Key events
Lauren Gambino
Typically, a party’s soul searching begins after the polls close and the results are in. But not this year.
Democrats, anticipating heavy losses after a seesaw election season, were already pointing fingers.
It began weeks ago. In an op-ed for the Guardian, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, the party’s progressive standard-bearer, blamed Democrats for failing to deliver a strong economic message that addresses the pocketbook concerns of most Americans.
“In my view,” he wrote, “it would be political malpractice for Democrats to ignore the state of the economy and allow Republican lies and distortions to go unanswered.”
Meanwhile, many top Democrats say their party mishandled the issue of crime and public safety.
Stanley Greenberg, a veteran Democratic pollster, argued in the American Prospect that the party had badly mishandled the issue of crime and public safety, writing that the 2022 midterms would be remembered “as a toxic campaign, but an effective one in labeling Democrats as ‘pro-crime.’”
But others say Democrats’ challengers are much deeper. A policy memo released on the eve of the election, the centrist Democratic think-tank Third Way concluded that the party’s brand had become toxic to swing voters. “Despite a roster of GOP candidates who are extreme by any standard, voters see Democrats as just as extreme, as well as far less concerned about the issues that most worry them,” it stated.
Progressives whole-heartedly disagree. A pre-election memo from the Working Families Party national director, Maurice Mitchell, credits progressives for pushing Biden to deliver on key parts of his economic agenda.
“Democrats’ passing big and popular legislation and Republican extremism have kept many races much closer than the normal midterm patterns would dictate,” Mitchell wrote. But he warned: “If Democrats face significant losses, those failures of governance and the Democrats who blocked a pro-working-class agenda will bear much of the blame.”
It’s just after 12pm here in New York, which means that voting has started and is well underway in most places across the country. Here’s a look at what’s happening at polling locations across the US.
Chris McGreal
In Columbus, Ohio, Jeffrey Weisman voted for the bestselling author and Republican candidate for the US Senate, JD Vance. But not with great enthusiasm.
“I vote Republican pretty much all the way and that is my main reason why,” he said.
Vance has a slim lead over his Democratic rival, Tim Ryan, in a state that has come to give large majorities to Republican candidates. The tight race in part reflects the strength of Ryan’s campaign for a seat that may decide whether Democrats retain control of the Senate. But it’s also a reflection of voter doubts about Vance’s sincerity after he dramatically shifted from slagging off Trump as a “fraud” and a “moral disaster” to becoming a fervent supporter in order to win his endorsement in the Republican primaries.
Weisman, who owns a retail jewellery store, said it didn’t matter that Vance was endorsed by former president Donald Trump.
“I like the Republicans’ stuff when it comes more to the economy. I’m a business owner and I feel that things are not going in the right direction with the Democrats in charge. I’m hoping that maybe the Republicans in charge will get things going a little better economy wise,” he said.
Weisman twice voted for Trump in the presidential elections. But with the former president apparently on the brink of announcing another run for the White House, Weisman would prefer he stayed out.
“It’s a tough one. I like his politics. His mouth scares a lot of people. So I personally do not think he can win because of the mouth, the controversialness of him. And so I think that would be a tough road for him,” he said.
In Columbus, Ohio, jewellery store owner Jeffrey Weisman voted Republican in the #midterms. But he’s not looking forward to Trump attempting a comeback: “It’s a tough one. I like his politics. His mouth scares a lot of people. So I personally do not think he can win.” pic.twitter.com/hAi0Gdl1rK
— Chris McGreal (@ChrisMcGreal) November 8, 2022
Dani Anguiano is reporting for The Guardian in Las Vegas:
The fate of the Senate could lie in the hands of voters in Nevada where incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto is locked in a close race with Adam Laxalt, the Republican former state attorney general who aided in efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
The contest between Cortez Masto, the first Latina senator and successor to the late Democratic leader Harry Reid, and Laxalt has been neck and neck. Laxalt has received the endorsement of Donald Trump, the NRA and Ron DeSantis, while Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and 14 members of Laxalt’s family have backed Cortez Masto. The race, said to be among the closest of this year’s contests, is crucial for Democrats to maintain control of the Senate.
Laxalt has sought to appeal to voters by focusing on the economy, which more than one in four voters have said is the most important issue facing the state, and tying Cortez Masto to Joe Biden, who has low approval rates in Nevada. Democrats rallying for the senator have critisized Laxalt for his opposition to reproductive freedom and argued he is in the pocket of big oil as the state sees record high gas prices.
