♪ i got a heart like a truck it's been drug through the mud runs on dreams ♪ ♪ and gasoline and that ole highway holds the key it's got a lead foot ♪ ♪ down when it's leaving lord knows it's taken a hell of a beating ♪ ♪ a little bit of love is all that it's needing but it's good as it is tough ♪ ♪ i got a heart like a truck ♪ ♪ go on and see if you can knock off the dust yeah shine it up ♪ ♪ rev it up and let it run yeah it gets a high ♪ ♪ riding off into the sun yeah it gets a high riding off into the sun ♪

[ cheers and applause ]

♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, midterm surprise. and uncertainty. >> georgia senator raphael warnock and herschel walker too close to call tonight. >> control of congress still up in the air. once again, the senate could come down to georgia. >> i remain as committed to this work as i have ever been. >> i don't come to lose. >> the issues that motivated voters. >> hell hath no fury like women mobilizing to vote when their rights are at stake. >> what happened to that expected red wave? plus climate conservative. the young republican on a mission to save the planet. >> i realized i had to do it myself. we need more of the next generation of republicans to win who believe that climate change is a priority. >> can he change the conversation within his party? >> when you hear "drill, baby, drill," what do you feel? and rihanna goes natural. in the savage fenty show volume

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several key races, but one thing we do know, many of the candidates endorsed by donald trump did not fare well. one day post-midterms and america still doesn't know who will control congress. as the country waits in a throwback to 2020, senate control once again could come down to the state of georgia. >> at the end of the day, everyone wants to know that we have honest and fair elections. and we do. i'll ask the voters to come out and vote one last time. >> reporter: the hotly contested senate race between the incumbent democrat, raphael warnock, and the trump-backed former football star, herschel walker, now headed for a runoff on december 6th. the results of that race, like others across the country, defying expectations of a red wave. >> if anything, it was somewhat of a red ripple. maybe nothing at all in the senate. >> with their votes, the american people have spoken and proven once again that democracy is who we are. >> reporter: at a press conference at the white house

today, president biden stressing the need to reach across the aisle. >> on this election season, the american people made it clear. they don't want every day going forward to be a constant political battle. there's too much of that going on. there's too much that we have to do. >> reporter: 24 hours after the election, republicans still expected to take the house. but by a much more humble margin than anticipated. >> they were talking big at the beginning of the cycle. they thought this was going to be a wipeout. they thought they'd be in there with lots of room to spare. if republicans end up controlling the house, it's going to be by a kind of margin like the democrats have had it, maybe 10 seats, maybe 15 tops. >> reporter: so far, the senate races have resulted in an even power split. each party holding 48 seats with races in nevada and arizona still undecided. >> midterm elections are usually brutal for the party in power. despite all of the headwinds, despite all the history, despite all the headlines around inflation and the concerns that people have, the democrats did way better than expected.

>> the republican party has been going through an identity crisis for quite some time since the arrival of donald trump. now it seems that there is some consequence to going down that path electorally. >> reporter: some political observers say the biggest loser of the night, former president donald trump. >> a donald trump endorsement is still the most valuable end endorsement in republican primaries, but he is a loser when it comes to general elections. he was a loser dramatically in these midterms. but you think about it, since he became president, the republicans lost the house, they lost the senate, they lost the white house. it's a very bad track record. >> reporter: at his election watch party in mar-a-lago, he was reportedly fuming. as many of the most high-profile candidates with the trump seal of approval went down. >> it's not sitting well with him, i'm told he is in a foul mood. he said -- kind of set the tone earlier in the day when he said, "if my candidates win, i should get the credit. if they lose, i shouldn't get

any blame at all." >> we want oz to get some of the juice! >> reporter: his candidate for the pennsylvania senate seat, celebrity dr. mehmet oz, soundly defeated by lieutenant governor john fetterman. >> i never expected that we were going to turn these red counties blue. but we did what we needed to do, and we had that conversation across every one of those counties. >> reporter: trump's pick for governor of pennsylvania, doug mastriano, one of the candidates who repeatedly lied about the 2020 election outcome, lost as well. but one of trump's endorsements who did win, "hillbilly elgy" author jamie vance in ohio. >> whether you voted for me or not, the thing that i promise to do is go to the united states senate and fight every single day for the people of ohio. thanks to you, we get an opportunity to do just that. >> reporter: while trump may have lost some luster, florida governor ron desantis shining bright. he didn't seek or receive

