Election Night in the US

By Brian Ries, Veronica Rocha, Meg Wagner, Sophie Tatum, Maegan Vazquez and Jessie Yeung, CNN

Updated 1:29 PM ET, Wed November 7, 2018
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8:54 p.m. ET, November 6, 2018

Trump is mad at Paul Ryan about “everything," source says

From CNN's Jim Acosta

President Trump is already blaming House Speaker Paul Ryan for what the President’s team is expecting to be a bad night for the GOP in the House, two sources close to the White House said.

“He is really angry at Ryan," one source close to the White House said of Trump’s feelings about Ryan.

When asked about what, the source said, "everything."

Trump obviously didn’t like Ryan distancing himself from the President on immigration. But it goes beyond that. Other sources close to the White House say Trump and his team are disappointed in GOP congressional fundraising and are blaming tonight on that as well. 

A source close to the speaker pushed back on this:

On the question of whether Paul Ryan retired too early, the source says Wisconsin has one of the latest filing deadlines in the country, and those states with later filing deadlines the source added those members filed for re-election.

The source also noted more than 40 members retired before Ryan announced he would retire.

As for complaints about Ryan’s fundraising efforts, the source said the speaker brought in a record breaking haul…$110 million this cycle. The source also noted that Ryan and the Super PAC raise an additional $153 million, another record.

A separate source close to the White House said aides to Trump held a conference call with surrogates earlier this afternoon and blamed three factors: History, fundraising and retirements. 

But the blame game had begun. And the White House is pointing the finger at Ryan. The uneasy marriage between the President and the speaker appears to be falling apart. 

Note: This post has been updated.

7:41 p.m. ET, November 6, 2018

Candidates are reminding everyone to stay in line — even after polls close

From CNN's Gisela Crespo

Candidates on social media are reminding voters that even if a polling location closes, it is legally required to allow voters who are already waiting in line to cast their votes.

Democratic candidate for governor of Florida Andrew Gillum tweeted: "It's your right to make your voice heard! If you're in line by 7pm, stay there — you are legally entitled to vote. Let's #bringithome, Florida!"

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florid also took to Twitter to encourage voters to "#StayInLine until you vote"

Watch below: Why voting in the US is so hard

7:33 p.m. ET, November 6, 2018

GOP House campaign chair predicted "slim majority" this afternoon

From CNN's Eric Bradner

Steve Stivers, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, predicted that "we hold a slim majority" in a 12:59 p.m. ET email to staff this afternoon.

"It has been a tough fight and we will know the answer soon, but my prediction is that we hold a slim majority," he wrote. "We have 14 candidates winning inside the margin of error, and as long as most of them hang on, we are going to win."

We know that this rallying-the-troops message is not even close to unanimous at the NRCC or among Republican strategists more broadly.

Watch: All that is at risk if Republicans lose Congress

7:30 p.m. ET, November 6, 2018

Polls close in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia

It's 7:30 p.m. ET and polls have now closed in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia.

A Midwestern state-level resurgence? Democratic former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head Richard Cordray will try to win the governor's office in Ohio, a state Trump won by 9 percentage points in 2016. He faces Republican state Attorney General Mike DeWine. It's the first of several such tests for Democrats, who also hope to reverse GOP gains in Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin.

7:20 p.m. ET, November 6, 2018

23 & 2 — That's what Dems need to flip Congress

Midterm results are starting to roll in.

In the video below, CNN's Tom Foreman discusses the potential shift in control that could impact legislation in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Watch more:

7:14 p.m. ET, November 6, 2018

Mike Pence's brother will win his former congressional seat in Indiana

From CNN's Eric Bradner

Mike Pence's older brother Greg Pence will win the vice president's former congressional seat in Indiana, CNN projects.

Greg Pence was elected in the deep-red 6th District to replace former Rep. Luke Messer, who vacated the seat in a failed bid for the Republican Senate nomination.

7:36 p.m. ET, November 6, 2018

White House officials are downplaying the polls and expressing skepticism

From CNN's Pam Brown

The sun sets behind the West Wing of the White House on Election Day.
The sun sets behind the West Wing of the White House on Election Day. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

As they await results, White House officials are downplaying the polls and expressing skepticism, pointing to polls in 2016 as being off the mark.

They are hopeful it’s the same situation this time around.

“The President’s message on immigration is resonating and as we saw in 2016 I don’t think the polls reflect that," one White House official said.