“So you see, gas prices going up, grocery prices going up – that takes a bite out of your paycheck. It’s no joke. It hurts. The question, though, you should be asking is – who’s going to actually try to do something about it?” Obama said at an event for Cortez Masto. “She hasn’t forgotten where she came from. Which is why she’s gone after big oil for high gas prices, why she takes on pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug costs.”
Cortez Masto has the backing of the local Culinary Workers Union, which is running a campaign to knock on one million doors by election day. Canvassers with the union say the voters they talk to are concerned about growing housing costs and inflation.
“Everyone is working side hustles to be able to live a normal life,” said Arlett Tovar, a canvasser with the union. “Vegas used to be such a great affordable place to live and it’s not anymore.”
Sam Levine is reporting for The Guardian in Detroit, Michigan:
I’m here at Greater Grace temple, a polling site in north-west Detroit. About 400-500 people have voted here so far, the polling site manager told me. Many voters have already cast their ballots by mail, the manager said.
There were some glitches with the e-poll books used to check in voters this morning, but those have been fixed. Among other issues, the system was showing that some voters had already cast a mail-in ballot. She also said there haven’t been any incidents involving intimidation or poll watchers, which has been a big concern in Michigan.
Xhosoli Nmumhad, 35, said she’s only voted twice before, once in 2008 and then again in 2012 for Barack Obama. But she said she kept seeing political commercials on television and was motivated to vote on Tuesday to support a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would dramatically expand voting rights in Michigan. “I believe everyone should be able to vote,” she said.
Ruth Draines, 72, another voter here, said she always voted in elections. This cycle, she said she was motivated by another proposal on the ballot that would amend the state constitution to protect access to abortion.
“I don’t like the fact that they want to take away a woman’s right. Because some women get raped and they don’t want to be reminded of that,” she said. So basically that’s one of the big motivator.”
Draines said she wasn’t particularly concerned this cycle about efforts to overturn the election.
“I think that’s all just hype,” she said.
She added that she thinks Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat on the ballot for re-election today, has been doing a “pretty good job”.
“I just hopes she keeps up the good work,” she said.
Ramon Antonio Vargas
Residents of a New Orleans suburb who were casting ballots for the midterm elections Tuesday were navigating more than their fair share of hurdles to exercise their right to vote.
A bomb threat to a school in Kenner, Louisiana, which was a polling site for a couple of precincts in the city of about 65,000 people, on Tuesday morning forced vote workers to relocate the site, an elections official told the Guardian.
The threat to the Kenner Discovery school displaced the polling site set up there to the campus of Audubon elementary about a mile and a half away, the election official said.
‼️ Kenner Discovery School received a bomb threat earlier this morning. Kenner Police are on scene investigating and trying to determine if this will be related to a bomb threat the school received on Thursday, November 3, 2022. ‼️ pic.twitter.com/A1q9ZxzbAS
— Kenner PD (@KennerPolice) November 8, 2022
Kenner’s police chief, Keith Conley, confirmed to the Guardian that officers were investigating a bomb threat to Kenner Discovery, which was closed for class to allow to the school to serve as a polling site. But it was not immediately clear whether the threat was politically motivated, Conley said.
Conley said it was the second similar threat to Kenner Discovery in the last five days. Local reports said the earlier threat on 3 November – which came in when there were no election-related activities at the school – demanded payment in the form of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
Though it has a significant population of Black and Latino residents, Kenner’s white majority tends to overwhelmingly side with Republican political candidates. Much of the city – including the Kenner Discovery polling site – sits in the congressional district of the Republican House whip, Steve Scalise, who is projected to cruise to re-election in Tuesday’s midterms.
Officials nationwide have been concerned about political violence in general in recent years after cases such as the US Capitol insurrection on 6 January 2021 and the attack that left House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, critically injured.
Tuesday’s threat at Kenner Discovery came after Louisiana’s top election official, the secretary of state R Kyle Ardoin, announced that a mobile app, an online portal and a telephone hotline containing polling place and ballot information were all “experiencing technical difficulties” within hours of the polls opening Tuesday.
Ardoin, a Republican, directed residents to call the registrar of voters office in their parish – which is the word Louisiana uses for county – or to email his office at [email protected] to ask any necessary questions.
Carlisa Johnson reports for The Guardian in Georgia:
In Georgia, election day has started without issue. Voters are experiencing limited wait times across the state as they vote in person. Many attribute this to the record-breaking early voting the state saw last month. Still, Georgia’s polling locations are seeing a steady stream of concerned voters making their voices heard in this critical election.