trump's endorsement, but he didn't need the former president's help, winning by nearly 20 points. >> thank you for a historic landslide victory! >> trump is just gearing up to take on desantis. he sees desantis as somebody he created. in fact, when desantis ran the first time, he would not have won without trump. but desantis has gone his own way, and i think that really bothers trump. >> this flirtation with ron desantis as the heir apparent to donald trump has been going on for about a year now. and it's clear that the desantis camp has been listening. they are doing and engaging in things that look as though he's laying the foundation for a presidential run and to potentially challenge donald trump. >> reporter: in georgia, voters easily re-elected republican governor brian kemp, who stood up to trump when the former president questioned georgias 2020 election results. but the state's voters will be forced back to the polls in next month's senate runoff. >> i remain as committed to this

work as i have ever been. and i look forward to continuing on that journey together over the next six years. >> i'ma tell you right now, i'm like ricky bobby. i don't come to lose. and i told you, he's going to be tough to beat. he's going to be tough to beat. >> reporter: endorsed by trump, herschel walker has been plagued by scandal after scandal, including accusations from two women who say the staunchly anti-abortion candidate paid for their abortions. i spoke to one of them just last week who says walker actually pressured her into getting the procedure. >> i told my parents that i had a miscarriage. because i couldn't tell them the truth. >> why, in your mind, did you feel like you couldn't tell them the truth? >> it just was very shameful. and i felt like i had been

manipulated. >> reporter: jane doe says it's not just the hypocrisy, but the dishonesty, that inspired her to come forward. abc news has not independently confirmed the other accuser's story. walker has denied those claims, calling them lies. but voters still seem to be split on his competence for office. according to abc news exit polling, about 33% of georgia voters say that walker shows good judgment. while more than 50% say the same of his opponent. >> we saw the scandals, all the headlines. it seemed to many georgians that he was just too far out of the mainstream for them to pull that lever for them. >> reporter: major social issues like abortion driving voters, especially suburban women, to the polls. in california, vermont, and michigan, voters approved amendments to their state's constitutions that would codify abortion rights, squashing any likelihood of future bans on the procedure. meanwhile, voters in kentucky, a reliably red state, rejected a measure that would have

prevented any legal challenges to that state's abortion ban. >> hell hath no fury like women mobilizing to vote when their rights are at stake. and the dobbs decision has clearly demonstrated that women voters were paying attention, that they were not going to stand by and allow extremist positions to infringe on their personal rights and liberty for their own reproductive choices. >> reporter: the midterms were also full of historic firsts. author and political newcomer wes moore, a democrat, became the first black person elected governor in maryland's history. he spoke to my colleague, linsey davis. >> it's remarkably humbling. last night i had a chance to, in my acceptance address, i honored my grandmother who actually passed away last week at the age of 95, who was really the matriarch of my family. >> despite us losing her last week, that tonight, she's got the best seat in the house.

>> one of the last things she got a chance to do was vote for her grandson to be governor of a state that she loved. >> thank you, everybody! >> reporter: in massachusetts, maura healey not only became the first woman elected governor in that state -- >> i hope tonight shows you that you can be whatever, whoever, you want to be. >> reporter:ls governor inonme secretary, sarah huckabee sanders, became the first woman to be elected governor in arkansas. >> thank you so much to the people of arkansas who have entrusted this responsibility to me. i will be forever grateful to each of you, and i promise i won't let you down. >> reporter: and maxwell frost, a 25-year-old democrat from florida, became the first-gen z'er elected to congress. >> gen-z, half of us are not old enough to vote, the youngest is

13 right now. that shows me there's a lot of hope and promise in this nation as young people are starting to rise up and really step into their political power. when we come back, the young conservative activist working to elect republicans to fight climate change. hey guys, detect this: living with hiv, i learned that i can stay undetectable with fewer medicines. that's why i switched to dovato. dovato is for some adults who are starting hiv-1 treatment or replacing their current hiv-1 regimen. detect this: no other complete hiv pill uses fewer medicines to help keep you undetectable than dovato. detect this: most hiv pills contain 3 or 4 medicines. dovato is as effective with just 2. research shows people who take hiv treatment as prescribed and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit hiv through sex. don't take dovato if you're allergic to its ingredients, or if you take dofetilide. taking dovato with dofetilide can cause serious

