2022 midterm election: High-stakes votes still being tallied; control of Congress unclear

WASHINGTON (AP) As Election Night bleeds into the next morning, control of Congress remains unclear. Its not a presidential year, but these are high-stakes elections nonetheless. While there were some races the AP could call as soon as polls close, other winners are taking a lot longer to identify. APs VoteCast surveys indicate high inflation and worries about the future of American democracy were significant factors in voters decisions.

Follow along for real-time, on-the-ground updates on the 2022 U.S. midterm elections from The Associated Press. Live updates all times Eastern are produced by Ashraf Khalil, Annie Ma, Aamer Madhani, Chris Megerian, Mallika Sen and AP journalists around the country.___READ MORE

Election Day, Election Night, Election Morning After: Control of Congress still hangs in the balance as Democratsshowed unexpected resiliencein the midterm elections. With votes still being counted across the country, Republicans still had the opportunity to win control, but the results were nonetheless uplifting for Democrats who were braced for sweeping losses, AP national political reporters Sara Burnett, Jill Colvin and Will Weissert report.___SNAPSHOT

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Everswon a second term in office,positioning himself as a check on Republican power in the state. Evers often touted the fact that he vetoed more than 120 GOP-backed bills that would have broadened gun rights, limited access to abortion and made it harder to cast absentee ballots.___2:15 a.m.

Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy addressed supporters for the first time early Wednesday morning, staking his partys claim of the House majority despite several dozens of seats still undecided.

Now let me tell you, youre out late, but when you wake up tomorrow, we will be in the majority and Nancy Pelosi will be in the minority, the California lawmaker, who could be poised to become Speaker should Republicans take the House, said at a election event in Washington.

The speech, which had originally been planned for hours earlier, noted several GOP gains across the country, especially in highly contested races in Virginia and Texas. McCarthys comments came as key Democratic wins in the House began to cast doubts on the possibility of a red wave this midterm election.

Supporters of Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, waves signs during an election night party in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)AP THEY SAID IT

This campaign has always been about fighting for everyone whos ever been knocked down that ever got back up.

John Fetterman, Pennsylvanias newest senator-elect

The AP called the race for Fetterman, a Democrat who was in a tight contest with television personality Mehmet Oz, early Wednesday morning. In a victory speech before the race call, Fetterman nodded to his stroke earlier this year: Health care is a fundamental right and it saved my life.

Fettermans victory flips the Senate seat for Democrats as he replaces retiring Republican Pat Toomey.

Read more: Its why you brew coffee, John King grumbled after yet another spin through rural Georgia counties on CNNs magic wall trying to decipher that Senate race.

It was an election night that even TV news couldnt impose a storyline upon, AP media writer David Bauder reports. Tight races across the country confirmed the nations divide and kept reporters across formats wary of drawing conclusions about the political future.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks at the Michigan Democratic election night party held at the Sound Board Theater inside MotorCity Casino in Detroit on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022.Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com

Snapshot: Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has won a second four-year term, defeating Republican challenger Tudor Dixon in a campaign that focused on their opposing views on abortion.

___READ MORE

While Mayor Muriel Bowser easily coasted to a third term, one of the more interesting items on the Washington, D.C., ballot this year was a proposal to completely revamp the way servers and bartenders in Washingtons many restaurants are paid, APs Ashraf Khalil reports.

Initiative 82, which passed easily with almost 75% of the vote, will eliminate the so-called tipped wages system in which restaurant owners pay certain staff members well below the $16.10 minimum hourly wage.

The referendum is particularly notable since literally the same idea was approved by voters four years ago, only to be immediately overturned by the D.C. Council and Bowser amid murky circumstances.

Currently, restaurant managers pay some staffers salaries as low as $5.35 per hour. If the employees tips for the night dont raise that income up to the minimum, the employers make up the difference. That two-tiered system will now be phased out and employers will be required to pay every staffer at least the $16.10 minimum by 2027.

The dynamic was more complex than merely labor vs. management and the debate divided the staffs of restaurants and bars. Many waiters and bartenders opposed it since they currently earn well above the minimum on tips and feared those tips would shrink if an owners imposed an extra service charge in response to their increased costs.

