2022 midterms roundup: Top races across the country

Ron DeSantis wins 2nd term as Florida governor

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis won reelection to a second term Tuesday in a dominant victory over Democrat Charlie Crist, bolstering his rise as a prominent GOP star with potential White House ambitions.

DeSantis’ win continues a rightward shift for what was once the nation’s largest swing state, as voters embraced a governor who reveled in culture war politics and framed his candidacy as a battle against the “woke agenda” of liberals.

In the lead-up to the election, DeSantis harnessed the power of incumbency to assemble media, often on short notice and far outside major markets, for news conferences where he would spend significant time honing critiques of Democratic President Joe Biden, liberal policies and the mainstream media, delivered before cheering crowds.

He gained significant national attention during the start of the coronavirus pandemic through his outspoken opposition to continued lockdowns and to mask and vaccine mandates, and eventually displayed an eagerness to wade into nearly any cultural divide.

Wes Moore elected as Maryland’s first Black governor

ANNAPOLIS — Democrat Wes Moore was elected Maryland’s first Black governor Tuesday, defeating Republican Dan Cox in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1.

Moore’s victory flips a governor’s office from Republican to Democratic. Of the 36 governor’s races this year, Maryland and Massachusetts represented the best chances for Democrats to regain a governor’s office at a time when the GOP holds a 28-22 edge in governor’s seats. Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is term limited.

Only two other Black politicians have ever been elected governor in the United States — Virginia’s Douglas Wilder in 1989, and Deval Patrick of Massachusetts in 2006. Democrat Stacey Abrams would become the nation’s first Black female governor if she wins her Georgia rematch against Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.

Florida’s Marco Rubio wins 3rd Senate term, defeats Demings

TALLAHASSEE — Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has won a third term, defeating U.S. Rep. Val Demings and holding a key seat as the GOP tried to regain control of a closely divided Senate.

Rubio, 51, faced perhaps his toughest battle since he was first elected in 2010 after serving as the Florida House speaker. Once a presidential hopeful in 2016, Rubio’s name is less often mentioned as a potential 2024 candidate.

Rubio ran a campaign pulled from the Republican playbook, tying Demings to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden and hammering her on issues like spending, rising inflation and a crisis at the southern border.

The Republican was helped by shifting voter registration numbers in Florida. The last time Rubio ran for reelection, Democrats had about 327,000 more registered voters than Republicans. That has since flipped, with the GOP now having a nearly 300,000 advantage over Democrats.

Gov. McMaster wins history-making 2nd term in South Carolina

COLUMBIA — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster won a historic reelection bid Tuesday as he faced voters one last time in his four-decade political career and they gave him a chance to be the longest-serving governor the state has ever had.

McMaster, 75, defeated Democrat Joe Cunningham, who repeatedly highlighted the 35-year age gap with his opponent.

If he completes his second term, McMaster would serve as governor for 10 years, longer than any other executive in the state’s history.

McMaster’s argument for reelection has been simple — if you like what you’ve seen so far, I’ll give you more. He has touted the booming economy and his willingness to fight Democratic President Joe Biden when needed.

This was McMaster’s sixth time asking South Carolina voters to choose him over a Democrat in November. He lost his first two races — including getting just 36% of the vote against U.S. Sen. Ernest “Fritz” Hollings in 1986. He won his last five elections as Republicans took over South Carolina.

GOP Reps Miller, Mooney soar to reelection in West Virginia

CHARLESTON — Two sitting Republican U.S. representatives in West Virginia have easily overcome challengers to keep their seats in the deep red state’s shrinking congressional delegation.

U.S. Reps. Alex Mooney and Carol Miller defeated lesser-known Democratic and Independent candidates on Tuesday in a state controlled by Republicans at every level of government. West Virginia hasn’t elected a Democrat to the House since 2012, and was one of only two states where former President Donald Trump won every county in 2016 and in 2020.

In a closely watched May primary race, Trump-endorsed Mooney beat veteran lawmaker Republican Rep. David McKinley to become the GOP nominee for the 2nd Congressional District. The incumbents were pitted against each other after population losses cost West Virginia a U.S. House seat. McKinley faced criticism for breaking with his party to support President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.

Miller, another Trump ally, easily breezed to the Republican nomination in West Virginia’s 1st District in May, defeating four little-known candidates. Miller has represented West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District — which was eliminated in redistricting — since 2018.

Former Trump spokeswoman Sanders elected Arkansas governor

LITTLE ROCK — Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was elected Arkansas governor on Tuesday, becoming the first woman to lead the state and the highest profile Trump administration official in elected office.

Sanders defeated Democratic nominee Chris Jones in the race for governor in her predominantly Republican home state, where former President Donald Trump remains popular. Sanders had been heavily favored to win the race, which also included Libertarian nominee Ricky Dale Harrington.