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♪ at first glance you might think benji backer is an unlikely climate advocate. he's a conservative but the young republicn says saving the planet is not a one size fits all cause. here's abc's chief meteorologist

ginger zee who recently caught up with him. >> any young republican that's running for office across the country believes that climate change should be a priority. we need more of those candidates to win. we need more of sort of the next generation of republicans to win who believe that climate change is a priority. >> reporter: benji becker is a 24-year-old conservative from wisconsin who has the ear of many high-profile republicans. his goal, get them to talk about climate change. hosting conferences. traveling the country. and lobbying from his office near the hill. hoping that the incoming congress includes republicans who support proactive climate policy. >> if that happens, we'll see something that a lot of people don't think is possible, which is that action on climate change under a republican house. if republicans do win the house, i think it's very possible for that to happen. >> the planet is fast

approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible. we are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator. >> reporter: the midterms happening at the same time as cop27, the largest climate change conference in the world. it brings together world leaders, policymakers, and activists. this year taking place in egypt. as conservatives are poised to take control of the house, few have included climate policy in their midterm platforms. but benji wants to help reverse that trend. can you tell me, what does it mean to have a conservative stance on climate policy? it sounds, when you first hear it, like, hold on, explain that, conservative stance on climate policy? please explain. >> we believe in nuclear energy. we believe in american leadership, because american economic growth is good for the world. if we can provide low-cost technology to other countries, that's a win.

we believe in streamlining regulations that are unnecessary that put us in a place where we can't help fight climate change. and the goal would be, in 2023, 2025, every year there's a new congress or a new president, that you aren't worried about climate inaction because of who's in power, it's just a matter of who's going to have to work more at the other side. >> we're not having a one size fits all approach to the environment. at a time when our generation is so disgruntled, we're going in there and we're saying, no, we have answers. >> my freshman year of college, i searched "conservative environmental organization." nothing "conservative climate organization." nothing. that's when i realized i had to do it myself. >> reporter: that organization became "the american conservation coalition." its goal, building the conservative environmental movement. >> we are at the first acc summit. we have just under 300

attendees, which is absolutely incredible for the first time this is being held. >> i'm here because i am a conservative environmentalist. and i think it's really important that we create that movement and make it like a valid movement. i think for a long time conservatives have not come to the table. >> it's the people in this room that will change the narrative. there are tens of billions of dollars being spent on the current way of thinking on the environment. and it's not working. >> reporter: benji's reputation and his enthusiasm attracting several high-profile republicans. like texas representative dan crenshaw. >> i think the republican party has come a long way on this. and benji's the next generation of that. >> reporter: and former transportation secretary elaine chao, who just happens to be the wife of kentucky senator and minority leader mitch mcconnell. >> to conserve is probably the most conservative principle of all. and all americans, regardless of their backgrounds or political

stripes, want clean air, clean water, and a healthy planet for future generations. >> reporter: if benji seems comfortable around politicians, it's because he is. he's been doing this for more than ten years. his whole journey started in wisconsin when he was just 12 years old. volunteering for his political hero scott walker. and soon becoming a real conservative media darling. >> benji backer joins us live from green bay, wisconsin. welcome to the program. >> reporter: even speaking at cpac at age 16. >> i'm a product of the wisconsin public school system, which is one of the best in the country. but it hasn't always been easy for a conservative thinker. >> for conservative climate activists, they are the largest youth-led group in the country. they are focusing on insider tactics where they work directly to lobby and speak with elected officials to make sure their voices are heard and their perspective is heard. >> how do you reconcile as an environmentalist the

republicans' relationship with fossil fuels? that's a big one. when you hear "drill, baby, drill." what do you feel? >> both sides have been in bed with fossil fuels for a long time. republicans maybe a little bit longer now that democrats have started to cut that off. but we need to work with fossil fuel companies while we still have fossil fuels. >> u.n. and scientists around the world say, stop. stop as soon as you can. >> they say start moving away from them as soon as you can, but we're not moving away from them tomorrow. we're going to need solutions within the fossil fuel industry and outside the fossil fuel industry. >> there are a number of conservatives who now acknowledge that there is a climate crisis. they acknowledge that humans are causing it. but they don't necessarily agree about how to solve that problem. >> reporter: but for benji, that cure in the nature that he loves so much, even a small step is one in the right direction. >> i want people to always remember that what we're doing is because of this.

we're always caught in the middle because we're trying to fight for commonsense solutions in the middle. and that ends up creating a lot of enemies and also goes against the grabe of what anyone thinks is possible. so every day i'm met with tens if not hundreds of noes. but for every yes that coming from that and every meeting that i can get that can move the ball forward, that's what it's all about. >> my thanks to ginger. when we come back, rihanna like you've never seen her before. put it in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when uc got unpredictable,... i got rapid symptom relief with rinvoq. check. when uc held me back... i got lasting, steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when uc got the upper hand... rinvoq helped visibly repair the colon lining. check. rapid symptom relief. lasting, steroid-free remission. and a chance to visibly repair the colon lining. check. check. and check.

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