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Election Day 2018 Liveblog!

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Welcome to our 2018 election liveblog! Tune in starting Monday, November 5 as we post updates on voter turnout, election records, predictions, forecasts, results, and more.

Backhand Index Pointing Right on Apple iOS 12.1  Latino Decisions polling  | Arizona results |  California results  |  Florida results  | Georgia results |  Nevada results  | Texas results

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A few key takeaways from the poll:

Across demographics — Latino, African American, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Native American, and White — voters resoundingly rejected President Trump and the GOP’s closing argument of hostility, racism, and division.

  • Trump and the Republicans are using toxic rhetoric to try and divide us from one another:
    • Latino: 75%
    • African American: 87%
    • Asian American and Pacific Islander: 74%
    • Native American: 69%
    • White:  50%
  • In 2018, many Republicans made attacks on immigrants’ part of their campaigns. It’s obvious we need to reform our immigration policies, but calling immigrants rapists and gang members accomplishes nothing. Congress should work together on bipartisan immigration reform and put the issue to rest, and address important issues like improving wages, lowering the cost of health care so we have more money in our pockets.
    • Race
      • Latino: 87%
      • African American: 95%
      • Asian American and Pacific Islander: 84%
      • Native American: 81%
      • White: 85%
    • Identity
      • Republican: 67%
      • Independent: 87%
      • Democrats: 94%
      • Men: 77%
      • Women: 82%
  • Americans support the Dream Act
    • Latino: 85%
    • African American: 81%
    • Asian American and Pacific Islander: 72%
    • Native American: 71%
    • White: 64%

2018 was a referendum on Trump. Reactions and emotions to President Trump were a driving factor for voters in the 2018 elections. A majority of voters of all races and ethnicities were upset by Trump, not inspired, and were motivated to vote.

  • Angry
    • Latino: 73%
    • African American: 79%
    • Asian American and Pacific Islander: 66%
    • Native American:  61%
    • White: 57%
    • Total: 62%
  • Disrespected
    • Latino: 72%
    • African American: 83%
    • Asian American and Pacific Islander: 67%
    • Native American: 57%
    • White: 47%
    • Total: 54%
  • Encouraged friends or family to register or vote in the midterms
    • Latino: 77%
    • African American: 79%
    • Asian American and Pacific Islander: 75%
    • Native American: 66%
    • White: 66%

Wednesday

Good morning! Check out our updated Wall of Shame!

Also read our take on the 2018 elections. As our Executive Director Frank Sharry said:

Trump and the GOP closed the 2018 cycle with a desperate and dangerous argument. They stoked fear, spread lies and incited racial panic among their hardcore base. But this unprecedented mix of mendacity and racism mostly did not work. Yes, Trump held his superfans in deep red states and districts. But the Trump and Republican reliance on xenophobia mostly backfired. A majority coalition of people of color, young people and suburban whites won the popular vote, swept the Democrats into control of the House of Representatives, rebuilt the ‘Blue Wall’ by winning governorships in states that Trump won in 2016 – such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania – and defeated many of the most anti-immigrant candidates, from Kris Kobach in Kansas to Lou Barletta in Pennsylvania to Corey Stewart and David Brat in Virginia to Dana Rohrabacher in California. Add the huge advances in local races and in contests for control of state legislatures, and 2018 was something like a blue wave. The American people, led by people of color, turned out in huge numbers to vote against hate and racism and for a tolerant and welcoming country. This coalition is now in strong shape to compete in 2020.

Tuesday

11:57 PM ET

Big losses tonight from the anti-immigrant types:

11:35 PM ET

Sen. Claire McCaskill has conceded the Missouri Senate race to Republican Josh Hawley.

11:23 PM ET

Latino Decisions election eve polling from California, Nevada, and Arizona:

10:34 PM ET

Doug Ducey (R) has won the Arizona Governor’s race:

10:23 PM ET

MSNBC has called the House for Democrats, while CNN has called the Senate for Republicans. From Latino Decisions:

10:14 PM ET

Republican Kevin Cramer has picked up Heidi Heitkamp’s Senate seat in North Dakota:

MSNBC has called the Texas Senate race for Ted Cruz.

Latino Decisions polling from Arizona and Nevada:

9:58 PM ET

Major wins in Kansas:

AND KRIS KOBACH, anti-immigrant extraordinaire, LOSES:

Our statement:

Frank Sharry on Kobach’s Stunning Defeat

Washington, DC – The following is a statement by Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice.

