In a stunning upset, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Republican billionaire Rick Jackson Tuesday to become the first black female governor in American history and Georgia’s first Democrat governor since 1998.

Bottoms led Jackson 54.2% to 45.8% with about 85% of the expected vote counted, according to NBC News. Though Jackson ran toward the middle, his moderate disposition did nothing to stem the tide against Bottoms.

‘I’m not running to be his favorite governor.’

The last Democrat to win was Roy Barnes, who secured the seat in 1998. Barnes lost his 2002 re-election bid to Sonny Perdue, Georgia’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction ended. Republicans have held the office ever since — until now.

Jackson spent more than $200 million of his own fortune, according to AP. On the campaign trail, Jackson promised to govern like “Trump with a Southern tone” and become the president’s “favorite governor.”

Bottoms turned that line against him.

RELATED: North Carolina extends voting hours in mostly liberal areas, denies extension to some pro-Trump counties

Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“I’m not running to be his favorite governor,” Bottoms said during the candidates’ only debate. “I’m running to work on behalf of people like you.”

Bottoms has called for Medicaid expansion, an increase of the state minimum wage to $15 per hour, a pause on data center development, and an end to Flock camera expansion, according to AP.

She also wants to repeal Georgia’s abortion ban, which made abortions after six weeks illegal. She called it “a life and death issue.” It certainly is, though perhaps not in the way she intended.

Bottoms will succeed the term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp (R). She may not have a free hand once in office. Republicans are heavily favored to keep the state Senate, according to AP.

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Darline Graham has lost the U.S. Senate seat long held by her brother in South Carolina.

Graham had been the Republican candidate for only a couple of months after winning a Republican primary runoff following a fast-tracked special election.

‘For the Good of our Nation … I hope Darline does this.’

Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician from Kentucky, ran a tough race against Graham, where the two were neck and neck in polling to the end.

RealClearPolling showed Graham with a +2.7-point advantage just a couple of weeks out from the election. Meanwhile, Blaze News’ Poll Watch has Graham at just +1.9 in the last days before midterms.

In the end, Andrews overcame the deficit and won the seat 50.6% to 47.2% with 93% of the votes counted, according to NBC News.

RELATED: South Carolina Senate poll tracker

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Graham was supported by President Donald Trump before she even decided to run for office, promising to endorse her if she did. Her brother won his primary in June with nearly 57% of the vote.

At the same time, Andrews defeated two Democratic primary competitors with 61.5% of the vote.

“During her visit, I asked Darline, for the Good of our Nation, to run for the U.S. Senate in the Special Republican Primary on Tuesday, August 11, 2026,” Trump said at the time, per The Hill.

“I hope Darline does this, in that there would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey,” the president added.

RELATED: Conservatives demand competition — except in their own primaries

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In October, Trump and Graham appeared face-to-face at a rally in Pendleton, South Carolina, where he gave her his full support.

Andrews had previously run in South Carolina for the House of Representatives in 2022, but lost to Rep. Nancy Mace (R).

Andrews has called for the restoration of Roe v. Wade, the expansion of Medicaid and Medicare, and to keep “families together” and ensure “due process” in regard to immigration.

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The U.S. House of Representatives fell relatively early to Democratic control on election night.

NBC News projected that Democrats would take over more than 240 seats in the House and seize control of the lower chamber of Congress. They needed only 218 to take control.

‘Let’s get to work.’

Democrats are hoping to increase their wins and take the U.S. Senate as well.

Polling ahead of Election Day showed the favorability rating for President Donald Trump had fallen as low as 38% in some surveys. Voters were unhappy about the economic effects of the Iran conflict and inflation eroding the wage gains under the current administration.

CBS News projected Democrats would win control of the House as well. CBS estimated that Democrats would take 253 seats, far more than they needed for a majority.

Democrats will almost certainly block as much of the president’s agenda as they can, and many have promised to use their newfound powers to investigate members of the administration and the president’s supporters.

