2022 United States elections

This article documents a current election. Information may change rapidly as the election progresses until official results have been published. Initial news reports may be unreliable, and the last updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. Please feel free to improve this article or discuss changes on the talk page. (November 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

2022 United States elections

← 2020          2021          2022          2023          2024 → Midterm elections
Election day	November 8
Incumbent president	Joe Biden (Democratic)
Next Congress	118th
Senate elections
Overall control	Democratic hold
Seats contested	35 of 100 seats (34 seats of Class III + special elections)
Net seat change	None or Democratic +1
Map of the 2022 Senate races      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      Pending runoff Rectangular inset (Oklahoma): both seats were up for election
House elections
Overall control	Republican gain
Seats contested	All 435 voting seats +5 of 6 non-voting seats
Popular vote margin	Republican +3.0%
Net seat change	Republican +9
Map of the 2022 House races      Democratic gain      Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      Result unknown
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested	39 (36 states, 3 territories)
Net seat change	Democratic +2
Map of the 2022 gubernatorial elections      Democratic gain      Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      Pending runoff      No election

The 2022 United States elections are a set of elections that were (with the exception of absentee balloting) held on November 8, 2022. During this U.S. midterm election, which occurred during the term of incumbent president Joe Biden of the Democratic Party, all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate were contested to determine the 118th United States Congress. Thirty-nine state and territorial U.S. gubernatorial elections, as well as numerous state and local elections, were also contested. This was the first election affected by the 2022 U.S. redistricting that followed the 2020 U.S. census.^[1] The Republican Party won the House by a narrow majority and Democrats retained control of the Senate.^[2][3][4]

While midterm elections typically see the incumbent president's party lose a substantial number of seats in Congress,^[5][6] Democrats dramatically outperformed the historical trend,^[7][8][9] a widely anticipated red wave election did not materialize,^[10] and the race for control was closer than expected.^[11][12][13] Republicans did well in strongholds like Florida, Tennessee, and Texas, and also saw a surge in traditionally Democratic New York, which was enough for them to flip the House with a slight majority; this was somewhat offset by a historic underperformance in critical battlegrounds, in particular in the Senate, where voters rejected Republicans that were backed by Donald Trump or that denied Trump's loss in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, defying election analysts' predictions and expectations of a more Republican-leaning national environment.^[1][11]

Democrats had a net gain of two in the gubernatorial elections, flipping governorships in Arizona,^[14] Maryland, and Massachusetts;^[15] conversely, Republicans flipped Nevada's governorship.^[16] Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida—previously considered one of the nation's most contested swing states—won reelection in an unexpectedly large landslide, leading to analysts calling him the election night's biggest winner as well as the Republican Party's only big win.^[11][17][18] In the state legislative elections, Democrats flipped both chambers of the Michigan Legislature, the Minnesota Senate, and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. As a result of these legislative and gubernatorial results, Democrats gained government trifectas in Michigan for the first time since 1983,^[19] and in Massachusetts, Maryland, and Minnesota for the first time since 2015.^[20]

Six referendums to preserve or expand abortion access uniformly won,^[21][22] including in the states of Kansas,^[a] Kentucky, Michigan, and Montana,^[23] as did those increasing the minimum wage (Nebraska, Nevada, and Washington, D.C.) and expanding Medicaid coverage (South Dakota),^[1][24] while Maryland and Missouri became the latest U.S. states to legalize recreational cannabis.^[25] Voters in Nevada also approved ranked voting over first-past-the-post,^[26] while those in Illinois and Tennessee approved a state contitutional right to collective bargain and a right-to-work law, respectively.^[27][28] All but Louisiana of the five states where it was on the ballot (Alabama, Tennessee, Oregon, and Vermont) abolished slavery in prison.^[1][29][30]

Issues that favored Democrats included, among others, significant concern over extremism and a lack of respect for democratic norms among Republicans, along with abortion rights and a potential Trump 2024 presidential campaign.^[12][13][17] Raised concern over climate change and the relative popularity of Biden's climate policy also played a role.^[31][32][33] Both general turnout and turnout among young voters aged 18–29, which are a strongly Democratic constituency,^[34] were the second-highest (after 2018) of any midterm since 1970.^[35][36] The elections continued demographic trends starting in 2012, in which Republicans made gains among the working class, especially whites but since 2016 also some minorities like Hispanics,^[37] while Democrats continued to improve among affluent and college-educated whites.^[11]

Background

After the 2020 elections, Democrats had a government trifecta at the federal level for the first time since the 111th United States Congress in 2011. This gave them a relatively straightforward path to enacting legislation, but the presence of more centrist or conservative Democrats, namely Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, meant that most of the more expansive and often more progressive legislation was blocked.^[38][39][40] In the White House, Joe Biden started his term out with positive approval ratings,^[41] but as the year progressed with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant and the Fall of Kabul,^[42] and as key legislation stalled,^[43][44] Democrats lost popularity and suffered electoral losses,^[45][46] including an upset loss in the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election,^[47] which were widely characterized as a red wave election and as a prelude to the 2022 midterms.^[48][49] In addition, the incumbent president almost always lose seats in Congress and often at least one chamber or overall control, in particular since the post-war period.^[50][51]

Going into 2022, Republicans capitalized on high inflation,^[52][53] crime,^[54][55][56] and gas prices,^[57][58] and gained a substantial lead in the election climate towards 2022 results similar to the red wave of 2010.^[59] The repeal of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court of the United States in the June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision led to a spike in Democratic voters' fervor, which narrowed the gap, amid better-than-expected election results during this period;^[60] this led some observers to wonder whether the 2022 midterms could break the incumbent president's losses and reflect the 1998 U.S. elections, as well as the 2002 U.S. elections, both of which showed increased support for the incumbent president, amid the impeachment of Bill Clinton (1998) and the aftermath of the September 11 attacks (2002).^[61] By October, Republicans regained a substantial margin in pre-election polls,^[62] which led to widespread predictions for a red wave election in favor of Republicans,^[7][8][9] though polls remained within the margin of error.^[63]

Campaign

Primaries

After suffering losses in 2021,^[64][65][66] progressives within the Democratic Party saw improved but mixed results in 2022, with both progressives and moderates winning important races.^[67][68][69] In 2022, Democratic campaign arms aided radical-right candidates in Republican primary elections, believing they would be easier opponents in the general election.^[70][71] Republican primary candidates who had been endorsed by former president Donald Trump tended to win,^[72] with his support being crucial for many,^[73][74] though his percentage was lower than in previous years, largely due to him taking riskier endorsements.^[75][76] Generally, candidates that received Trump's endorsements were on the far right and those who supported his false claims that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.^[77] Trump issued primary endorsements to 37 candidates who ran in the general elections in November that were rated as competitive by The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter.^[78]