Sanders shattered state fundraising records with her campaign, which focused primarily on national issues. Sanders, the daughter of former Gov. Mike Huckabee, regularly promised to use the office to fight President Joe Biden and the “radical left.”

Sanders succeeds Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is leaving office in January due to term limits. Hutchinson, who endorsed Sanders’ bid, is considering running for president in 2024 and has frequently split with Trump.

Peter Welch moves from House to Senate to succeed Leahy in Vermont

Democratic U.S. Rep. Peter Welch easily defeated a little-known Republican challenger to win the Senate seat being vacated by Patrick Leahy, the longest-serving member of the upper chamber.

Welch, who was elected to the House in 2006 and won reelection with lopsided votes every two years since, defeated Republican Gerald Malloy, a retired U.S. Army officer endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

In a year in which the parties are grappling for control of the Senate, Welch’s election keeps the seat from the deep blue state safely in the Democratic column.

Massachusetts’ Healey is 1st lesbian elected governor in U.S.

BOSTON — Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey has been elected governor of Massachusetts, making history as the nation’s first openly lesbian governor.

Healey, the state’s first woman and openly gay candidate elected to the office, defeated Republican Geoff Diehl, a former state representative who had the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

Her election returns the governor’s office to Democrats after eight years of Republican leadership under the popular Gov. Charlie Baker, who opted not to seek reelection.

Healey and her running mate, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, were among three all-female governor/lieutenant governor tickets in the U.S. that began Election Day with a chance to become the first such pairing elected to lead a state.

Republican Katie Britt wins US Senate race in Alabama

MONTGOMERY — Republican Katie Britt has won the U.S. Senate race in Alabama, becoming the first woman elected to the body from the state.

Britt will fill the seat held by Richard Shelby, her one-time boss who is retiring after 35 years in the Senate. Britt was Shelby’s chief of staff before leaving to take the helm of a state business lobby. Britt defeated Democrat Will Boyd and Libertarian John Sophocleus.

Britt, 40, cast herself as part of a new generation of conservative leaders and will become one of the Senate’s youngest members. She will be the first Republican woman to hold one of the state’s Senate seats. The state’s previous female senators, both Democrats, had been appointed.

Colorado Democrat Michael Bennet reelected to U.S. Senate

DENVER — Democrat Michael Bennet won reelection to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, besting Republican businessman and first-time challenger Joe O’Dea.

Bennet won his third race on his pledge to protect abortion rights, an indication of how important the issue is to the blue-leaning state of Colorado. O’Dea was the rare Republican to support Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights ruling that conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court overturned this summer. But that didn’t help him.

Bennet’s campaign hammered O’Dea on his opposition to abortions late in a pregnancy and on his support for the very GOP-appointed justices who overturned Roe.

Bennet and his backers dramatically outspent the novice candidate on the airwaves, while O’Dea only got rhetorical support from Senate Republicans in Washington, who never sent significant financial resources his way.

New Hampshire Democrat Maggie Hassan wins 2nd Senate term

CONCORD, N.H. — Democratic U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan won a second term representing New Hampshire on Tuesday, defeating Republican challenger Don Bolduc to keep a seat once viewed as ripe for a GOP pickup.

Hassan, a former governor, had been considered vulnerable given her narrow win in 2016. But her odds improved after popular Gov. Chris Sununu took a pass at challenging her, and Republicans nominated Bolduc, a retired Army general who has espoused conspiracy theories about vaccines and the 2020 presidential election.

Hassan spent much of the campaign casting Bolduc as “the most extreme nominee for U.S. Senate that New Hampshire has seen in modern history,” and pouncing on his past statements on abortion, Social Security and the 2020 presidential election.

Trump-backed JD Vance retains GOP Senate seat in Ohio

COLUMBUS — “Hillbilly Elegy” author JD Vance defeated Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan for an open U.S. Senate seat in Ohio on Tuesday in a blow to Democrats who viewed it as one of their best chances nationally to flip a seat.

Vance, 38, a venture capitalist and newcomer to politics, benefited from a last-minute push by Donald Trump. The former Republican president had endorsed Vance in a crowded, ugly Republican primary — despite Vance having once declared himself a “never-Trumper” — and then rallied for him twice, most recently on election eve.

Vance and Trump successfully linked Ryan to the national economic climate he blamed on President Joe Biden, while Ryan failed to make stick his narrative that Vance’s Ivy League education and time in the San Francisco tech industry meant he was out of touch with Ohio values.

Vance’s victory was a devastating turn for Ryan, a 10-term congressman whose well-executed, well-funded campaign had buoyed his party by remaining within the margin of error of most polls since summer. That, despite Trump having twice won Ohio by 8 percentage points.