Four Republican-held Senate seats and a Republican governor's office are projected to flip to the Democrats in the latest Election Night projections, while Florida's governor's race is settled: the Associated Press has called it for Republican Byron Donalds. The four Senate projections rest on Decision Desk HQ, VoteHub and Poliwave boards — the AP has not yet called those races — and they are reported here as projections, not final calls.
In Texas, Democrat James Talarico is projected to defeat Republican Ken Paxton and flip the Senate seat held by Republican John Cornyn — and Cornyn himself has conceded the outcome, posting: "The voters have spoken, and I want to extend my congratulations to James Talarico on his election to the U.S. Senate." Decision Desk HQ projects Talarico the winner and Bloomberg reports he has broken more than 30 years of Republican dominance in Texas Senate races; Poliwave's board had him at 58.3 percent to Paxton's 40.1 percent.
Ohio is projected to flip twice. In the Senate special election, VoteHub and Poliwave project Democrat Sherrod Brown defeats Republican Senator Jon Husted — the seat Husted was appointed to after JD Vance became Vice President — with Brown at about 51 percent to Husted's 44 percent. In the governor's race, Decision Desk HQ projects Democrat Amy Acton defeats Republican Vivek Ramaswamy for the open office of term-limited Governor Mike DeWine; Acton would become Ohio's first female governor.
In Kansas, Democrat Adam Hamilton is projected to defeat Republican Senator Roger Marshall: Decision Desk HQ's update with an estimated 78 percent counted had Hamilton at 479,927 votes (54.2 percent) to Marshall's 380,234 (43.0 percent). In Iowa, Democrat Josh Turek leads Republican Ashley Hinson — Decision Desk HQ's update at an estimated 48 percent counted had Turek at 366,883 votes (53.1 percent) to Hinson's 304,576 (44.1 percent) — a projected flip that remains provisional while half the count is still out.
Florida's race, by contrast, is called. The AP called the race at 9:09 p.m. Eastern: Republican Representative Byron Donalds — endorsed early by President Trump — has defeated Democrat David Jolly to succeed term-limited Governor Ron DeSantis, leading about 4,117,000 votes to 3,985,000 at 99 percent of precincts reporting, 50.1 percent to 48.7 percent. Donalds becomes Florida's first Black governor and the first Black Republican ever elected governor of any state.
And in Washington, President Trump spent part of Election Night texting Fox News host Greg Gutfeld live on air during The Five — Gutfeld read the message out on the broadcast, the President repeating his attack on Jessica Tarlov ("tell Tarlov — who is the WORST") and arguing that gas prices are lower than under Biden and Obama and inflation is 1.7 percent — and separately posted that the Fox News poll is "so insulting," calling every question a hit job.
For voters, the projected flips would move four Senate seats and the Ohio governorship to the Democrats, reshaping the Senate the President must work with, while Florida's result keeps one of the biggest state governments in Republican hands under a governor the President backed from the start.
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