Issues

Economy

Voters suffered from historically high consumer prices,^[79][80][81] gas prices,^[82] and interest rates,^[83][84] which Republicans blamed on Biden's and Democratic policies,^[85][86][87] as well as government spending;^[88] Democrats argued that it was linked to the global surge of inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic-related supply chain issues, and the war in Ukraine.^[88] The economy, inflation in particular,^[81][89] remained the top issue for voters throughout 2022.^[90][91][92]

Abortion

Following the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022,^[93] Democrats outperformed Biden's results in the 2020 U.S. presidential election in several House special elections, with abortion cited as a major contributor to their victories,^[94] as many Republican-controlled states passed restrictive abortion laws, including a total or near-total ban on the procedure.^[88] Democrats tried to pass a federal law to protect the right to abortion but did not have enough support in the Senate, and abortion was prioritized as an issue for the general elections.^[88]

The Dobbs ruling made abortion more important for voters,^[86] with a rise in support among women for the Democratic Party coming after the decision,^[95] and at least six states had an abortion-related ballot initiative, the most ever in a single year.^[96] Additionally, Republicans suffered from internal division on the issue. Lindsey Graham, who was not up for reelection in 2022, introduced a federal bill to ban abortions after 15 weeks; most Republicans argued that abortion regulations should be left to the states,^[88] and Graham's proposal received a mixed response among Republicans.^[97] Despite controlling the state legislature, an anti-abortion law failed to pass in South Carolina because Republicans could not agree on how restrictive it should be.^[98]

Crime and gun violence

Mass shootings made gun violence and crime more important issues for voters,^{[99][100][101]} in particular after the Robb Elementary School shooting in May 2022,^[56] which is common in the aftermath of school shootings.^[102][103] The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which passed in June 2022, provided extended gun-safety laws and was touted by Biden and Democrats.^[104] Despite this, Republicans maintained a lead among voters who cited crime as a major issue.^[105][106]

Republicans blamed the increase in violent crime and homicides in 2020 and 2021 on progressives and liberals, as well as attempts to "defund the police",^[107] a slogan supported by racial justice protesters but eventually rejected by Biden.^[88] In a June 2022 Supreme Court decision, the Roberts Court further expanded the right to keep and bear arms in the United States.^[108] Democrats pushed for stricter gun laws, including a ban on assault weapons, while Republicans sought to protect legal access to guns and the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.^[88]

Democracy

Democrats said that Trumpist supporters have grown increasingly authoritarian or "semi-fascist",^{[109][110][111]} as Biden had called them in August and September 2022,^{[112][113][114]} since Trump and many Republicans continue to contest the results of the 2020 presidential election;^[88] as recently as September 2022, Trump said he should be reinstated as president.^[88] Democrats also argued that Republicans regaining power would harm U.S. governance, citing the many Republican candidates who denied the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election,^[88] which news outlets tracked. As of July 2022, at least 120 Republican candidates were 2020 election deniers, a majority of whom ran for the House.^[115] During the party primaries, Republican candidates alleged fraud irrespective of the results; among those who did so and later won the party nomination, Kari Lake said: "We out-voted the fraud."^[116] During the general election campaign, Lake refused to say that she would accept the result if she does not win the election,^[1] stating that she was "going to win the election, and I will accept that result."^[117]

The Democratic Party filed lawsuits to remove Green Party candidates from the ballot, most notably the North Carolina Green Party candidate Matthew Hoh in the 2022 United States Senate election in North Carolina,^{[118][119][120]} citing an ongoing investigation into the party for fraudulant signatures.^[121] Their warning that the Greens could divide progressive voters and give Republicans wins in tight races nonetheless received widespread criticism,^[122] and Hoh appeared on the ballott.^[123]

Education

Republicans argued for parents having more control over what their children are taught in schools,^[88] being concerned in particular by discussions on topics such as race,^[124] gender identity, and sexuality.^[125] Democrats dismissed these concerns as a push for censorship, saying that it would especially harm LGBT students.^[88] This came amid increased efforts among Republicans to ban books that discuss those topics, in particular in Republican-controlled states like Florida.^[126]

Twenty Republican candidates promulgated the litter boxes in schools hoax, which emerged largely as backlash against recognition of gender variance in schools.^[127][128] House minority leader Kevin McCarthy vowed to "recover lost learning from school closures" during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.^[88]

Climate change

In this election, climate change was a significant issue.^[129][130] 71% of voters considered climate change as a serious problem,^[33] even though there were differences in the level of concern. One poll showed that for 51% of voters climate change was one of the more important issues.^[131] According to another poll, 64% of people of color were more likely to vote for a candidate that is addressing climate change as one of the three most important points in their agenda.^[132] A third poll showed that 9% of voters considered climate change as the most important issue.^[133] Progressive Democrats pushed for legislation to combat the negative effects of climate change, including incentives towards the adoption of renewable energy and electric cars.^[88] In August 2022, Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, which also included climate change-related policies to address it.^[134]

Immigration

Biden revoked some of Trump's anti-immigration policies but not others,^[88] and Republicans pledged to continue Trump's hardline policies.^[135][136] An increase of over 385% in border encounters from 2020 to 2022 gave Republicans an edge over Democrats, as Republicans blamed it on Biden and Democrats,^[88] and polling showed that voters moderately preferred Republicans over Democrats for solving immigration problems.^{[137][138][139]}

In a September 2022 political stunt, Florida governor Ron DeSantis had migrants sent to Martha's Vineyard.^{[140][141][142]} This was also done by Republican governors in Arizona and Florida who sent migrants to northerner, more liberal states,^[143] which was criticized by Biden, Democrats, and migrant rights groups as a "cruel political theatre".^[88]

Student loan forgiveness

Since Biden revealed a plan for student loan forgiveness in August 2022 through an executive order based upon the Higher Education Relief Opportunities For Students Act of 2003,^[144][145] both parties sought electoral gains from the decision, with Democrats potentially attracting young voters who would benefit from the program, and Republicans targeting blue-collar workers who likely did not go to college and would be unwilling to help subsidize the education debts of others.^[146] A majority of voters were found to support student loan forgiveness in the run-up to the election.^[147][148]