The D.C. Council members seem unlikely to overturn the measure again. They drew accusations of backroom influence from the restaurant industry the first time around. And the idea has apparently become much more popular in the past four years, gaining 20 percentage points over its 2018 margin of victory.

___THEY SAID IT

I have felt a weight on my shoulders to make sure that every little girl and all the women of the state whove had to bang up against glass ceilings everywhere they turn, to know that a woman could be elected in her own right and successfully govern a state as rough and tumble as New York.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, New Yorks first elected female governor, standing under a literal glass ceiling

___THEY SAID IT

Even though our fight for the governors mansion may have come up short, Im pretty tall.

Stacey Abrams, conceding the Georgia governors race to incumbent Brian Kemp

After the Democrat lost her gubernatorial campaign in 2018, she refashioned herself as an advocate for voting rights and garnered the admiration of Democrats nationwide.

But it wasnt enough to help her win a rematch with Kemp, a Republican, which the AP called early Wednesday. Abrams had delivered her concession speech before the call.

It was a difficult blow to Abrams, who had been viewed as a potential force within the party at a time when Georgia has been increasingly contested as a battleground state.

And it showed Kemps ability to salvage a political career that was in danger after he angered former President Donald Trump by refusing to go along with his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

___STATUS UPDATE

Democrat Josh Shapiro has been elected as governor of Pennsylvania, defeating hard-right Republican candidate Doug Mastriano after a highly anticipated battle in a key battleground state.

Shapiro, a two-term state attorney general, will replace the term-limited Democrat Tom Wolf.

Mastriano, a member of the state Senate, courted controversy as a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trumps discredited claims that he was cheated out of victory in the 2020 elections.

A perennial swing state, Pennsylvanias races have drawn national attention. In addition to the governors race, Wolfs former lieutenant governor John Fetterman is facing off against television celebrity Mehmet Oz in an still-uncalled race that could determine control of the U.S. Senate.

___STATUS UPDATE

Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois, who faced a barrage of negative advertising in the final days of the campaign but also received some last minute support from President Joe Biden, has hung on to his seat.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with the GOP House leadership, last week announced a $1.8 million ad buy against Casten, who represents a district that Biden won easily in 2020. House Minority Leader Kevin McCrthy also made a stop on Friday in the district to hold a fundraiser for Castens Republican opponent, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau.

Biden made his own fundraising stop for Casten and fellow suburban Chicago Democrat Rep. Lauren Underwood on Friday.

___DID YOU KNOW?

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, 89, who would turn 95 four months before his next term expires, will be among the oldest sitting senators in the chambers history, reports APs Thomas Beaumont. Republican Strom Thurmond of South Carolina retired at age 100 in 2003.

Grassley will be the Senates oldest Republican and second oldest member behind California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is three months older than the Iowa lawmaker.

His Democratic opponent Michael Franken did not make Grassleys age a specific issue in the campaign, though his ads featured photographs of Grassley, who first won elected in office in Iowa in 1958, going back to the early days of his career.

___STATUS UPDATE

Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire won a second term in office in a race that Republican strategists had targeted as ripe for flipping, APs Holly Ramer reports from Concord.

New Hampshire has a mixed political history, with both Republicans and Democrats capturing the governors office in recent years. Currently, Democrats control both Senate seats and all four seats in the House of Representatives, and New Hampshire has gone Democratic in the last five presidential elections. But the state legislature and the governors office are in Republican hands.

Hassan defeated Donald Bolduc, a retired Army general who has espoused conspiracy theories about vaccines and embraced the discredited belief that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election.

___PARTY POLITICS

The menus of campaign parties can tell a story on their own. Heres a brief roundup of refreshments and nourishments on offer:

In Utah, supporters of U.S. Sen. Mike Lee are drinking non-alcoholic ginger beers under fluorescent lights, APs Sam Metz reports from Salt Lake City. Lee served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which teaches abstinence from alcohol.

At U.S. Sen. John Kennedys election watch party, his featured cocktail was named the Old Fashioned Weed Killer, an ode to his catchphrase Ill never stop fighting Id rather drink weed killer, APs Sara Cline reports from Baton Rouge. Kennedy has also said he would rather drink the chemical than be a political insider or support the federal health care overhaul. The cocktail was a standard Old Fashioned, with no special ingredient.