Georgia’s secretary of state reports that Georgians are accessing their voter information in record numbers. This morning, voters accessed their “My Voter Page” – which confirms a voter’s registration and polling location – on the Secretary of State website at a rate of 19,215 users a minute.
SB202, Georgia’s new election law, eliminated access to provisional ballots for voters who go to the wrong polling location on election day. Voting advocates throughout the state are working diligently to remind voters of this change and the importance of confirming their polling locations.
Mariah Headman is a Dekalb county resident and a Georgia teacher. While she has voted absentee in the past, voting in person on election day was more convenient for her this year. She says she is voting with her students in mind. “For me, voting means the difference between well-funded public schools or underfunded ones,” said Headman. “This election is huge, and Georgia has to pull through.”
Mariah Headman is one of Georgia’s dedicated teachers. She says she is voting in-person this morning for her students. “This election is huge and Georgia is pulling through. For me, voting means the difference between well funded public schools or underfunded ones,” said Headman. pic.twitter.com/1qZ6gPoPCK
— Carlisa Johnson (@CarlisaNJohnson) November 8, 2022
Chris McGreal
Outside a voting station at the largest Greek Orthodox church in Ohio, Ashley Sica said her vote for the Democrat Tim Ryan in the election for the US Senate was decided by the US supreme court ruling striking down abortion as a constitutional right.
“I voted based off of my values, and maybe not necessarily what I would do, but just thinking globally of choices that other people should be able to have. I don’t think that government officials should be in charge what people do with their own bodies,” she said.
Sica, a nurse, said that the removal of the right to abortion motivated a lot of women to vote in the midterms who might not usually turn out.
Sica said she was also frightened by the Republicans’ blocking of tighter gun control laws even after a series of school massacres.
“My children’s daycare is just a mile from here. There was an issue with someone shooting a gun around their daycare. So that’s another thing that kind of brought me out to vote for stricter laws in regards to guns. Having kids that are of school age now really brings that kind of thing into focus, thinking about their safety and the safety of others,” she said.
In Columbus, Ohio – Ashley Sica, a nurse, said her vote for the Democrat in the state’s US Senate race was decided by the US supreme court ruling striking down abortion as a constitutional right: “Government officials shouldn’t be in charge of what people do with their bodies”. pic.twitter.com/a3EumS3Y29
— Chris McGreal (@ChrisMcGreal) November 8, 2022
Adam Gabbatt
The US Senate election in Pennsylvania is expected to be one of the closest in the country, as John Fetterman, the state’s Democratic lieutenant governor, takes on Mehmet Oz, a Republican celebrity doctor.
Fetterman held a commanding lead in the polls for months, but in the days ahead of the vote Mehmet Oz has closed the gap, and the race appears to be a toss-up. Fetterman had a stroke in May, and continues to have issues with speaking and processing the spoken word – something that was laid bare in a difficult debate performance two weeks ago. Fetterman and his team have insisted he is fit and able to work, but his health and recovery has been cruelly mocked by Oz’s campaign.
“I liked Fetterman, except for the man had a stroke,” said Steve Schwartz, who had just cast his vote for Oz in Beaver county, 30 miles north-west of Pittsburgh.
“I don’t even know if he can drive to work yet. You don’t wanna hire him and then he’s going to be on disability for a little bit. I don’t think his health allows him to do what he’s doing right now.”
Schwartz, who also voted for the Republican candidates for governor and the US House, said he would have “seriously considered” Fetterman, were it not for the stroke.
Beaver county, named after the Beaver River, which is named after either the Lenape chief King Beaver or the animal the beaver, voted for Trump in 2020 and 2016, but Trump’s margin of victory was smaller here than in other counties.
Mike Moore, a 41-year-old loan closer, said he had voted for Fetterman for Senate.
“I like the way he is, I’ve met him a couple of times, he seems like a real genuine guy. I kind of don’t like Dr. Oz, because he doesn’t live in Pennsylvania – and that’s kind of like: ‘How can he represent me?’” Moore said, referencing Oz’s long-term residency in New Jersey. Oz lived in a mansion in New Jersey for decades, but has said he moved to Pennsylvania in late 2020.
The most important issue for Moore, he said, was “bipartisanship”, something that seems unlikely to spring from this midterm cycle.
“This country is so polarized now, it’s a shame. You know, we got to work together. We got to be Americans.”
