captioning sponsored by cbs >> pelley: it's election night in america, voters are choosing the 114th congress. >> and in that congress, the republicans will keep control of the house. but it is an all-out battle tonight for control of the senate. >> pelley: we'll be reminding you all night that the republicans need to pick up six seats now held by democrats to take back control of the senate for the first time in eight years. and they picked up four already in west virginia, arkansas, south dakota, and montana. >> but democrat jean shaheen holds on to her new hampshire seat, defeating former massachusetts senator scott brown. >> pelley: the republicans are looking for two more democrat seats. they have their eyes on north carolina, iowa, and colorado. we have no projections in those states yet. and democrat mary landieu's battle for reelection in louisiana appears headed for a runoff which won't happen until

december. >> reporter: in kentucky, mitch mcconnell survivedded a challenge from alison lundergan grimes. if the g.o.p. wins back the senate, it's a safe bet he will become the next majority leader. we have a long way to go tonight in the most expensive congressional election in u.s. history and we're just getting started. >> pelley: it's application night on cbs. make no mistake, these policies are the ballot. >> i'm back! >> every square inch of the republican party knows what's at stake. >> we can't run this country one crisis to another. >> i think the 10 seats that you said are close, you could see all 10 go republican. >> there he is. we got it. thank you. >> we're going to win this time. we're going to win! >> who is going to fight for you? >> this election is about making the country better. >> campaign 2014, election night. analysis from bob schieffer and charlie rose.

gayle king and anthony mason with our cbs news exit polls. nancy cordes is following congressional races. john dickerson at the decision desk. bill whittaker on the the governors and report reports frm correspondentcorrespondents in y battleground states. now, from cbs news election headquarters in studio 57, here are scott pele and norah o'donnell. >> pelley: good evening, we came into this night with all 435 seats in the house and 36 seats in the senate up for grabs. >> the republicans will control the house for two more years. the senate still to be decided. >> pelley: bob schieffer the mood of the country tonight seems to be the deciding factor in a lot of these races. >> the mood is nasty. the mood is exactly what we've been talking about all week. it's now being reflected in the exit polls. people don't like the way things are going. they are despair about the government. they don't like republicans and they don't like democrats. this is not just a referendum on

obama. it's a referendum on want whole political system. >> charlie, the democrats wanted to keep these as local races. the republicans wanted to nationalize it, make these races about president obama and his low approval ratings. has it worked for them? >> indeed it has. i mean, republicans are driving this election, and those that are driving elections are most upset about the president. a pickup on what bob just said. there is a kind of sullen, sour attitude there, and they're taking it out on the president. it's a question of leadership. it's a question of washington. and they're blame him. and those democrats didn't want to mention him, and all the republicans wanted to talk about was barack obama. >> many of these democrats you couldn't even find the word "democrat" under their name in many of these contests. >> pelley: let's have a look at a couple of the races that are still too close to project tonight. we're going to have a look, first of all, at the state of georgia, where david purdue, the republican, is inching ahead with 54% of the vote in at this point. it is likely, according to our cbs news estimates, likely to go

republican, brut it is still too soon to estimate that race. now, let's have a look at the state of iowa. we are-- our cbs news estimate is this is leaning in the direction of joni ernst, a lieutenant colonel in the iowa national guard, the republican candidate, joni ernst, cbs news is estimating that it is leaning in her direction, but still, too close to make a projection. >> and let's take a look at the closely contested state of colorado. cbs news says this is a likely republican win for them. but still too soon to call there. and let's take a look at the state of north carolina. it is too early to call this race. look how close this is. the most expensive race in the country. nancy, i know you've been to many of thees raises, and you were also in north carolina. >> i was and here's some good news we're finding in the exit polls for kay hagan the