Early exit polling showed that the economy was the top concern for 39% of the respondents. An astounding 75% said they were “angry” or “dissatisfied” about the direction of the country.

In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, the president blamed Fox News for what he said was negative coverage about the state of the country. He has also joked that if the U.S. voters rejected him, he would move to Israel and become its prime minister.

“Let’s get to work,” reads a post from House Democrats Tuesday night.

RELATED: Even WaPo forced to admit there’s a BIG problem with election polling

Blaze News is covering the rest of the election live with Glenn Beck, Steve Deace, John Doyle, and Nick Freitas.

A Harvard University model found that Democrats have a 78% chance of winning the U.S. Senate, which would be disastrous for Republicans for the next two years.

2026 midterm polling map: Where the polls stand

pollwatch.theblaze.com

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Results are in for one of the highest-profile gubernatorial elections in the country.

The highly polarizing race between Democratic candidate Amy Acton and Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for governor of Ohio has come to a conclusion.

Acton, a physician, won the race by a 5-point margin with 87% of votes reported.

According to the Associated Press, Acton won the election by five points on Tuesday night, upsetting Republicans’ hopes of retaining the governorship, which has been held by term-limited Republican Mike DeWine since 2019.

The results of the contest were much closer than some may have expected in the red state.

Acton, a physician, won the race by a five-point margin with 87% of votes reported, according to the AP.

RELATED: Trump endorses controversial Ramaswamy ad — and bashes media trying to force him to take video down

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One of the biggest “October surprises” of the campaign — which soon became the central pillar of the race in the eyes of many — came when Ramaswamy’s campaign featured Acton’s estranged biological mother calling her a “liar” in an expensive campaign advertisement.

Ohio has been a consistently red state for the last three presidential elections, with 2024 support reaching its zenith at roughly 55%.

As of Friday afternoon, the Blaze Poll Watch average showed Acton ahead of Ramaswamy by three points, beating him 48.2%-45.2%. Acton’s lead expanded to 4.2 points on the afternoon of Election Day.

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Roy Cooper has never lost an election, and his winning streak continued Tuesday.

Cooper flipped the seat of outgoing Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who declined to run for another term in office. Tillis frequently clashed with President Donald Trump and has struck a defiant tone in his last days in office.

‘We have more in common than divides us.’

Cooper led Whatley 64.6% to 33.7% with roughly 62% of the vote in on Tuesday, according to NBC News.

Though most of the tabulated ballots so far come from early voting, Whatley won’t be able to bridge the gap with the remaining Election Day ballots. So far, Cooper has secured 66% of the early in-person vote, while Whatley has received 59% of the Election Day vote.

It’s the first time a Democrat has won a Senate seat in North Carolina since 2008, according to NBC News.

Cooper’s Election Night watch party, held at a hotel in state capital Raleigh, was jubilant. Music is blaring and attendees are celebrating with CNN playing in the background, according to an AP description.

Republicans turned their attention elsewhere since polling began to indicate a wipeout in the Southern state.

RELATED: Last-minute dirty tricks: Michigan voters reportedly being told they can’t split their ticket as Democrats defect for Rogers

Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The national GOP began shifting North Carolina campaign cash elsewhere in October, signaling pessimism regarding Whatley’s odds, according to the AP. A top Republican super PAC canceled its ad spending in the race to protect more viable seats elsewhere in the country, according to NBC News.

President Trump slammed Cooper in his North Carolina rallies.

“He’s going to become your senator,” Trump said of Cooper at an October rally in North Carolina. “And it’s crazy.”

Whatley was aligned with Trump’s agenda, campaigning on his tax cuts and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The Republican candidate also hit Cooper as soft on violent crime. Trump called North Carolina’s cities “blood-soaked killing fields.”

Whatley, 58, is a former state GOP and RNC chairman but has never held elected office. He trailed Cooper in fundraising.

Cooper previously won four terms as attorney general and two as governor. He ran toward the middle, focusing on affordability and promising to “make stuff cost less.”