During the election campaign, conservatives and Republicans attempted to find plaintliffs,^[149] as part of an effort to sue the Biden administration over the proposal, and take the case to the Supreme Court;^{[150][151][152]} this temporarily blocked the plan, which included cancelling up to $10,000 of student debt for those making less than $125,000 a year and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients,^[153][154] as the courts will have to consider legal challanges.^{[155][156][157]} In November 2022, a federal judge in Texas stuck down Biden's student loan plan.^[158] In response, Biden extended a moratorium on the plan from January 2023 to June 2023.^[159]

Presidency of Joe Biden

Republicans were benefiting from Biden's low U.S. presidential approval ratings,^[86] hovering from 30–40% for much of the year.^[160][161] His ratings briefly increased after several legislative victories in August and September 2022;^[162][163] by October, they again plateaued when voters focused back on the state of the economy.^[164][165]

Russian invasion of Ukraine

The Russian invasion of Ukraine was the major foreign policy issue,^{[166][167][168]} shifting support for Biden and highlighting the Republican Party's perceived support for Russia and Vladimir Putin.^{[169][170][171]} One day before election day, Russian entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was in the center of accusations of hidden propaganda activities by the Russian government, in regard to Russian interference in U.S. elections, wrote on Vkontakte: "We have interfered, we are interfering and we will continue to interfere."^[172]

Campaign spending

With a total of almost 17 billion U.S. dollars in expenditure, the election campaigns for the 2022 midterm elections were the most expensive in the history of the United States.^[173]

Federal elections

Senate elections

Control of Senate seats by class after the 2022 elections

Class	Democratic	Independent	Republican	TBD	Next elections
1	21	2	10	0	2024
2	13	0	20	0	2026
3	14	0	19	1[b]	2028
Total	48	2[c]	49	1	—

Thirty-five of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate were up for election, including all 34 Class 3 Senator seats. Concurrent with the regularly scheduled Class 3 elections, a special election was held to fill a Class 2 vacancy in Oklahoma. As senators serve six-year terms, the last regularly scheduled elections for Class 3 senators were held in 2016. The winners of the Senate elections will be sworn in on January 3, 2023, for the 118th U.S. Congress. Going into the election, Democrats and Republicans both held 50 seats,^[c] but Democrats had a majority due to their control of the vice presidency, which has the power to break ties in the Senate.^[1] In the Senate elections, Republicans defended 21 seats, including six seats left open by retirements. Democrats defended fourteen seats, one of which was an open seat.^[174]

This was the third consecutive midterm election in the incumbent president's first term in which the party not occupying the White House was able to win control of the House but was unable to win the Senate. Democrats performed better than expected in New Hampshire,^[1] Pennsylvania, where they gained a seat (the sole flipping seat), and Nevada,^[175][176] which allowed them to retain control of the Senate, with the possibility of an increased majority if they win the runoff election in Georgia on December 6, 2022.^[1][177]

Special elections

Two special elections took place in 2022 to replace senators who resigned during the 117th U.S. Congress:^[178]

• California Class 3: Incumbent Kamala Harris was elected as Vice President of the United States and resigned from the Senate on January 18, 2021, to take office also as the ex officio President of the Senate.^[179] Governor Gavin Newsom used his power to appoint the secretary of state of California, Alex Padilla, to succeed her. A special election to fill the remaining weeks of Harris's tenure was held on November 8, 2022, the same day as the regular election for a six-year term, as a writ proclaimed by Newsom.^[180][181] Padilla won both the special election and the regularly scheduled election.^[182]
• Oklahoma Class 2: Incumbent Jim Inhofe announced in February 2022 that he would resign from the Senate at the end of the 117th Congress on January 3, 2023. A special election to fill the remaining four years of his term was held on November 8, 2022, concurrently with the regular election for the Class 3 seat, held by James Lankford.^[183] Republican Congressman Markwayne Mullin won the special election to fill the remainder of Inhofe's term.^[184]

House of Representatives elections

All 435 voting seats in the U.S. House of Representatives were up for election. Forty-nine representatives and one non-voting delegate (30 Democrats, 20 Republicans) did not seek re-election, and three seats were vacant at the time of the election. The incumbents in the 2022 elections were determined in the 2020 U.S. House of Representatives elections and subsequent special elections. These elections were the first conducted after the 2020 U.S. redistricting cycle, causing several districts to lack an incumbent or have multiple incumbents. Democrats held a 220–212 majority at the time of the election.^[185] The race was competitive and closer than expected,^[1] with Republicans projected to gain control of the chamber a week later with a slim majority.^[4]

Special elections

Nine special elections were held in 2022:^[186]

• Florida's 20th congressional district: Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick defeated Republican Jason Mariner to succeed Democrat Alcee Hastings, who died on April 6, 2021, from pancreatic cancer.^{[187][188][189]} The district has a partisan index of D+28.^[190]
• California's 22nd congressional district: Republican Connie Conway defeated Democrat Lourin Hubbard in a runoff to succeed Republican Devin Nunes, who resigned on January 1, 2022, to become CEO of the Trump Media & Technology Group.^[191][192] The district has a partisan index of R+6.^[190]
• Texas's 34th congressional district: Republican Mayra Flores defeated Democrat Dan Sanchez to succeed Democrat Filemon Vela Jr., who resigned on March 31, 2022, to work for Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.^[193] The district has a partisan index of D+5.^[190]
• Nebraska's 1st congressional district: Republican Mike Flood defeated Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks to succeed Republican Jeff Fortenberry, who resigned on March 31, 2022, after he was indicted and arrested for lying to the FBI about campaign contributions.^[194] The district has a partisan index of R+11.^[190]
• Minnesota's 1st congressional district: Republican Brad Finstad defeated Democrat Jeff Ettinger to succeed Republican Jim Hagedorn, who died on February 17, 2022, from kidney cancer.^[195][196] The district has a partisan index of R+8.^[190]
• Alaska's at-large congressional district: Democrat Mary Peltola defeated Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III to succeed Republican Don Young, who died on March 18, 2022.^[197] The district has a partisan index of R+9.^[190]
• New York's 19th congressional district: Democrat Pat Ryan defeated Republican Marc Molinaro to succeed Democrat Antonio Delgado, who resigned on May 25, 2022, to become Lieutenant Governor of New York.^[198] The district has a partisan index of R+3.^[190]
• New York's 23rd congressional district: Republican Joe Sempolinski defeated Democrat Max Della Pia to succeed Republican Tom Reed, who resigned on May 10, 2022, amid sexual assault allegations.^[199] The district has a partisan index of R+9.^[190]
• Indiana's 2nd congressional district: Republican Rudy Yakym defeated Democrat Paul Steury to succeed Republican Jackie Walorski, who died on August 3, 2022, in a traffic collision.^[200] The district has a partisan index of R+13.^[190]