John Fettermans campaign party in Pittsburgh had crudits on offer to guests, APs Ted Shaffrey reports. Thats an apparent reference to a much-mocked effort by his rival for Pennsylvanias Senate seat, Mehmet Oz, to spotlight inflation by shopping for raw vegetables cut up and served as an hors doeuvre.

___VOTECAST

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump might not be on this years midterm ballots, but they loom large over the 2022 election for congressional, state and local races.

About 7 in 10 Republican voters said they were voting to defy Biden, according to AP VoteCast, while two-thirds of Democrats said their votes were meant to show opposition to Trump.

Biden faces criticism about his leadership, even among Democrats. Nearly a third of voters who backed Democratic congressional candidates said that Biden is not a strong leader. One in five Democrats says he lacks the mental capability to serve effectively as president.

___THEY SAID IT

For those who have felt unseen, this victory is for you. For those who have felt marginalized, this victory is for you. For those who have felt left out, left behind, and undervalued, this victory is for you.

Andrea Campbell, Massachusetts attorney general-elect

Voters in Massachusetts for the first time have elected a Black woman to serve as attorney general, and she has a compelling backstory.

When she was just a child, Campbells father was sent to prison for eight years. Her mother died in a car accident on the way to visit him, forcing Campbell and her brothers to live with relatives and in foster care. Much later, her twin brother died in police custody, and her older brother faced charges in a string of alleged rapes.

___STATUS UPDATE

In a hotly contested race, Democratic Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger defeated Republican challenger Yesli Vega. Spanberger held onto the seat, which she flipped in 2018 as part of a wave of Democrats that retook the House.

The race was one of the most expensive in the country, with over $20 million in independent expenditures, APs Sarah Rankin reported.

Democrats were able to hold Rep. Jennifer Wextons seat in the northern Virginia, but they lost a seat in another Virginia swing district after Elaine Luria conceded the race to Republican Jen Kiggans.

___STATUS UPDATE

Republican J.D. Vance has beaten Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan in the campaign for an Ohio Senate seat, APs Julie Carr Smyth reports from columbus.

The seat is currently held by Rob Portman, a Republican who is retiring.

___STATUS UPDATE

Republican Greg Abbott secured a third term as Texas governor Tuesday night, defeating Democratic challenger Beto ORourke after a tight campaign in which the two candidates focused on starkly different issues.

ORourke, who rose to prominence in 2018 in a failed effort to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz, centered his campaign on abortion rights and gun control. He attacked Abbott for opposing stricter gun laws after 19 schoolchildren were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, and for signing a law that outlawed all abortions, including for rape victims.

Nevertheless, ORourke always faced an uphill battle in a state where no Democrat has won statewide office in nearly 30 years.

___11 p.m.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump are having a rare moment of agreement on Election Day: Theyre urging voters to stay in line.

Biden took to Twitter late in the evening to urge voters who are facing long lines to wait it out to cast their ballots. If youre in line to vote, remember to stay in line! Biden tweeted.

The Democrats tweet came hours after Trump took his social media startup Truth Social to urge The Great People of Arizona to not leave the line until you VOTE.

___DID YOU KNOW?

The 2022 elections are on track to cost $16.7 billion at the state and federal level, making them the most expensive midterms ever, according to the nonpartisan OpenSecrets.

For perspective: The contests will nearly double the cost of the 2010 midterm elections, more than double the 2014 midterms and are on pace to roughly equal the 2022 gross domestic product of Mongolia, APs Brian Slodysko reports.

___THEY SAID IT

I know Vermonters believe that politics can be different. Thats why we won.

Becca Balint, the Democrat who was elected as Vermonts first female and openly gay member of Congress.

___DID YOU KNOW?

A quick historical reminder: More often than not, the presidents party typically faces significant losses in midterm elections.

Since 1934, only Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934, Bill Clinton in 1998, and George W. Bush in 2002 saw their parties gain seats in the midterms.

Some recent presidents saw big losses in their first midterm races. Republicans under Donald Trump lost 40 House seats but gained two Senate seats in 2018; Democrats under Barack Obama lost 63 House seats and six Senate seats in 2010, and Democrats under Clinton lost 52 House seats and eight Senate seats in 1994.