“North Carolina — I’m grateful for your trust,” Cooper said in an X post after media outlets called his race. “We have more in common than divides us. Here’s to building better days ahead!”

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The Republican National Committee’s Election Integrity team warned poll workers not to break the law after reports that some told voters they weren’t allowed to split their tickets.

The RNC Counsel’s Office sent Michigan county clerks a stern letter demanding that they follow the law. The Michigan Constitution explicitly allows voters to select a straight-ticket option on the ballot but specify particular candidates from the other party farther down the ticket.

‘The RNC is monitoring this issue in real time, and we are prepared to take whatever actions are necessary to protect Michiganders’ rights to vote for the candidates of their choosing.’

“We have received credible reports from across Michigan that election inspectors are telling voters that, if they vote a straight party ticket, they may not cross over and vote for a candidate from the other party,” RNC Election Integrity counsel Luke Bunting and senior counsel James Hasson wrote in the letter. “As you know, that is false. The Michigan Constitution expressly permits voters to select the straight party option but then cast votes for individual candidates of a different party.”

“As a clerk, it is your obligation to administer this election in accordance with state law and the Michigan Constitution. The Secretary of State has been notified and has taken steps to address this issue,” the RNC lawyers wrote. “The RNC is monitoring this issue in real time, and we are prepared to take whatever actions are necessary to protect Michiganders’ rights to vote for the candidates of their choosing.”

RELATED: Scanners down, ballots ‘already submitted’: RNC plays whack-a-mole on Election Day

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Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) endorsed Republican Mike Rogers in the Michigan U.S. Senate race over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday. She also cited El-Sayed’s close friendship with controversial streamer Hasan Piker and his views on Israel and Jewish Americans.

Several notable Jewish and black Democrats have signaled that they are voting for Rogers.

“Please don’t feel as though that you cannot, if you liked Mike Rogers, that you cannot vote for him. You can, if you want to,” Detroit City Councilwoman Mary Waters told the New York Post on Monday.

Rogers has an uphill battle ahead of him. Michigan hasn’t elected a Republican to the Senate since 1994.

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Socialism is increasingly a political liability, but Democrats appear to have found a way around the label: Sell the same socialist ideas, but leave the label behind.

And Democrats like Abdul El-Sayed and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) are doing just that.

“Obviously, Democrats are very good at recruiting these particular candidates with a certain aura that they are confident have the potential to win, and they all have radical left socialist policy positions,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey explains, noting that “El-Sayed has been very careful not to publicly associate with DSA” while running.

“So, something in him understands that socialism, just blatant socialism, saying that I’m a democratic socialist, the way that Bernie Sanders did, is still not popular enough,” she says.

“They think they can sell the ideas without selling the packaging of socialism. They might be right about that. The truth is, the DSA doesn’t care,” she adds.

Stuckey explains that in July of this year, “DSA officials said that they were mobilizing organizers, volunteers, and resources to support El-Sayed’s campaign.”

“So, he might not openly say, ‘I’m a socialist.’ The socialists are saying, ‘We openly support El-Sayed.’ And that tells you what you need to know,” she says.

And while AOC was talking about “the means of production using socialist terminology” just a couple of years ago, she now “won’t call herself a socialist.”

“The truth is that the Democrats are playing it well. Socialism scares a lot of people off, just the word itself,” Stuckey says.

And because of this, the Republicans have “got some work to do.”

“What happens with the Republicans,” Stuckey explains, “unfortunately, is that they run a very conservative campaign, and then they end up moderating once they get in office. What happens with progressives is that they run a moderate campaign, and they end up going to the left once they get in office.”

“So, just understand that if you’re voting, you think you’re voting for a moderate Democrat, you’re actually voting for a radical progressive,” she continues. “If you think that you’re voting, in many cases, for a hardline conservative Republican, you’re probably voting for ultimately a moderate Republican.”

“Not always, but a lot of times,” she adds.

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