State elections

Gubernatorial elections

Elections were held for the governorships of 36 U.S. states and three insular areas. As most governors serve four-year terms, the last regularly scheduled elections for most seats up for election in 2022 were held in 2018. The governors of New Hampshire and Vermont each serve two-year terms, so incumbents in these two states were determined in 2020. Prior to the election, Republicans held a total of 28 seats, 20 of which were up for election in 2022, and Democrats held 22 seats, 16 of which were up for election.^[201] Democrats picked up the seats of retiring and term-limited Republican incumbents in Arizona, Maryland, and Massachusetts, while Alaska remains uncalled.^[202]

Democratic incumbents won high-profile contests in Michigan and Wisconsin, while Democrat Josh Shapiro's defeat of Republican Doug Mastriano allowed Democrats to retain control of Pennsylvania's gubernatorial office. A Democratic incumbent also prevailed in a closely contested race in Kansas, while the party held onto Oregon in another closely contested race. Meanwhile, Republican incumbents won reelection in major races in Florida, Georgia, and Texas.^[202] Democrats made a further gain in Arizona,^[14] which set the record for most female governors in U.S. history.^[203][204] The sole gain for Republicans was in Nevada,^[16] where Joe Lombardo narrowly defeated the incumbent Democratic governor Steve Sisolak.^[205][206]

Other state executive elections

Various state-wide executive positions across several states held elections in 2022. State attorneys general were elected in thirty U.S. states, three territories, and one federal district. The previous elections for this group of states took place in 2018.^[207] The attorney general of Vermont serves two-year terms and was last elected in 2020.^[208] While Democrats flipped Vermont and Charity Clark became the state's first female attorney general,^[209][210] one notable Republican upset was Brenna Bird's narrow win over Tom Miller,^[211] the incumbent Democratic attorney general of Iowa and the longest-serving state attorney general in U.S. history.^[1][212]

Secretaries of state were elected in twenty-seven U.S. states. The previous elections for this group of states took place in 2018.^[213] The secretary of state of Vermont serves two-year terms and was last elected in 2020.^[214] State treasurers and equivalents were elected in twenty-seven U.S. states, plus a special election in Utah. The previous elections for this group of states took place in 2018.^[215] The treasurer of Vermont serves two-year terms and was last elected in 2020.^[216]

State judicial elections

Numerous states held judicial elections in 2022.^[217] Republicans gained a majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court by picking up two seats, raising the possibility of mid-decade redistricting. In another election with major redistricting implications, Republicans retained a majority on the Supreme Court of Ohio.^[218][219]

Legislative elections

In 2022, 46 states held regularly scheduled elections in 88 legislative chambers, although not all seats were up in the legislatures holding elections, as some states use staggered terms. Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia did not hold regularly scheduled state legislative elections, as those states all hold such elections in odd-numbered years. The District of Columbia and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands also held legislative elections in 2022. As in the U.S. House of Representatives, these elections were the first conducted after the 2020 U.S. census and the 2022 U.S. redistricting. Prior to the election, Republicans controlled 60 legislative chambers, Democrats controlled 37 chambers, and a cross-party coalition controlled the Alaska House of Representatives.^{[d][220][221]}

Democrats successfully defended every legislative chamber they had held prior to the election, the first time the president's party accomplished this feat in a midterm since the 1934 U.S. elections.^[222] Democrats picked up the Pennsylvania House of Representatives,^[223] the Minnesota Senate, and both state legislative chambers in Michigan;^[224] Democrats had not controlled the Michigan Senate since 1984,^[225] one reason being that although Democrats won the popular several times, Republicans continued to win more seats due to a more favorable map, which was redrawn by an independent commission in 2018 following a successful ballot measure.^[19] As a result of victories in state legislative and gubernatorial elections, Democrats gained government trifectas in Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Minnesota.^[222] In addition, Republicans lost a trifecta in Arizona, which they held since 2009,^[226] while Democrats lost a trifecta in Nevada. Following the election, although Republicans held trifectas in more states, more people lived in Democratic-controlled states than in Republican-controlled states.^[227]

Though Republican governor Phil Scott won reelection, Democrats gained a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers of the Vermont General Assembly.^[222] Republicans gained supermajorities in the Wisconsin Senate, the North Carolina Senate, the South Carolina House of Representatives, and both chambers of the Florida Legislature.^[228] At the same time, the Republican Party fell short of attaining a supermajority in the Wisconsin State Assembly and the North Carolina House of Representatives,^[229] meaning that Democratic governors in both states will retain the ability to veto legislation that is passed without Democratic support.^[230][231]

Referendums

Of the many proposed for 2022,^[232] 132 ballot measures were certified in 37 states.^[233] In response to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that held there was no constitutional right to abortion in the United States and gave individual states the full power to regulate any aspect of abortion, six states had an abortion‑related ballot measure: California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont.^[96] During the August primaries, 59% of Kansas voters rejected their state's Value Them Both Amendment, which would have removed the right to an abortion from the Kansas Constitution.^[234] California voters considered Proposition 1 during the general election,^[235][236] which was approved,^[27] and amended the Constitution of California to explicitly grant the right to an abortion and contraceptives.^[1]

In Nebraska, Nevada, and Washington, D.C., voters approved to increase the minimum wage,^[1] which was in line with most such measures being approved regardless of U.S. state partisanship;^[24] Republicans had pushed for ballot measures to be made harder to be certified or approved,^[237] one such attempt (requiring 60 percent for any ballot measure to pass) failed in Arkansas.^[27] Among electoral reform ballot measures,^[238][239] voters in Nevada also approved to replace the traditional primary system and first-past-the-post voting with top-five ranked-choice voting statewide,^[26] though they will need to confirm the measure in 2024 for it to take effect by 2026, as it would change the state constitution;^[240] unlike the other ballot measues, this was opposed by both Democrats and Republicans.^{[241][242][243]} In Arizona, voters approved a ballot measure that limited medical debt interest rates.^[24] In South Dakota, voters approved to expand Medicaid coverage as part of the Affordable Care Act.^[1][244] In Tennessee, voters voted on Amendment 1,^[245] which would amend the Constitution of Tennessee to make it illegal for workplaces to require employees to be members of labor unions as a condition for employment;^[1] voters in Tennessee approved for the state to have a right-to-work law,^[27] while those in Illinois approved for a state constitutional right to collective bargaining.^[28]