democratic incumbent. we looked at how moderates are voting tonight. this is one of the few states where the moderates are swinging her way, the democrats' way, two to one. you talked about localizing races. kay hagan was probably better than any other democrat when it comes a caim to localizing this race. she hammered her opponent about education cuts in north carolina. he's the state house speaker. this is something that all north carolinians can israel to northa very personal level. >> pelley: this race cost $100 million for a single senate seat in the state of north carolina. >> you know, it looks like that mary landieu is headed for a runoff in louisiana. they spent 50 million on that, and they think they'll spend another 50 million just on the runoff. they're talking about $100 million race in, governor's race in florida. this thing is just the floodgates are open. there are no longer any more campaign laws. you know what's kind of interesting about our whole campaign law system? i think there were something

like 41 members of the nixon administration who were indicted for one kind of financial maneuvering or another. all of the thing that those people went to jail for are now legal. >> and the point is, they're spending all this money and it's all about negative campaigning. it is not a great debate and discussion about where to take this countrye countryed for. >> pelley: all you can tell from the campaign ads is everyone running for congress is an evil, terrible person who hates women and children, apparently,. >> that's sort of to sum it up. >> pelley: a pox on all of their houses, the democrats and republicans-- >> that's what people are saying tonight, scott. they're mad at all of them. they're not satisfied with anything. >> that's in addition to obama. it really is against washington and against the way the country is going and working. i mean, the president's approval ratings are at 44%. in the exit polls, we get the same kind of sense-- 44% of the people don't approve of washington and the leadership in washington. >> pelley: now, let's talk about some of more of these

races. john dickerson, our political director, is back there at the decision desk-- oh, i'm sorry. >> he's over here. >> pelley: john, you've been back there all night because that's where we crunch the numbers and where the business end of all of this is. >> i get a lot of my information from him. i want him as close to me as i can get. >> pelley: absolutely, me, too. i'm glass gladyou're here. tell us about some of the races are a little too tight to make a prediction on. >> who knows where i'll be at the end of the night. >> pelley: asleep. >> no matter what i'm looking at no matter where i am, the four states we talk about as presidential battleground states. north carolina is one of them. it's so close. i was talking to them at the decision desk, and i said why don't we know what's happening in north carolina? is there no conclusion? they said just because it's too close. what seems to be happening in north carolina, kay hagan, the democrat, appears to have done what democrats are trying to do across the board which is make the electorate this year look like the electorate in the obama years. we talked about all this money that was spent superpower that's where a lot of the money has been spent, which is trying to get the electorate to turn out

for the democratic voters. in colorado, the democrats are having a tougher time of it. they're trying to turn out younger voters to match the older voters who voted for the republican in colorado. it's not happening, and the exit polls in 2012, 20% of the young vote turned out for barack obama-- or 20% was the share of the total vote. it's only 15% for mark udall in colorado, and that may be the problem. >> i want to talk about gender politics, but at the same time, barack obama was on african american radio stations in north carolina being interviewed trying to reach out in the last several days. >> pelley: and the north carolina african american vote and the georgia african american vote very high, which would suggest good news for the democrats there. >> that's right. high. it looks like that vote looked for barack obama, and that's the goal for democrats, why they're doing well in that state but not in others. >> and as we talk about the effect of president obama in some of these campaigns, we should talk about our exit polls, too, because cbs news talked to voters as they left the polls today and we telephoned some who voted early

to find out what was on their minds as they cast their ballots. gayle king and anthony mason are in studio 47 tonight to tell us what we all learned. what did you find? >> it may not surprise you, norawhen you hear the numbers. the president didn't even campaign for fellow democrats in any of the nine senate battleground states that we're covering tonight. and eye number of democrats have been trying to distance themselveses from the president and his policies. and it's easy to see why when you look at these numbers. 54% of the people we talked to today disapprove of the job that president obama is doing. >> nearly 60% of republicans in our exit poll told us their vote for the house today was a vote against the president and his policies. and the president's support among democrats was also weak. only 40% said their vote was in support of the president and his policies. as charlie pointed out earlier, the president has really been a drag on his own party today, scott. >> what did you both find about congress? >> norah, congress isn't doing so well, either. one recent poll said people

