Republicans Take The Senate

As was generally expected, the Republican Party was very successful in yesterday's midterm elections, including a takeover of the Senate, even while several seats have still not been officially decided.  Some news on various Senate, House and gubernatorial elections:

In the 6th House district of Maryland, challenger Dan Bongino (R) narrowly trails incumbent John Delaney (D).  The State Board of Elections reports 5,847 absentee ballots, which will be counted starting tomorrow.  Maryland's seven other representatives, only one of whom is a Republican, have been reelected.

In the Maryland governor's race, Larry Hogan (R) has pulled a "stunning upset" over Anthony Brown (D).

Hogan is not the only Republican to win the governorship in a heavily blue state.  In Massachusetts, Charlie Baker (R) defeated Martha Coakley (D), who recently lost a Senate seat to Scott Brown.

In yet another blue state, the governor's race in Illinois has gone to Bruce Rauner (R) over incumbent Pat Quinn (D).

In New York's 21st district, 30-year-old Elise Stefanik (R) has become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, defeating Aaron Wolf (D) by 22 points.  She will replace Bill Owens (D), who is retiring.  She is also the first Republican to win in that district since 1990.

In West Virginia, Shelley Capito (R) defeated Natalie Tennant (D) for the Senate seat now held by Jay Rockefeller (D), which will give the state its first Republican senator in about 55 years; and Saira Blair (R), an 18-year-old student at West Virginia University, has won a seat in the state's legislature.  Blair will become the youngest state lawmaker in the entire country.

In Virginia, incumbent Senator Mark Warner (D) leads Ed Gillespie (R) by about 12,000 votes.  Warner has also served as Virginia's governor.  Gillespie has previously worked for various Republican candidates and as the chairman of the Republican National Committee.

In North Carolina, Thom Tillis (R) has narrowly defeated incumbent Kay Hagan (D).  Tillis is currently the Speaker of the state's House of Representatives.

In Florida, the incumbent governor Rick Scott (R) has defeated former governor (and former Republican) Charlie Crist (D).

As expected, Greg Abbott (R) easily defeated Wendy Davis (D) in the Texas governor's race, and Senator John Cornyn (R) won reelection.  George P. Bush (R), son of former Florida governor Jeb Bush, won the race for Land Commissioner.  (I regret to inform anyone not already aware that there indeed is a third George Bush.)

In Utah's 4th district, Mia Love (R) has become the first black Republican woman elected to Congress, narrowly defeating Doug Owens (D).  Love lost in her first bid for the seat two years ago.

In Colorado, Cory Gardner (R) defeated incumbent Mark Udall (D), the first time since 1978 that a sitting Colorado senator has been ousted.

In Iowa, Joni Ernst (R) defeated Bruce Braley (D) for the Senate seat of Tom Harkin (D), who is retiring.  Ernst is currently in the Iowa Senate, and will become the first female U.S. Senator from Iowa and the first female veteran in the Senate's history.  Braley unsuccessfully risked his seat in the House.

In Louisiana, the Senate race between incumbent Mary Landrieu (D) and Bill Cassidy (R) will go to a runoff on December 6th, since no candidate pulled in over 50% of the vote.  Cassidy is a physician and currently represents Louisiana's 6th district in the House.