In five states, voters were asked to make the possession and use of marijuana legal for people 21 and older.^[246] In Maryland and Missouri, the measures were approved,^[25] while voters in Arkansas, as well as in North and South Dakota, rejected legalization. In Colorado, voters approved the decriminalization and regulation of certain psychedelic plants and fungi.^[1] Of the five states where it was on the ballot,^[247] Alabama, Tennessee, Oregon, and Vermont abolished slavery in prisons;^[24] it did not pass in Louisiana.^[1][29][30]

Local elections

Mayoral elections

A number of major U.S. cities have held mayoral elections in 2022.^[248]

• Los Angeles, California: On November 8, representative Karen Bass defeated businessman Rick Caruso in a runoff election, succeeding two-term incumbent Eric Garcetti.^[e]
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: On February 8, one-term incumbent David Holt won reelection against Frank Urbanic and Carol Hefner.
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin: On April 5, acting mayor Cavalier Johnson won the special election to a full term against Bob Donovan.
• Norman, Oklahoma: On April 5, one-term incumbent Breea Clark lost reelection in a runoff against Larry Heikkila.
• Columbia, Missouri: On April 5, Barbara Buffaloe narrowly defeated Randy Minchew, succeeding two-term incumbent Brian Treece.
• Denton, Texas: On May 7, one-term incumbent Gerard Hudspeth won reelection against Paul Meltzer.
• Newark, New Jersey: On May 10, two-term incumbent Ras Baraka won reelection against Sheila Montague.
• Charlotte, North Carolina: On July 26, two-term incumbent Vi Lyles won reelection against Stephanie de Sarachaga-Bilbao.

Eligible

• Lexington, Kentucky: Incumbent Republican Linda Gorton won reelection against Democrat David Kloiber.^[249]
• Fort Smith, Arkansas: Incumbent Democrat George McGill won reelection unopposed.^[250]
• Little Rock, Arkansas: Incumbent Democrat Frank Scott Jr. won reelection against Republican Steve Landers.^[251]
• Raleigh, North Carolina: Incumbent Democrat Mary-Ann Baldwin won reelection against Terrance Ruth.^[252]
• Reno, Nevada: Incumbent independent Hillary Schieve won reelection against Eddie Lorton.^[253]
• San Bernardino, California: Helen Tran defeated Jim Penman for the mayor’s seat.^[254]
• Shreveport, Louisiana: Incumbent Democrat Adrian Perkins lost reelection. Republican Tom Arceneaux and Democrat Gregory Tarver advanced to the December 10 runoff.^[255]
• Tallahassee, Florida: Incumbent Democrat John E. Dailey won reelection against Kristin Dozier.^[256]
• Washington, D.C.: Incumbent Democrat Muriel Bowser won reelection against independent Rodney Grant and Republican Stacia Hall.^[257]

Ineligible or retiring

• Anaheim, California: Incumbent Republican Harry Sidhu resigned amid a federal corruption investigation into his office.^[258][259]
• Augusta, Georgia: Garnett Johnson defeated Steven Kendrick to succeed Hardie Davis.
• Austin, Texas: Incumbent Democrat Steve Adler is ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits.
• Chula Vista, California: Incumbent Democrat Mary Salas is ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits.
• Henderson, Nevada: Incumbent Democrat Debra March is ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits.
• Laredo, Texas: City Councilman Mercurio Martinez III and doctor Victor Trevino advanced to a December 10 runoff to succeed Democrat Pete Saenz.
• Long Beach, California: Rex Richardson won the election against Suzie Price to succeed Robert Garcia.^[260]
• Los Angeles, California: Incumbent Democrat Eric Garcetti is ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits.^[f]
• Louisville, Kentucky: Democrat Craig Greenberg won the election against Republican Bill Dieruf to succeed Greg Fischer.
• Lubbock, Texas: Incumbent Republican Dan Pope is retiring.^[261]
• Newport News, Virginia: Incumbent independent McKinley L. Price is retiring.^[262]
• North Las Vegas, Nevada: Incumbent Republican John Jay Lee is retiring to run for governor of Nevada.^[263]
• Oakland, California: Incumbent Democrat Libby Schaaf is ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits.
• Providence, Rhode Island: Brett Smiley, a Democrat, won the election to succeed Jorge Elorza unopposed.
• San Jose, California: Incumbent Democrat Sam Liccardo is ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits.

County elections

• Cook County, Illinois: Assessor, Clerk, Sheriff, Treasurer, Board of Commissioners, Board of Review, Water Reclamation District Board, Circuit Court
• Cuyahoga County, Ohio: Executive, Council
• Hennepin County, Minnesota: Attorney
• Los Angeles County, California: Sheriff, Assessor, Board of Supervisors, Superior Court
• Orange County, California: District Attorney, Board of Supervisors

Tribal elections

Several notable Native American tribes are holding elections for tribal executive positions during 2022. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska reelected tribal president Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson to a fifth term;^[264] Lynn "Nay" Valbuena was also elected to serve a fifth term as chair of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.^[265] Terry Rambler won election to a fourth consecutive term as chair of the San Carlos Apache Tribe.^[266] Osage Nation principal chief Geoffrey Standing Bear,^[267] tribal council chief Beverly Kiohawiton Cook of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe,^[268] Mark Fox of the Three Affiliated Tribes,^[269] and Jamie Azure of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians,^[270] as well as Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Chairperson Cheryl Andrews-Maltais,^[271] were all reelected to third terms. Chairman Marshalle Pierite of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe,^[272] the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma chief Craig Harper,^[273] as well as Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation tribal chairman Joseph Rupnik,^[274] were all reelected to a second term. Also re-elected were Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community president Martin Harvier and Quapaw Nation chairman Joseph Byrd.^[265][275] Bill Sterud was reelected as chair of the Puyallup Tribe; he first joined the Puyallup Tribal Council in 1978.^[276]

Brad KillsCrow was elected to his first full term as chief of the Delaware Tribe of Indians.^[277] Reid D. Milanovich was elected chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, replacing the retiring Jeff Grubbe.^[278] Clayton Dumont Jr. won an open seat to become chairman of the Klamath Tribes,^[279] Arden L. Kucate was elected governor of the Pueblo of Zuni,^[265] and Kimberly Jenkins was elected chair of the Kaw Nation.^[280] In the Wabanaki Confederacy, the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Motahkmikuk re-elected William Nicholas to a fourth term as chief, chief Kirk Francis was elected to serve a sixth term as head of the Penobscot Nation, and tribal representative Rena Newell was elected chief of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik, ousting chief Maggie Dana.^[281][282]