This midterm election is already the most expensive in history, and depending on how today goes, it could get even more pricey.
Spending on this election season has exceeded $16.7bn across federal and local candidates – over $2bn more than the 2018 midterms. Federal candidates have spent over $8.9bn while state candidates, party committees and ballot measure committees have spent $7.8bn, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks campaign spending.
The arrival of election day doesn’t mean the spending will stop, especially if runoff elections have to take place. The race for a Georgia Senate seat between incumbent Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker – a race that has been riddled with controversy – could lead to a runoff in December if neither candidate gets over 50% of the vote. Both parties have already spent over $241m on the race – what the Wall Street Journal calculated is $30.83 for each of the state’s 7.8 million registered voters.
Happy Election Day from Georgia, where the big question is whether voters get one more day of these types of ads or one more month of them. pic.twitter.com/RuJRcqgq8g
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) November 8, 2022
Chris McGreal
In Ohio, one of the most important races for Republican leaders is to take full control of the state supreme court. Control because candidates for the bench run not on their judicial qualifications but on party tickets with an implicit commitment to make decisions in line with their political values.
Republicans have technically controlled the court since 1986, holding four of the seven seats. But one of the judges, the outgoing chief justice, Maureen O’Connor, is widely regarded by the party leadership as having gone rogue by siding with Democrats in some politically sensitive cases including over gerrymandering. And now the highly contentious issues of abortion is likely to be on the agenda following the US supreme court decision overturning Roe v Wade.
The three conservative candidates, already on the court and seeking reelection, in recent days joined a Republican bus campaign tour alongside the party’s contenders for the US Senate and state governor. No separation of powers there.
At a stop in Columbus, one of the judges, Pat Fischer, told a rally that it was important to keep the court out of the hands of “activist judges that are Democrats”. Not activist judges as such, just ones who are Democrats.
“It’s critical that the three of us win this race and we go back to having a conservative Ohio supreme court,” he told the rally.
The new state supreme court is expected to decide whether to let stand the state’s ban on abortion beyond six weeks of pregnancy, brought in after Roe v Wade was overturned. A lower court blocked the measure last month. Although the three Republican contenders for the court all say they will apply the law and not political judgements, each has already made clear their opposition to abortion.
Another of the Republican judges, Sharon Kennedy, is running to become chief justice. She has indicated that she would not enforce previous court rulings to stop Ohio’s Republican legislature from gerrymandering elections.
Florida: federal election monitors won’t be permitted in polling places
The Florida state department sent a letter to the US Department of Justice saying that federal election monitors won’t be permitted inside the state’s polling places.
Florida Department of State to DOJ:
“federal election ‘monitors’ are not permitted inside polling places as it would be counterproductive and could potentially undermine confidence in the election.” pic.twitter.com/I3TdaozUxG
— Jason Delgado (@byJasonDelgado) November 8, 2022
Florida’s state department said that the monitors “would be counterproductive and could potentially undermine confidence in the election”.
The justice department regularly sends monitors to states on Election Day in an attempt to curb voter intimidation at polling places. Yesterday, the department said it would send out workers to 64 jurisdictions across 24 states. In 2020, the department sent out workers to 44 jurisdictions. The states include key swing districts in Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
“Monitors will include personnel from the Civil Rights Division and from US attorneys’ offices,” the department said in a statement.
Florida’s state department said the DOJ did not “detail the need for federal monitors” in the state.
“None of the counties are currently subject to any election-related federal consent decrees. None of the counties have been accused of violating the rights of language or racial minorities or of the elderly or disabled,” the letter said.
Ramon Antonio Vargas
While Louisiana isn’t expected to see many surprises during today’s midterm elections, voters there were among those enduring technical difficulties to cast their ballots.
The secretary of state R Kyle Ardoin, Louisiana’s top election official, said a mobile app, an online portal and a telephone hotline containing polling place and ballot information were all “experiencing technical difficulties” within hours of the polls opening Tuesday. Ardoin, a Republican, directed residents to call the registrar of voters office in their parish – which is the word Louisiana uses for counties – or to email his office at [email protected] to ask any necessary questions.
Ardoin’s announcement came after officials in Virginia reported technical difficulties with equipment that verifies’ voter information and poll staff in Texas said they were having problems with check-in machines.
The Republican party’s whip in the US House of Representatives, Steve Scalise, is among those up for re-election in Louisiana on Tuesday. So is Republican US Senator John N Kennedy. Both are expected to cruise to re-election.