preferred brussel sprowts and root canals to congress. congress is even more unpopular than the president. 78% disapprove of the job that congress is doing. >> that's among the highest we've actual lean seen in our cbs news exit polling. the late democratic senator robert byrde once said, "is it any wonder why the approval rating of congress goes up every time we go into recess." >> pelley: i think we've maligned brussels sprowts unfairly here tonight. we want to talk about some of the governors' races. there are more than 30 governors' races happening tonight. those are the races that are really going to be affecting people's lives in a significant way. let's have a look at one of those races, one of the most interesting and important races tonight. it's the race for governor of wisconsin. and, well, actually what we have up right now is governor for florida, 97% of the vote in, rick scott, look at that, squeaking ahead of charlie crist. rick scott, the republican. and charlie crist, of course, a former republican who was

running for governor in florida this time as a democrat. rick scott slightly ahead. but cbs news has not projected a winner there. now let's have a look at the state of wisconsin. governor scott walker well ahead at this point of the democrat mary burke, 17% of that vote has been tabulated so far. bill whittaker is following the governors' races for us tonight. bill. >> as you were saying, in florida, with 97% of the vote counted, it's still really too close to project. now, that has been one of the nastiest and certainly the costliest. as bob said, these guys spent about $100 million bashing each other. and what did they get for it? well, they come in to this evening neck and neck, and our exit polls are saying that most people have an unfaiferl view of both men. it also could be confusion, because the democratic candidate, charlie crist, was once the republican governor of

florida. and we talked to our folks at the exit polls, and they're telling us that 60% of the voters thought that he had changed parties just so he could win the election. but we also found from our exit polls that he's managed to hold on to the democratic base. most democrats are voting for charlie crist tonight. and also tonight, charlie crist petitioned to have the polls in pobulous broward county held open for a couple of hours because he said the voting machines were broken but he said the petition was denied. >> are the races for governor different for the races for senate? are the issues different? >> the governors are closer to the people. you know, they've got to bring home-- they really have to bring home the bacon. >> and show executive leadership. >> and show executive leadership. an idea of just how important these races are to both the parties and to the candidates running-- the races for governor, the candidates for

governor have spent $50 million more on these races than the candidates for senate. and the same number are running-- the same number of seats are up, 36. >> bob, i know, as we've been looking tonight, too, is whether the republicans will take the senate. i know you have been talking to a number of republicans. how do they feel at this hour, that they're going to pull it off? >> they're feeling pretty good about it, quite frankly. but here's the thing. you know, we've been saying they need to pick up six seats to take the majority. but if they do that, they've also got to hold all of their seats. and the one that the republicans are most worries about tonight right now as of 10 minutes ago is kansas where you've got pat roberts, the longtime senator down there, republican. i mean, i don't think kansas has elected a democratic senator in-- since what, about 1942, something like that-- '32, 1932. >> i mean it's a-- >> now, this is an independent down there that's challenging

pat roberts. but most of the republicans don't there think he really is a democrat. and that he will vote with the democrats. pat roberts, this is the one they're most worried about right now. >> pelley: throughout the evening, we will be posting the very latest returns online, of course, on our web site, the address is cbsnews.com. and on twitter. our twitter handle is @cbspolitics. congressman paul ryan, the 2012 republican vice presidential candidate, easily won reelection tonight in wisconsin. he's being talked about as a presidential candidate in 2016. in fact, we'll talk to him about just that in just a moment.