___THEY SAID IT

I like it, I love it, I want some more of it.

In South Carolina, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster let country music star Tim McGraw do the talking, chanting along with the election party while referring to that famous philosophers 1995 chart-topping hit, APs James Pollard reports.

McMaster earlier turned to another country singer as his muse: Lets give em something to talk about, said McMaster, the third oldest governor in the United States, quoting Bonnie Raitts Grammy-winning 1991 single.10 p.m.

President Joe Biden has made several cogratulatory calls to fellow Democrats on Tuesday evening, according to the White House.

The White House said Biden has already reached out to Massachusetts Governor-elect Maura Healey, Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee, Vermont Senator-elect Peter Welch, Delaware Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

The Associated Press has not declared Spanberger, a two-term incumbent, the winner in Virginias 7th district race.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and his wife, Maria, acknowledge supporters after he was declared the winner in his bid for reelection on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Franklin, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)AP

Snapshot: Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lees victory party briefly turned emotional as his wife, Maria, joined him on stage in a headscarf to give an update on her battle with cancer, APs Kimberlee Kruesi reports from Nashville.

The two held back tears as they thanked their supporters and God for giving them the strength to make it through the campaign.

___STATUS UPDATE

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the freshman Republican who gained notoriety in her first term for incendiary rhetoric that edged into racism, antisemitism and conspiracy theories, has been reelected, APs Russ Bynum reports from Savannah.

Just weeks after taking office last year, members of the Democratic-controlled House voted to strip Greene of her committee assignments following uproar over her past comments and apparent support of violence against Democrats.

Democrats were particularly livid about a Facebook ad on Greenes campaign page. The image featured a photo of Greene holding a gun along images of Democratic U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. The ad included the caption: Squads worst nightmare.

Greene was expected to easily win reelection and has made clear that should Republicans win control of House she expects to hold a prominent role in the caucus.

Im going to be a strong legislator and Ill be a very involved member of Congress, she predicted. I know how to work inside, and I know how to work outside. And Im looking forward to doing that.

___THEY SAID IT

Two more years!

That was the cheer of some supporters at Gov. Ron DeSantis victory party on Tuesday night.

It was a nod toward the possibility that the Republican seeks the presidency in 2024.

___STATUS UPDATE

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine won reelection to a second term in office, defeating Democratic challenge Nan Whaley.

DeWine and Whaley briefly found common ground in pledging to work together on a bipartisan effort for gun reform in 2019, after a gunman killed nine people in Dayton, where Whaley was the mayor.

But Whaley has said that DeWine did not make good on his promise, criticizing his signing of a bill to arm school employees and saying he failed to pass stronger gun laws, APs Andrew Welsh-Huggins reports.

___DID YOU KNOW?

If South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster serves his full second term, which he won Tuesday night, he will be the longest-serving executive in state history with a 10-year tenure, APs Jeffrey Collins reports from Columbia. McMaster finished the final two years of Nikki Haleys term before being reelected twice.

He defeated Joe Cunningham, a former Democratic congressman. Democrats have steadily lost ground in the state, having race in 16 years. A Democrat has not won the governors race since 1998.

___DID YOU KNOW?

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a former White House press secretary, is the first woman elected Arkansas governor, APs Andrew DeMillo reports. She defeated Democratic nominee Chris Jones to nab the seat that her father, Mike Huckabee, held from 1996 to 2007.

___STATUS UPDATE

Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida easily won another term on Tuesday, beating Democratic U.S. Rep. Val Demings, APs Brendan Farrington reports.

Rubios victory appeared to be further evidence of hardening conservative politics in Florida, once the quintessential swing state. Demings was unable to unseat Rubio despite raising more money and drawing national attention with her role in then-President Donald Trumps first impeachment trial.

___STATUS UPDATE

Four years ago, Ron DeSantis narrowly won the Florida governors office in a squeaker. But hes consolidated his grip on the state since then, and on Tuesday the Republican easily won a second term, APs Anthony Izaguirre reports.

The Associated Press called the race shortly after polls closed. The victory could embolden DeSantis to seek the White House in the next election as many have expected.

___DID YOU KNOW?

Two gubernatorial firsts tonight: In Maryland, Democrat Wes Moore becomes the states first Black governor. And in Massachusetts, Democrat Maura Healeys win makes her the states first elected woman and openly gay governor.

Moore is a bestselling author in his first run for public office, APs Brian Witte reports.

Healey is currently Massachusetts attorney general and has broken a peculiar jinx in the state. Since 1958, six former Massachusetts attorneys general sought the governors office and all failed, APs Steve LeBlanc reports.

___STATUS UPDATE

There will be at least two new faces in the Senate Republican caucus.

Rep. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma has won a special election to serve the final four years of longtime Republican Sen. Jim Inhofes fifth-term in the Senate. Inhofe announced in February that he would resign before completing the six-year term. Katie Britt, a former chief of staff for the retiring Sen. Richard Shelby, has won her bid to succeed her old boss. Shelby, who is retiring, first took office in 1987.

___SNAPSHOT

While Kathy Hochul waits to see if shell become the first woman to win election as New Yorks governor, invitees to her campaign party are assembling under a quite literal glass ceiling.

AP photographer Mary Altaffer is at Capitale, an event space in Manhattans Chinatown playing host to Hochuls Election Night party. This isnt the first time Hochul, who became New Yorks governor when her predecessor Andrew Cuomo resigned last year amid scandal, has stood under a glass ceiling.

Hochul held her Democratic primary victory party at a similar space earlier this year, APs Michelle L. Price reported at the time.

Im also here because I stand on the shoulders of generations of women, generations of women who constantly had to bang up against that glass ceiling, Hochul said in June. To the women of New York, this ones for you.

Hochul faces Republican congressman Lee Zeldin in the general election.

___STATUS UPDATE

Democrat Maxwell Alejandro Frost has become the first Gen Z member to win a seat in Congress, winning a Florida House seat.

Frost, a 25-year-old gun reform and social justice activist, ran in a heavily blue Orlando-area district being relinquished by Democratic Rep. Val Demings, who challenged Republican Sen. Marco Rubio this year.

Frost is a former March For Our Lives organizer seeking stricter gun control laws and has stressed opposition to restrictions on abortion rights. Generation Z generally refers to those born between the late 1990s to early 2010s. To become a member of Congress, candidates must be at least 25 years old.

He ran against Calvin Wimbish, a 72-year-old former Army Green Beret who called himself a Christian, conservative, constitutionalist candidate for office.

___STATUS UPDATE

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Rand Paul has defeated challenger Charles Booker, a progressive Black Democrat, to secure a third term from Kentucky.

Booker, a former member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, previously sought to challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2020, but lost a close race in the Democratic primary.

Paul, 59, capitalized on his massive fundraising advantage to run a series of TV ads, while Booker, 38, relied mostly on social media and grassroots campaigning. Paul paid little public attention to Booker, refusing to debate his challenger.

Democrats havent won a Senate election in Kentucky since 1992, when then-incumbent Wendell Ford won hi last election.

___READ MORE

A lot of people have warned that democracy is on the ballot this year, and nowhere is that more true than in campaigns for secretary of state, APs Meg Kinnard and Nick Riccardi explain.

In most states, the role functions as the chief election officer, overseeing the machinery of collecting and counting ballots.

Although theyre sometimes appointed by governors, other times theyre chosen by voters. There are 27 secretary of state contests right now.

Some of the candidates have supported former President Donald Trumps baseless claims about voter fraud, leading to concerns that they could meddle in future election outcomes.

___STATUS UPDATE

Right as polls closed in South Carolina and Vermont, AP made its first calls in U.S. Senate races. Republican Tim Scott won reelection in South Carolina, while Democrat Peter Welch was elected from Vermont.

In defeating Trump-endorsed Republican Gerald Malloy, Welch who has served in the House of Representatives for 16 years becomes the junior senator from Vermont while independent Bernie Sanders becomes the states senior senator. Longtime U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy is retiring after serving 48 years, APs Wilson Ring reports.

___6:30 p.m.

The last day of midterms voting has started to slowly wind down.

Polls closed in Kentucky and Indiana at 6 p.m. Eastern. The next wave of closures will be in New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Polls close or begin to close in those states at 7 p.m. Eastern.