Several tribal leaders were defeated when seeking reelection. Buu Nygren defeated Jonathan Nez to become president of the Navajo Nation; Nygren's running mate, Richelle Montoya, is the first woman elected as Navajo Nation vice president.^[283] Lora Ann Chaisson defeated August "Cocoa" Creppel in the election for principal chief of the United Houma Nation.^[284] Kasey Velasquez defeated chairwoman Gwendena Lee-Gatwood to become the second woman elected to lead the White Mountain Apache Tribe.^[285] RoseMary LaClair defeated incumbent Nooksack Indian Tribe chairman Roswell Cline Sr.^[286] Former Red Lake Band of Chippewa chairman Floyd "Buck" Jourdain defeated incumbent chairman Darrell Seki Sr.^[287] Ryman LeBeau defeated incumbent Harold Fraizer to become chairman-at-large of the Cheyenne River Sioux.^[288]

Table of state, territorial, and federal results

This table shows the partisan results of president, congressional, gubernatorial, and state legislative races held in each state and territory in 2022. Note that not all states and territories hold gubernatorial, state legislative, and Senate elections in 2022. The five U.S. territories and Washington, D.C., do not elect members of the Senate, and the territories do not take part in presidential elections; instead, they each elect one of the six non-voting members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The unicameral Nebraska Legislature and the governorship and legislature of American Samoa are elected on a non-partisan basis, and political party affiliation is not listed.^[190]

State/Territory	2022 PVI[190]	Before 2022 elections				After 2022 elections
		Governor	State leg.	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Governor	State leg.	U.S. Senate	U.S. House
Alabama	R+15	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 6–1	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 6–1
Alaska	R+8	Rep	Split[g]	Rep	Dem 1–0	Rep		Rep	Dem 1–0
Arizona	R+2	Rep	Rep	Dem	Dem 5–4	Dem	Rep	Dem	Rep 6–3
Arkansas	R+16	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 4–0	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 4–0
California	D+13	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 42–11	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 40–12
Colorado	D+4	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 4–3	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 5–3
Connecticut	D+7	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 5–0	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 5–0
Delaware	D+7	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 1–0	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 1–0
Florida	R+3	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 16–11	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 20–8
Georgia	R+3	Rep	Rep	Dem	Rep 8–6	Rep	Rep	Runoff	Rep 9–5
Hawaii	D+14	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 2–0	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 2–0
Idaho	R+18	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 2–0	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 2–0
Illinois	D+7	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 13–5	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 14–3
Indiana	R+11	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 7–2	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 7–2
Iowa	R+6	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 3–1	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 4–0
Kansas	R+10	Dem	Rep	Rep	Rep 3–1	Dem	Rep	Rep	Rep 3–1
Kentucky	R+16	Dem	Rep	Rep	Rep 5–1	Dem	Rep	Rep	Rep 5–1
Louisiana	R+12	Dem	Rep	Rep	Rep 5–1	Dem	Rep	Rep	Rep 5–1
Maine	D+2	Dem	Dem	Split R/I[h]	Dem 2–0	Dem	Dem	Split R/I[h]	Dem 2–0
Maryland	D+14	Rep	Dem	Dem	Dem 7–1	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 7–1
Massachusetts	D+15	Rep	Dem	Dem	Dem 9–0	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 9–0
Michigan	R+1	Dem	Rep	Dem	Split 7–7	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 7–6
Minnesota	D+1	Dem	Split	Dem	Split 4–4	Dem	Dem	Dem	Split 4–4
Mississippi	R+11	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 3–1	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 3–1
Missouri	R+10	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 6–2	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 6–2
Montana	R+11	Rep	Rep	Split	Rep 1–0	Rep	Rep	Split	Rep 2–0
Nebraska	R+13	Rep	NP[i]	Rep	Rep 3–0	Rep	NP[i]	Rep	Rep 3–0
Nevada	R+1	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 3–1	Rep	Dem	Dem	Dem 3–1
New Hampshire	D+1	Rep	Rep	Dem	Dem 2–0	Rep		Dem	Dem 2–0
New Jersey	D+6	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 10–2	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 9–3
New Mexico	D+3	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 2–1	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 3–0
New York	D+10	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 19–8	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 15–11
North Carolina	R+3	Dem	Rep	Rep	Rep 8–5	Dem	Rep	Rep	Split 7–7
North Dakota	R+20	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 1–0	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 1–0
Ohio	R+6	Rep	Rep	Split	Rep 12–4	Rep	Rep	Split	Rep 10–5
Oklahoma	R+20	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 5–0	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 5–0
Oregon	D+6	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 4–1	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 4–2
Pennsylvania	R+2	Dem	Rep	Split	Split 9–9	Dem	Split	Dem	Dem 9–8
Rhode Island	D+8	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 2–0	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 2–0
South Carolina	R+8	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 6–1	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 6–1
South Dakota	R+16	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 1–0	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 1–0
Tennessee	R+14	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 7–2	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 8–1
Texas	R+5	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 24–12	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 25–13
Utah	R+13	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 4–0	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 4–0
Vermont	D+16	Rep	Dem	Split D/I[j]	Dem 1–0	Rep	Dem	Split D/I[j]	Dem 1–0
Virginia	D+3	Rep	Split	Dem	Dem 7–4	Rep	Split	Dem	Dem 6–5
Washington	D+8	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 7–3	Dem	Dem	Dem	Dem 8–2
West Virginia	R+22	Rep	Rep	Split	Rep 3–0	Rep	Rep	Split	Rep 2–0
Wisconsin	R+2	Dem	Rep	Split	Rep 5–3	Dem	Rep	Split	Rep 6–2
Wyoming	R+25	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 1–0	Rep	Rep	Rep	Rep 1–0
United States	Even	Rep 28–22	Rep 29–17–3[g]	Dem 50–50	Dem 220–212	Rep 26–24	Rep 27–19–3	Dem 50–49	Rep 222–213
Washington, D.C.	D+43	Dem[k]	Dem[k]	—	Dem	Dem[k]	Dem[k]	—	Dem
American Samoa	—	NP/D[l]	NP		Rep	NP/D[l]	NP		Rep
Guam		Dem	Dem		Dem	Dem	Dem		Rep
N. Mariana Islands		Rep	Split[m]		Dem[n]	Runoff			Dem
Puerto Rico		PNP/D[o]	PDP		PNP/R[p]	PNP/D[o]	PDP		PNP/R[p]
U.S. Virgin Islands		Dem	Dem		Dem	Dem	Dem		Dem
State/Territory	PVI	Governor	State leg.	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Governor	State leg.	U.S. Senate	U.S. House
		Before 2022 elections				After 2022 elections

