STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Maybe one big feature of the election results so far is what has not changed, even though it seemed possible that it might. Kathy Hochul will remain governor of New York state, for example, despite a stiff challenge. Kevin Stitt will remain governor of Oklahoma despite an unusually tough challenge from the Democratic side. Troy (ph) Evers will remain - Trey (ph) Evers will remain the governor of Wisconsin - Tony Evers. There we go. Tony Evers will remain governor of Wisconsin despite a challenge there. The House and Senate yet could flip from Democratic to Republican control, but that has not yet happened. We're waiting on the results of some races, and both seem unusually close at this time.
Let's talk through the results now with NPR's Don Gonyea and Domenico Montanaro. Welcome back to both of you.
DON GONYEA, BYLINE: Thank you.
DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE: Good to be back.
INSKEEP: And, Domenico, how is the race continuing to shape up here as we learn more results?
MONTANARO: Well, on the Senate side, which is obviously closely contested and closely watched, Democrats have the advantage right now with their one pickup that they had in Pennsylvania. Right now Republicans are in the lead in Nevada. Only 72% of the vote in there as well. So if that were to - they were to sort of cancel each other out, then we'd be looking at Arizona, where Mark Kelly, the incumbent Democrat, is leading right now, but still, less than two-thirds of the vote in. And we're going to be looking at Georgia, which doesn't look like anyone's going to get to 50%. Raphael Warnock is in the lead there, but there's a threshold for 50% to avoid a runoff. If they do not avoid a runoff, then we'd be looking at a runoff on December 6, a month from now, which could very well decide who controls the Senate.
In the House, Republicans had an underwhelming night. Right now, according to just looking at my calculations and consulting with the Associated Press, it looks like Republicans are on track for something like seven pickups in the House, with a ceiling of about 12, which is a very slim majority for a future Republican majority.
INSKEEP: Yeah. Now, I don't want to undersell this. If Republicans get control, that is a huge change - a huge change in setting the agenda, a huge change in who has a committee chairmanship, a huge change in who has subpoena power. But it nevertheless is a lot less than Republicans were hoping for today. And, Don Gonyea, I'm noting that there's a result now from Michigan. Jocelyn Benson, the secretary of state, has defeated someone who denied the 2020 election results, who rejected Donald Trump's defeat in 2020, which I think symbolizes a rather disappointing night for people supporting Donald Trump.
GONYEA: Absolutely. Donald Trump had some big endorsements in Michigan. He lost the governor's race there as well, having endorsed Tudor Dixon after, admittedly, a Republican primary that was kind of a mess, with the front-runner being tossed off the ballot because of a problem with tons and tons and tons of duplicate signatures on their petitions. So - but Donald Trump endorsed Tudor Dixon. And she had been closing in the polls, but Gretchen Whitmer has really, you know, become a national figure over the past several years as governor of the state of Michigan, and you could see her bringing all of her political talent...
INSKEEP: Right.
GONYEA: ...And all forces to bear to win that. And on the ticket with her, Jocelyn Benson, who has, you know, been running the election, and she gets a win, too. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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