The source also says President Trump is “laying low now and watching TV like the rest of us.”

  

7:13 p.m. ET, November 6, 2018

Polls close in 6 states and most of Florida

From CNN's Eric Bradner and Dan Merica

Polls just closed in six states and most of Florida, which means we might start to see some early signs of where the House is going.

Keep your eyes on Virginia: Virginia might be the most important early sign of where the House is going. The Democrats' must-win there is in the 10th District, where strategists in both parties say Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock is unlikely to hold onto her seat in the DC suburbs. Republican Rep. Scott Taylor's race in the Norfolk-area 2nd District, though, is a much better bellwether for the national environment. And if the GOP Rep. Dave Brat loses in the 7th District outside Richmond -- or even if he's in a tight race -- it could be an early sign of a building Democratic wave.

Democrats saw one more district in Virginia emerge as competitive late in the cycle: the 5th District, where former journalist Leslie Cockburn takes on Republican Denver Riggleman, an Air Force veteran and distillery owner. A Democratic win here would be a sign of a tidal wave threatening to wipe out Republicans whose races weren't even on the national radar.

The Atlanta suburbs feature two wave-maker districts -- if Democrats win either, it'd mean they're in for a big night. In Georgia's 6th District, Republican Rep. Karen Handel -- who won a ballyhooed special election against Jon Ossoff last year -- faces Lucy McBath, a challenger whose unarmed son was shot and killed over a dispute about loud music. And in the 7th District, Republicans are furious that Rep. Rob Woodall never took his race seriously. "If you don't think it behooves you to put paid media on air, we're not going to come help you. We're not a welfare organization," a Republican official said.

Also keep your eye on a few wave-makers in Florida. The Tampa-area 15th District is an open seat that emerged as competitive late -- so late, in fact, that Republicans couldn't afford a rescue effort. On the Atlantic coast side, the 6th District's open-seat contest for former Rep. Ron DeSantis' old seat is another potential Democratic pick-up that would suggest the party is soaring past the 23 seats it needs for a House majority. If either of Republican Reps. Brian Mast or Vern Buchanan lose, it's another sign that Democrats are on the path to winning the House.

House battleground: Miami. South Florida is the site of two House battlegrounds. In the 26th District, GOP Rep. Carlos Curbelo has run well to his party's left on issues like climate change and immigration, and Republicans need him to survive. In the 27th District, what should be an easy Democratic pick-up has become daunting, as former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala -- the non-Spanish-speaking Democratic candidate in a majority Hispanic district -- faces former Spanish-language broadcast journalist Maria Elvira Salazar.

History-makers. In Georgia, the headliner is the governor's race between Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams, an emerging Democratic star who has combined a progressive platform with an appeal to black voters -- all with a chance to become the nation's first black female governor. If neither candidate tops 50%, the race will head to a runoff.

In Florida, a small portion of the panhandle is in Central time, so we'll need to wait an extra hour for full results to come in for the governor's race between Democratic Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a progressive favorite, and DeSantis, who has aligned himself so closely with Trump that this is a potential preview of 2020.

Democrats' Senate must-wins. The Florida Senate contest, with Republican Gov. Rick Scott challenging Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson, is one of the nation's most expensive and closely watched -- and if Nelson loses, it would severely diminish Democrats' shot at a majority.

A Midwestern state-level resurgence? Democratic former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head Richard Cordray will try to win the governor's office in Ohio, a state Trump won by 9 percentage points in 2016. He faces Republican state Attorney General Mike DeWine. It's the first of several such tests for Democrats, who also hope to reverse GOP gains in Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Watch below: Three-term Democrat tries to hang on in Florida

7:33 p.m. ET, November 6, 2018

Tim Kaine wins re-election in Virginia

From CNN's Eric Bradner

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine will win re-election, CNN projects, defeating Republican challenger Corey Stewart, a vocal defender of confederate monuments.

The 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee was never seriously challenged in a race that the national GOP stopped taking seriously after watching Democrat Ralph Northam coast to the governorship a year ago.

Stewart, a Minnesota native is the chairman of the Prince William County board of supervisors, campaigned on defending a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville and defending the display of the Confederate flag as part of Virginia's "heritage."

National Republicans declined to back Stewart, and strategists working on House races fretted that his presence on the top of the ticket would damage several GOP incumbents in the state.

Watch below: First CNN projections after polls close