Aftermath

Results

The race for Congress was closer than expected;^{[289][290][291]} control of Congress remained uncertain for several days, and the House remained too close to call for over a week,^[4] which was not thought to be likely in a national environment favorable to the Republican Party.^[1] Organizations that make election calls projected on November 12 that the Democratic Party retained control of the Senate,^[2][3] while later projecting on November 15–16 that Republicans gained control over the House with a slim majority.^{[4][292][293]}

Democrats lost fewer seats than expected and the average for the president's party since the 1950s in the House and made gains in the Senate, even though the president's party usually lose many seats in the midterm elections;^[5][6] it was the best performance for the president's party in a midterm election in two decades in terms of seat losses,^[6] and historically good when considering Biden's underwater approval ratings.^[294] In addition, Democrats gained a Senate seat in Pennsylvania where John Fetterman defeated Mehmet Oz,^[295] winning the seat of retiring Republican Senator Pat Toomey,^[296][297] while Georgia will hold a runoff election after no candidate won a majority of the vote.^[298][299] Many factors have been attributed to the lack of a red wave and better-than-expected perfomance for Democrats,^{[1][300][301]} including the quality of candidates,^[302] as well as youth turnout.^[10][34] Incumbent president Joe Biden, a Democrat, and incumbent Florida governor Ron DeSantis of the Republican Party, as well as reproductive rights, have been widely considered as the biggest winners,^[303] while former president Donald Trump was considered to be the biggest loser by the election results.^{[295][304][305]} Sean Patrick Maloney, the chair of the Democratic House coalition's fundraising arm, lost his reelection bid after ten years in Congress.^[303]

Democrats made gains at the gubernational level. In the 2022 Maryland gubernatorial election, Wes Moore, a Democrat, became the state's first African-American governor, while the 2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial election and 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election resulted in Maura Healey and Tina Kotek, both Democrats, becoming the first open lesbian governors in U.S. history.^[306] Gretchen Whitmer, the incumbent Democrat, won the 2022 Michigan gubernatorial election. On the Republican side, incumbent governors performed well. Greg Abbott won the 2022 Texas gubernatorial election, while Brian Kemp won the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election; in both cases, they defeated opponents, Beto O'Rourke and Stacey Abrams, who had lost by narrower margins in 2018.^[1][15][305] In the 2022 Florida gubernatorial election, DeSantis won in a landside, challenging the state's battleground status;^[11][17][18] results showed that he performed better than other Republicans among Hispanics,^[307] who got mixed results.^[308] Both parties elected female governors, resulting in the most female governors in U.S. history.^[309] Incumbent Laura Kelly of the Democratic Party narrowly won the 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election, while Sarah Huckabee Sanders of the Republican Party won the 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election.^[1] Despite losses, Republicans gained control of governorship in Nevada, where Republican challenger Joe Lombardo had defeated the Democratic incumbent Steve Sisolak,^[1] while the Democratic candidate Katie Hobbs won over the Republican candidate Kari Lake in Arizona.^[310]

In state legislative elections, Democrats gained full control of government in Minnesota and made gains in Pennsylvania,^[20] where a more neutral, independent redrawn map (like in Michigan) gave them a shot to regain control of the state legislatrure.^[229] In one of the most historic results of the night, Democrats gained a trifecta in Michigan for the first time since 1983.^[311] For over a week, control of the state legislatures of Alaska,^[312] Arizona, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania was not determined.^[225] In Pennsylvania, Republicans retained control of the Senate but the House was too close;^[313] by November 16, Democrats regained control of the House for the first time since 2010.^[314][315] Referendums to preserve or expand abortion access won in all six states where they were on the ballot: California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont.^[21][22][23] Those related to increasing the minimum wage (Nebraska, Nevada, and Washington, D.C.) and expanding Medicaid coverage (South Dakota) also passed,^[24] while those related to cannabis legalization, some of which for medical uses and some for recreational usage, achieved mixed results.^[1][25]

Reactions

Biden described the results as a "strong night" for Democrats,^[8] and he urged for cooperation in Congress.^[316] Senator Lindsey Graham commented: "It's certainly not a red wave, that's for darn sure. But it is clear that we will take back the House."^[317] On November 9, when the results for the House were still uncertain, the Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy launched his bid to succeed long-time House Democrats leader Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. In a letter asking for support among Republicans, he wrote: "I trust you know that earning the majority is only the beginning. Now, we will be measured by what we do with our majority. Now the real work begins."^[316] On November 17, after Republicans were projected to win back the House, Pelosi announched that she would not seek reelection as speaker.^[318]

Analysis

Polls both prior to and after the elections found that the status of the economy and inflation was the most important issue for voters,^[52][319] with concern about abortion being relatively low compared to them,^[10] and it was widely expected that this would benefit Republicans and potentially produce a red wave election in their favor,^[7][8][9] which did not happen.^[1][320] The lack of a red wave election was attributed in part to issues that favored Democrats,^[7][8][9] including significant concern over extremism among Republicans and the democratic backsliding in the United States that worsened since Trump won in 2016, abortion rights and the status of abortion in the United States since June 2022 after Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned the long-held precedent since 1972 of Roe v. Wade that gave a constitutional right to abortion,^[1][10][11] and the imminent announcement of the Trump campaign for the 2024 U.S. presidential election.^[12][13] Increasing concerns over climate change and the higher approval of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 compared to the previous climate policy also played a role in it,^[31][32][33] as did turnout. Whether youth turnout in particular helped to explain the results was also debated.^[10]

The elections reflected trends that approximately started in 2012, in which the white American working-class, and since 2016 also some minorities,^[37] in particular those who are working class or Hispanic and Latino Americans, moved even more towards Republicans,^[321] while affluent and college-educated whites continued to move towards Democrats.^[11] Democrats performed better than expected in states like New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and performed well in Colorado and New England, while Republicans made gains in Florida and New York. Redistricting and gerrymandering also affected results; in New York, where Democrats suffered major losses, a gerrymander had been rejected by the courts, while gerrymanders in Florida and Tennessee gave Republicans more seats by virtue of the redistricted map being much more Republican-leaning.^[1]