___READ MORE

Voters in five states are weighing whether to approve the use of recreational marijuana, a move that could signal a major shift toward legalization in even some of the most conservative parts of the country.

The proposals are on the ballot in Republican strongholds Arkansas, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota as well as Democratic-leaning Maryland, reports APs Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock. The ballot measures come on the heels of President Joe Biden announcing last month he was pardoning thousands of Americans convicted of simple possession of marijuana under federal law.

Advocates of the marijuana initiatives are hopeful Bidens announcement may give a boost to their efforts.

___THEY SAID IT

This is a different breed of cat.

President Joe Biden

Over and over on the campaign trail, Biden has described todays Republican Party as much different than the one hes used to working with over several decades in politics.

Todays Republicans, he argues, are MAGA Republicans, a reference to Donald Trumps Make America Great Again slogan. Sometimes Biden calls them ultra MAGA or mega MAGA, and he describes their ideas as mega-MAGA, trickle-down politics in the extreme.

Biden made the point again on Tuesday in a radio interview with comedian DL Hughley as he made a final push for Democrats over the airwaves.

Asked why listeners should brave the rain or wait in long lines, Biden warned that MAGA Republicans would gain ground.

Youve seen what you got from that community, he said. It matters.

___VOTECAST

High inflation and worries about the future of American democracy were significant factors in voters decisions in this years midterm election, according to AP VoteCast. Roughly three-quarters say the country is headed in the wrong direction. That figure is higher than it was in VoteCast surveys of voters in 2018 and 2020.

APs Josh Boak and Hannah Fingerhut report on this years survey of more than 90,000 voters, which offers a detailed portrait of the American electorate.

___THEY SAID IT

And so far Election Day in Georgia has been, in fact, wonderfully, stupendously boring.

Gabriel Stirling, an official with the Georgia secretary of states office, on Twitter

___5:10 p.m.

With the first polls set to close in under an hour, APs Mike Catalini explains why the AP will be able to call some elections immediately.

___SNAPSHOT

If you were awake before the sun on election night, you might have spotted a rare sight in the sky a blood moon. It gets its portentous name because the lunar surface appears reddish-orange during the eclipse.

___READ MORE

More than 130 measures are on state ballots this Tuesday. In rather meta fashion, voters in several states will weigh in on questions about how future elections will function, APs David A. Lieb reports. Other measures deal with abortion rights, marijuana legalization and taxation.

___READ MORE

Social media platforms can be full of useful information and misinformation, hearsay and rumors alike. APs David Klepper has a guide on how to interpret your social media feeds this Election Day.

Far-right message boards and social media platforms lit up Tuesday with misleading claims equating expected delays in counting the vote to election fraud.

SITE Intelligence Group, a firm that tracks disinformation, reported a sharp uptick in social media posts Monday and Tuesday claiming Democrats would use delays in vote tallying to rig elections through the country. Some of the posts originated on websites popular with supporters of ex-President Donald Trump as well as adherents of the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory.

Trump and many influential figures on the far right used the length of time it took to count votes in 2020 to spin baseless conspiracy theories about a rigged election. Those misleading claims have been blamed for decreasing trust in U.S. elections and have been recycled as a main misinformation narrative in 2022.

___1:30 p.m.

Whatever the outcome of todays voting, the White House will stay bathed in bright light until 2 a.m. largely to accommodate TV correspondents filing on-camera reports and other reporters trying to make their deadlines.

The floodlights are usually turned off around 10 p.m. every night, in part because they bleed into the executive residence where the president and first lady live.

U.S. Secret Service officers usually make a pass through the press briefing room each night, checking news organization offices to make sure all reporters have left the building so they can lock the doors to the workspace. But the rules are usually relaxed on major news nights, like midterm and presidential elections, and presidential inaugurations.

___THEY SAID IT

I think were going to have a very big night and its going to be very exciting to watch.

former President Donald Trump

Trump predicted Republicans would have a great night as he voted in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday morning. He told reporters outside the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center that he had voted to reelect Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, even as the two could soon become rivals if as many expect they both run for president in 2024.

Trump is planning an announcement in Florida next Tuesday, as APs Jill Colvin reports. Trump said Nov. 15 would be a very exciting day for a lot of people.

