As with many elections, not all results are immediately apparent or available. This year’s tumultuous midterms are no different. With Democrats securing a victory in the House, all eyes turn to the Senate and Gubernatorial undeclared races.
The Republicans have held their majority in the upper chamber, setting President Trump on a glide-path for judicial nominees, but the size of the boost is not yet final.
Senate
Mississippi: With a jungle primary system in place, a winner is only decided on 50% of the total vote. Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy both failed to achieve the requisite half on election night due to GOP candidate Chris McDaniel scoring 16.4%. This leaves the red incumbent on 41.5% and the blue challenger with 40.6%.
November 27th is the scheduled date for the runoff where just the top two contenders will face off for the coveted seat. If McDaniel voters pull for Hyde-Smith as a fellow Republican, this should be a relatively easy pickup.
Arizona: In one of the closets races of the night, the seat formerly occupied by Republican Jeff Flake saw GOP Rep. Martha McSally tackle Dem contender Kyrsten Sinema, with McSally leading 49.4% over 48.4%. Under Arizona law, if the difference in votes cast for both contenders isn’t greater than one-tenth of a percent (0.1%), it goes to a recount. This could take several days.
Gubernatorial
Georgia: Democrat Stacey Abrams is presently trailing Republican Brian Kemp in one of the most highly-publicized Governor contests this cycle. Kemp has 50.3% with 100% of the votes counted, but Abrams is not yet willing to concede defeat. Despite being over 90,000 votes down, the Democrat hopeful has stated that until absentee ballots are all accounted for and tallied, she will not accept the result.
This is a smart tactic from Abrams, as she only needs to bring Kemp below 50% to trigger a runoff election that would take place on December 4th.
- Liberty Nation will keep you updated on how these final races resolve.