Close results

The race for Congress was competitive and closer than expected,^[1][322] as control of the House remained uncalled for over a week,^[4] with the outcome of several races in western states uncertain.^{[323][324][325]} while the Senate also remained too close to call.^[319][320] By November 11, control of the Senate remained too close to call but with Democrats slightly favored,^[1] as they made a gain in Pennsylvania's open race,^[295] where John Fetterman defeated Mehmet Oz in an upset,^[326] while three races remained uncalled, all of which are Democratic-held;^[1] races had not yet been called in Arizona and Nevada.^[1] Democrats had to win two of these three races to maintain control of the Senate, and will have to defend their net gain in the Georgia competitive runoff election in December 2022.^{[1][327][328]}

By November 12, Democrats had retained the Senate,^[329] as the Democratic incumbents in Arizona and Nevada (Mark Kelly and Catherine Cortez Masto) were projected to have retained their seat.^[1][2][3] The winner of the Senate race in Alaska, one of the few states to use ranked-choice voting in the United States, which saw Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski and Republican challenger and Trump-endorsed Kelly Tshibaka as the two remaining potential victors of the race, was not determined until November 24, when Murkowski was projected to have won.^[330] If Warnock prevails in Georgia, 2022 would represent the first election since the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in which no Senate incumbents lost reelection.^[331] Some gubernatorial races, such as in Arizona and Nevada, were not projected for several days, as they were too close call.^[202] Kari Lake, the Republican candidate in Arizona who denied Trump's loss in 2020,^[332] refused to concede as of November 17.^[333]

Over two weeks later, results in many races are still unknown.^[300][301] Several tossup or key races were won by Democrats,^{[1][334][335]} including upsets in Colorado's 8th, North Carolina's 13th, and Washington's 3rd congressional districts,^[1] and narrowly missing a further upset for the Colorado's 3rd congressional district seat held by Lauren Boebert.^[336] On November 10–12, Republicans were favored to regain control of the House with a narrow majority of 3 seats (221–214) according to NBC News,^{[337][338][317]} with 218 seats needed for a majority.^[1] On November 13, Republicans and Democrats were projected to win 210–200 seats in the House according to Decision Desk HQ,^[339] 211–203 according to the Associated Press,^[340] and 211–206 according to ABC News.^[341] By November 14, Republicans were projected to possibly have a narrow majority in the House by as little as a single seat.^[1] On November 15, the projected seats in favor of Republicans were 217–203 per Decision Desk HQ,^[339] 217–205 per the Associated Press,^[340] and 215–207 per ABC News.^[341] Later on the same day, Decision Desk HQ projected a Republican majority of the House,^[342] which was followed by other news outlets the next day.^[343][344]

Fears of democratic backsliding

Democratic backsliding was a concern among voters. Polls show that many voters feared that Trump and Republicans would lead to the collapse of democracy in the United States.^[345][346] Several news outlets tracked the midterm results of 2020 election deniers, including Al Jazeera,^[347] Axios,^[348] the BBC,^[349] Bloomberg News,^[350] CNN,^[351] The New York Times,^[352] and The Washington Post;^[353] there were hundreds of election deniers candidates among Republicans,^[354] and according to one analysis 60 percent of Americans had election deniers on the ballot.^[355] In decisive battleground states, several such candidates ran for governor or secretary of state, both of which are positions overseeing elections and certifying their results;^[1] all but one (Chuck Gray of Wyoming) of the candidates for secretary of state lost in 2022.^{[1][356][357]}

While many election deniers (at least more than 100) won congressional seats, most of them were incumbents who voted to not certify the 2020 presidential election results but avoided comments after the January 6 United States Capitol attack,^[1] a majority of those who lost conceded but there remains a wide partisan divide regarding trust of the electoral process;^[358] those who made electoral fraud claims central to their campaign, in particular those who were newcomers, lost.^[1][359] In general, those Republican candidates who were backed by Trump or were 2020 election deniers underperformed.^{[360][361][362]}

Potential green wave

Some environmental organizations and media described the result as a green wave, saying candidates addressing climate change did better compared to those considered who did not.^{[363][364][365]} Among Republicans who won, they did not campaign against climate measures in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Biden specifically thanked young climate voters.^[31] This was also reflected at the state and local level, where voters approved several climate-related initiatives.^[366] Additionally, the green wave possibly helped block Republican control of Congress by influencing the elections in Georgia.^[367]

Speculated 2024 Republican presidential candidates

Many analysts believed that the results set up a potential primary contest between Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries.^{[17][18][368]} Despite losses, Trump called the results a "great evening", though those close to him reported him "livid" and "furious with everyone" for the losses, in particular the Senate open seat in Pennsylvania. About DeSantis, Trump stated that he was ready to reveal what he described as "bad things" about him, claiming to know him "more than anyone else, perhaps more than [his wife]."^[317] On November 15, the beginning of the Trump 2024 presidential campaign was officially announced.^[369][370]

Turnout

Turnout was relatively high by midterm standards. After the blue wave of 2018, it was the second highest since the 1970 U.S. elections.^[371] The trend was confirmed by turnout among young voters (18–29), which was the highest after 2018,^[35][36] and helped Democrats;^[34] for example, youth and Latino voters turnout in a battleground state like Arizona was historically high.^[332] According to the Edison Research National Election Pool, the youth vote for the House was 63–35 in favor of Democrats. Pollster Antonio Arellano commented that young voters were the only age group in which more than 50 percent of voters supported Democrats.^[317]

Firsts

Arkansas, Massachusetts, and New York elected female governors for the first time, and Arkansas and Massachusetts became the first states in which women concurrently served as governor and lieutenant governor. Alabama elected its first female senator, California elected a Latino senator for the first time, and Maryland elected its first African-American governor. Markwayne Mullin became the first Native American to represent Oklahoma in the Senate since Robert Latham Owen retired in 1925. In Florida, Maxwell Frost became the first member of Generation Z elected to the House. Marcy Kaptur's reelection will make her the longest-serving woman in Congress if she serves out her term. Becca Balint became the first female member of Congress from Vermont—the last of the 50 states to elect a woman to Congress—and Summer Lee became the first black woman from Pennsylvania elected to Congress.^[372]

The 2022 election was the first time that LGBT candidates appeared on the general election ballot in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.^[373] With their respective victories, Tina Kotek of Oregon and Maura Healey of Massachusetts became the first openly lesbian state governors.^[374] James Roesener, elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, became the first transgender man to win a state legislative seat.^[375]

Election night television viewership

See also

• Party divisions of United States Congresses
• Political polarization in the United States
• Red states and blue states

Notes

References

External links

• Media related to 2022 elections in the United States at Wikimedia Commons