___SNAPSHOT

From Lewiston, Maine, to rainy Pacoima, California, AP photographers were there to capture the scene at voting locations across the U.S. Emotions were raw outside libraries, fitness centers, laundromats and fire stations as voters said inflation, abortion, crime and the future of democracy weighed heavily on their minds.

___11:20 a.m.

President Joe Biden was not expected to make any public appearances Tuesday as voters went to the polls.

Indeed, well before the lunch hour rolled in, the White House called a lid. Its the lingo that means the president would spend the day in the executive mansion awaiting the results of vote counting that will decide political control of Congress and, with that, how the two years left in his term will play out.

Bidens chief spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters that Biden would have a full schedule Tuesday, including prepping for an upcoming trip to international summits in North Africa and Asia and watching the election results come in.

We expect the president will address the elections the day afterwards, Jean-Pierre said.

___THEY SAID IT

Everything we have achieved over the last 60 years is now up for a vote.

Courtland Cox, a veteran civil right movement organizer, in a note he penned overnight shared with the AP by the NAACP

Cox urged voters in Georgia and elsewhere on Tuesday to vote to protect civil rights that he and others warned are at stake in the midterm elections. Cox, 82, who famously wrote the speech that the late Rep. John Lewis delivered at the March on Washington in 1963, likened Tuesday to a battle for our freedom.

If youre a woman, your right to choose is on the ballot, Cox said. If youre African American, your right to vote is on the ballot. If youre poor, your right to feed yourself is on the ballot. If youre LGBTQ+, your right to love who you love is on the ballot. If youre a senior citizen, your social security is on the ballot. And if youre a young voter, your future is on the ballot.

___READ MORE

If youre the type to have your TV tuned to the news throughout Election Day, the jargon might get overwhelming. The APs Meg Kinnard offers a glossary of key election-related terms you might hear on your broadcast or read in AP copy. And if youre curious about how the networks and cable news prepared for Tuesday, media reporter David Bauder has a look at their coverage plans.

___DID YOU KNOW?

How did the AP get the job of calling races? No one wanted to wait for weeks to find out who won elections, APs Meg Kinnard explains, but no centralized body to count votes existed. The AP began tallying votes with the 1848 election, creating an operation that has evolved into a network of thousands of stringers and vote center clerks who take feeds, scrape official state websites for data and electronically add up votes across the country.

Race calls are made before the results are official, but the AP declares a winner only when its certain that candidate cant be caught. In 2020, the AP was 99.9% accurate in all its race calls and perfect in declaring winners in the presidential and congressional races in each state.

___READ MORE

Millions of people have already submitted their ballots, and millions more are heading to the polls Tuesday. For a deeper dive on whats at play in these midterm elections, congressional reporter Mary Clare Jalonick has the details on what happens if the House flips, among other scenarios.

___6:15 a.m.

Polls are beginning to open for in-person voting by 1 p.m. Eastern, voting locations will be open in all 50 states (Hawaii is five hours behind the East Coast). As fears of harassment of election officials and disruptions at polling places and tallying sites arise, election officials say they are prepared to handle potential issues. Voters should not be deterred, APs Christina A. Cassidy and Geoff Mulvihill report, and no major problems were reported during the early voting period.

___READ MORE

What are Americans voting on? Whats at stake? If you need a general primer on the 2022 midterm elections, APs Mike Catalini has you covered with a basic overview of whats on the ballot, how counting works, how long this thing might take and what the possible outcomes might mean.

___12:01 a.m.

Election Day has dawned. With polls set to begin opening in a few hours across the country, you can find a guide of what to expect for each state at our Election Expectations 2022 hub.

Its not a presidential year, but these are high-stakes elections nonetheless. APs chief political writer, Steve Peoples, highlights six key things to watch today. Among them: Will the expected red wave be a ripple or a tsunami? What effect will the Supreme Court decision striking down Roe v. Wade have? And what will we know before we go to bed tonight?

The answer to that last question is yet unclear. While there are some races the AP can call as soon as polls close, as Mike Catalini explains, other winners might take a lot longer to identify. Christina A. Cassidy takes a look at the factors that can delay results.