Kris Kobach, one of the leading anti-immigrant voices in American politics, lost in a stunning upset today in the race for Kansas Governor.

He has a long history of vilifying immigrants and pushing repressive policies. He has inflicted pain on millions. It finally caught up with him.

Thank you, Kansas, for standing up to hate and division and standing up for decency and fairness.

9:33 PM ET

Another Dem pickup, in Colorado:

Democrat Jared Polis, former Rep. has won the Governor’s race in Colorado. His opponent, Republican Walker Stapleton, is joining our Wall of Shame.

Fox News says Democrats have won the House.

9:05 PM ET

In Tennessee, Republican Marsha Blackburn has been elected to the Senate over Democrat Phil Bredesen.

Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly (D) has lost to Republican challenger Mike Braun, a Republican pickup.

9 PM ET

Democrat Joe Manchin has been reelected to the Senate from West Virginia.

The Texas polls have closed. From Latino Decisions:

8:04 PM ET

The Pennsylvania Senate race has been called, with Lou Barletta losing

Our statement:

Pennsylvania Rejects Trump’s Fellow Xenophobe Lou Barletta

The following is a statement from Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, reacting to the loss of Lou Barletta in the Pennsylvania Senate race:

Just because the Pennsylvania Senate race wasn’t close shouldn’t diminish its significance.

Lou Barletta is about as Trumpy a candidate as there is. As mayor of Hazleton, he became a nativist firebrand. As a member of Congress, he has been an anti-immigrant stalwart. As a candidate, he was one of Trump’s favorites. Running against an unapologetically pro-immigrant incumbent, Senator Robert Casey, in a state that Trump won just two years ago, the voters of Pennsylvania have soundly rejected Trump’s guy.

The Pennsylvania results mirror what we’re seeing across the country. Voters are delivering an electoral rebuke of candidates who ran on racism and xenophobia instead of racial unity and solving problems.

Congrats to Senator Casey. Adiós, Lou Barletta.

7:44 PM ET

Barbara Comstock, another GOPer who has run anti-immigrant ads, has lost her race in VA-10. The America’s Voice statement:

Corey Stewart and Barbara Comstock Follow the Trump/Gillespie Playbook and Lose Big

The following is a statement from Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, reacting to initial results in Virginia:

Corey Stewart and Barbara Comstock followed President Trump’s playbook. They stoked fear about immigrants. Both lost big.

Last year, Ed Gillespie tried the same strategy and lost by a whopping 9%. Back then, this defeat surprised many, because pundits predicted Gillespie’s xenophobic strategy would work. Steve Bannon predicted a Gillespie victory, too, telling the New York Times that “I think the big lesson for Tuesday is that, in Gillespie’s case, Trumpism without Trump can show the way forward. If that’s the case, Democrats better be very, very worried.”

It seems evident the people of Virginia are just not interested in Trumpism, with or without Trump. And right now, it’s not the Democrats who are very, very worried.

We’ve started our Wall of Shame!

7:02 PM ET

One of the first major calls of the night — anti-immigrant extremist Corey Stewart has lost to Tim Kaine in Virginia. The America’s Voice statement coming soon…

Latino Decisions election eve polling from Florida and Georgia has come in:

6:37 PM ET

Immigration is a top issue for voters across the country:
AP/FOX Votecast

Health care was at the forefront of voters’ minds: 26 percent named it as the most important issue facing the country in this year’s midterm elections. Smaller shares considered immigration (23 percent), the economy (19 percent), gun policy (8 percent) and the environment (7 percent) to be the top issue.

CNN using Edison

The economy, however, was not the key issue for many voters this midterm election. It ranked third, behind health care and immigration but well ahead of gun policy. The economy mattered more to Republicans than Democrats.

Meanwhile, according to CNN, a strong plurality of voters believe that Trump’s immigration policies are too tough:

5:45 PM ET

Polls are beginning to close and results are coming in!

Latino Decisions has released their first round of Election Eve polling. View results and the press release here.

Check out some of the results from all voters from battleground districts:

9:46 AM ET

Happy Election Day! Check out this map of poll closing times at Daily Kos:

ClosingEastern.png

Projections from FiveThirtyEight:

Monday

5:45 PM ET

Early voting records have been set in at least seventeen states across the nation. In some states, early voting was double what it was in 2014; in others, voting is rivaling 2016 turnout. View more here.

2:18 PM ET

GOTV weekend was this past Saturday and Sunday, and tens of thousands of volunteers this week showed up to canvass across the country. View our blog here.

Read our 2018 election content below: