“Too close to call” will be the mantra repeated by the cable-news anchors in nearly all of the most closely watched Senate races as the clock approaches midnight on the East Coast. Can football hero Herschel Walker knock off Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia? “Too close to call.” Can Dan Bolduc upset Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan in New Hampshire? “Too close to call.” Of course, we won’t have a final call for the Pennsylvania race on election night, and the outcome in Arizona — where Republican Blake Masters is challenging Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly — will be another one of those late-reporting races, like Nevada. However, the TV anchors may also take their time declaring winners in Ohio, Wisconsin, and other states where GOP Senate victories seem likely.
Probably the smartest thing to do on election night would be to take a nap early in the evening — when the chatter on TV will be mostly speculation — and set your alarm for 11 p.m. or midnight, by which time 90 percent or more of the precincts will have reported in most Eastern states. The earliest tip-off to which way the night is heading will be the Senate race in New Hampshire. If Bolduc can score an upset there, it would portend a massive “Red Wave,” in which Republicans win 240-plus House seats and 52 or more Senate seats. If, on the other hand, Hassan manages to hang on in New Hampshire, the GOP will likely win between 225 and 235 House seats and fall a couple seats short of a Senate majority.
Conservatives obsessing over the midterms will just have to be patient over the next 48 hours and, in the meantime, take consolation in what a world of woe the other side is enduring.
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