The battle for control of the U.S. Senate is still undecided. As I begin to write this morning, I see that the Senate races in Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Nevada have not been called. When we stopped writing here on Election Night, it was clear that Republicans now control the House of Representatives. It’s not exactly the red wave we all hoped for but the fact is that Republicans are in the majority now and that is what matters. Buh-bye, Speaker Pelosi.

I covered Georgia, Texas, and Missouri. Let’s start off this morning with an update of what happened overnight.

Missouri:

The Senate seat in Missouri left vacant by the retirement of Republican Senator Roy Blunt will be filled by Republican Eric Schmitt. There was a key ballot measure – Amendment 3: Legalize marijuana – and it passed. This amendment legalizes personal recreational use of marijuana for adults ages 21 and over. It also allows “individuals with certain marijuana-related offenses to be released from prison, parole, and probation.”

Texas:

Governor Abbott handily won re-election for a third term. Perpetual candidate Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke will have to find another office to pursue. It is amazing, though, that big Democrat donors and entertainment industry people continue to donate to his political efforts. The good news for Republicans in Texas is that all statewide offices are still in Republican control. Texas is still the largest red state and that is good news for the next presidential election.

I was keeping an eye on three House races in south Texas – TX-15, TX-28, and TX-34. All three races featured a Latina Republican woman candidate married to a Border Patrol agent. I am disappointed that even with the Biden border crisis as a top issue this election cycle, only one race went to the Republican. In TX-28, moderate Democrat incumbent Henry Cuellar won re-election over his Republican challenger, Cassy Garcia. In the TX-15 race, Republican Monica De La Cruz won against Democrat Michelle Vallejo, so that was a bright spot. She became the first Republican to win that district. In TX-34, I am sad to say that Republican incumbent Mayra Flores lost to Democrat Vicente Gonzalez. Both are currently sitting members of Congress and were in the race against each other due to District 15 being re-drawn. It was an ugly race.

Georgia:

Governor Kemp won re-election, as was expected. Democrat Stacey Abrams actually conceded on Election Night, which was a refreshing change of pace for her. The big question mark is the Georgia Senate race. As I write this at 5:37 a.m., with 98% of the vote in, Democrat incumbent Raphael Warnock is up over Republican challenger Herschel Walker 49.4% to 48.5%. If neither one gets to 50%, there will be a run-off.

There will be plenty of analysis of the results from Election Night. The red wave we were hoping to relish didn’t really materialize. But, the Republican governors of Texas and Georgia and Florida all won re-election. They did so largely because of their leadership skills in guiding their states through the pandemic, doing what was right for their residents and not necessarily what the federal government bureaucrats were mandating from Washington, D.C. The true success story for Republicans from the mid-term elections, by the way, is Florida. Miami-Dade County went red for the first time since 2002, thanks to Governor DeSantis.

I’ll be keeping an eye on the Georgia Senate race today until it’s called one way or the other. Watch for an update when news breaks. In the meantime, we’ll all also be watching the Arizona, Nevada, and Wisconsin Senate races.

UPDATE: Fox is reporting that a run-off race will be held for the Georgia Senate race. Neither Democrat incumbent Raphael Warnock nor Republican challenger Herschel Walker has met the 50% requirement to avoid a run-off. The date for the run-off is December 6. – Karen