarillo, other places, that could help lead to a win. Yep, yep. And we're watching these numbers. Those Collin County numbers, Anderson, very important. Just getting those in now. Also, we want to get to Sarah Seidner at El-Sayed's headquarters in Detroit. Sarah? We are hearing right now from Pete Buttigieg, the former Secretary of Transportation under the Biden administration. There is so many people here screaming and yelling every time they see that a Democrat's numbers look to be surpassing a Republican's numbers across the United States, but especially when it comes to the Senate race here that pits Democrat Abdul El-Sayed against Mike Rogers, the Republican.

59:17What we know here is that a win here for El-Sayed will mean he will be the first Muslim who is a senator here in the United States Senate. It would also shatter sort of this idea that progressives can't win in purple states. This is a true battleground state, as you well know. But there are hundreds of people who have already crammed in to this party. The Michigan Democratic Party is full, full of hope today as they're watching all of these election results come in. Anderson. All right, Sarah Seidner, thanks very much. I'm going to go to David Chalian. Let's look at some voter poll numbers about the opinions of President Trump.

59:55Yeah. Anderson, I'm going to show you Michigan and Texas side by side here. And not usually in American politics are Michigan and Texas looking similar. But look at how they look similar tonight. On Donald Trump approval, 38 percent approve in Michigan, 42 percent approval in Texas. Then take a look at the effect of Trump's policies on the economy and you'll see a similar thing. In Michigan, look at this number here. 65 % of Michigan voters say Trump's policies worsened conditions on the economy. 62 % say so in Texas. Trump administration immigration actions gone too far. Okay, 57%, a majority say that in Michigan.

1:00:3654%, a majority say that in Texas. And finally, when people made up their mind, and I know there was a lot of news out of Michigan in this final stretch of the campaign, but look here, only 10 % in both states made up their mind in the last week. 90 % of voters in both states made up their mind before that. Anderson, Michigan and Texas don't usually behave similarly politically. They are doing so tonight. This is all voters. This is all the voters in this, I mean, the voter poll. Yes, Republicans, Democrats, you got it. Fascinating. Let's go back to Jake. Or not. Let's go over here to the podesco.

1:01:14Let's go to David Axelrod and Katie. So, look, Anderson, At this point in the night, obviously, we're still being conservative with our decision desk. But all of the both Republicans and Democrats I'm talking to are looking across the map and they are saying the same thing, that this night is shaping up to be a blue tsunami. Just to use kind of the word that we have been wondering about the Senate races right now. Tallarico's numbers are he is outperforming where they need to be. the Gina Hinojosa campaign, the gubernatorial race there, they think they're outperforming their numbers right now.

1:01:50That's going to be much closer. Then you've got Ohio and Kansas. Republicans are saying they think those are likely. They're telling me those are likely going to be gone, too. I mean, this is at a level that honestly was the greatest fear for Republicans. And it was something that Democrats didn't dare to hope for. Well, this is a repudiation that is absolutely broad. And the through line is Donald Trump. And the through line is Trump's policies. He is on the ballot, whether you're a Republican or a Democrat. He begged to be on the ballot. And he is on the ballot. And the verdict is very, very negative.

1:02:23And it's very broad across this big, diverse country. And it took us years to get there, too. Jake, back to you. All right. Thanks so much. I'm here at the Magic Wall with John King. And again, I told you at the beginning of the night, Democrats needed to flip three House seats currently held by Republicans. That number is now two because we called that seat in North Carolina's 11th congressional district. And right now, Democrats are leading in 60. That's six zero Republican districts, 60. They only need to pick up two more. They're leading in 60. Republicans are leading in three Democratic districts.

1:02:59Yeah, you were joking earlier. You weren't very good at math, but you don't have to be good at math to get that. Right. You don't have to be. I know that you are good. You are good. I know that you are good. You are good at math. I know you were just joking, but I mean, you don't like like that's kindergarten stuff. Sixty and three. Sixty is a lot bigger. And so where is it? It's everywhere. It's everywhere. I'm just going to pick a state. I'm going to go to Ohio. Right. You know, there's one. The Republicans are leading here in only 30 percent of the vote. And this is a district Republicans are trying to flip for some time trying to be fair.

1:03:28They are leading in this one, which would be a potential flip. But then you come down here. This is a Republican-held district. 36 percent of the vote in. The Democrat is leading. You move over here. This is another Republican-held district. The Democrat with 44 percent is leading. It's just leading. It's just leading. But I was just in Ohio, and I can tell you Republicans out there are apoplectic. And that's a polite word about Vivek Ramaswamy and the ad he ran late in the campaign about the childhood trauma of Amy Active because they said the floor just fell out in the state of Ohio when that ad went up.

1:04:02And so they're trailing in the governor's race. They're trailing in the Senate race. But back to your point about the House. Just come over here. If you see white around the candidate, that's a flip, right? So you have right now the former governor of Maine is leading in the second congressional district in Maine. That would be good news for the Republicans to pick up a seat that the conservative Democrat Jared Golden has held. He decided not to run for reelection. This margin will also factor into the Senate race. But look how close it is. Look how close it is. It's a pretty Trumpy district, the second district of Maine.

1:04:30LePage, at the moment, there's just a trickle of results in Maine. They're very, very early coming in in Maine. But look at this. That would be a Democratic flip if it holds up. That would be a Democratic flip. See all the blue with the white around it? All of those blue with the white around it are Democrats who would be flipping seats, including, remember we were talking about that one earlier. Zach Dembo. Zach Dembo. It's in the middle of Kentucky, around the Lexington area. A district Donald Trump won by 15 or 16 points just two years ago. So and that's it's again. And the vote counts are moving up.

1:04:58We haven't called these races. One of the you've mentioned earlier, our decision desk is conservative for a point. So especially in a place that Trump won by 15, 16, 17, 18 points, you're going to be conservative and get as close to the finish line as you can. But your eyes don't lie is the point I'm trying to make at home. We can't project this yet. We just can't. Blue wave, blue NAMI, epic reckoning. Call it what you will. Your eyes don't lie. We're not there yet. But but. But that's just a whole lot of blue, including in places. Just one quick one before Abigail's telling me I need to wrap here.

1:05:28This is one of the ones I'm looking at. Bob Harvey and Brian Fitzpatrick. It's only 26 % of the vote. All right. If Fitzpatrick goes down, wham. We're closing in on the second busiest hour of the night. Polls are closing in 14 states with a slew of high-profile races. And we can now make some projections in Colorado.

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