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special coverage of election night 2014. as we mentioned, the republicans have easily won control of the house for two more years. charlie rose has a guest who will be a key player there. charlie. >> thank you. congressman paul ryan of wisconsin was elected tonight to a ninth termed as chair of the budget committee. he is one of the most members of the republican majority in the house but does he have his eye on the house at the other end of pennsylvania avenue? he joins us tonight from milwaukee. congressman ryan, thank you for joining us. >> to be with you charlie. >> do you have a message for the president of the united states tonight? >> yeah, his policies are aren't workinworking and he should worh the republicans. it looks like we're going to get the senate and we'll give him the opportunity to make some decisions because we intend to put legislation on his desk. >> that raises questions. what is it you want to do and prepared to do to steped for and meet the president halfway? >> look, we've passed 380-plus bills in the house dealing with job creation, foreign policy,

securing the border, opening up our energy to create more jobs and energy independence. a whole range of issues. all of which have gone nowhere in the united states senate. you get the senate. then we can have votes on these issues. we can have these bills contemplated. maybe they won't all pass. i bet a lot of them will. then we can put these bills on the president's desk. we can retain the power to put back with congress, and we can give the president a chance to actually make a decision. harry reid has denied the president the ability to even think about signing legislation because nothing's been passing in the senate. i think actually, by getting the senate tonight, which it looks like we are, it in many ways freeze up the gridlock. it breaks a lot of gridlock, and we will give the president an opportunity to work with us on a lot of issues dealing with jobs and the economy, foreign policy and many other issues. >> well, congressman, i understand the president is invited the leaders of congress to come and meet with him on friday's of this week. when you go to that meeting, what will you say to him? >> >> well, i would encourage him not to take union lateral

actions with executive orders that circumvent congress and the constitution. i would encourage him to work with congress, work with us on all the big issues of the country, and let's see if we can put together agreements. i put together a budget agreement with patty murray showing republicans and democrats can work together to get things done four constituents, for the country. and i would say don't do the executive order route. don't try to go unilateral and around the constitution. work with congress and we're here to work with you. >> pelley: paul ryan, chairman of the house budget committee. thank you very much, congressman. congratulations on your reelection tonight. >> thank you, scott, bob, thanks, charlie, norah. >> pelley: stay with us now for more cbs news election night coverage including analysis from peggy noonan from the "wall street journal," and former white house chief of staff bill daly. this is a map of the pressure points on my feet.

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>> pelley: welcome back to cbs news election night coverage. we have two very special guests this evening. peggy noonan is a columnist for the "wall street journal," a former speechwriter for president reagan and cbs news contributor. and bill daley was commerce secretary for president clinton, and chairman of al gore's 2000 presidential campaign. peggy, let me start with you. what sort of night are republicans having, and why do you think that is? >> i think republicans are having a very good night. i think they are probably going to carry the senate by the time the night, which may go a little long, is over. what has been startling to me is the places where the republicans have won the victories have been so big. mitch mcconnell was expected to win, but not by 15 points.

that's a blowout. tom cotton was expected to win in arkansas, not by 10 point. ed gillespie in virginia, the last i looked a few minutes ago, was still leading. he was supposed to be 20 points back. so it seems to me a big story tomorrow is what the heck happened in those races? >> pelley: they stopped spending money on ed gillespie's race in fact because they didn't expect him to do well and now it's too tight to call. >> nobody did. to me, it's the amazing story of the evening. >> bill daley you said to me earlier the president has one last chance to try to bring the country together. what should he do now? >> i think it's obviously a good step in calling the leadership in on friday's. i would continue that. obviously, he goes away for a week on an international trip, but i think there are a lot of things he can do, like reinstate the weekly leadership meeting with the leaders of both partys. may sound simple to some people, bet getting the six of them,

including the vice president, in a room, every week to sit down and say, okay, where are we go? they're the leaders. listen to mitch mcconnell tonight. he wants to work with the president in a different way, obviously, if he's majority leader. and i think this is a great opportunity. i believe it is for the country to moveed for if everyone is willing to compromise. >> but what if the president, one of his first actions is an executive action on immigration? wouldn't that send the wrong signal to republicans? that would make them angry up there on the hill. >> it may make some people angry but it's been obvious the getting comprehensive immigration reform, which everyone knows must happen, has been impossible lately. he's-- in my opinion eye don't know this for a fact-- he will take action. i think what he can say easily is i'll reverse all of those actions if you just pass a bill that solves the immigration problem for our country. and we all admit, and the republicans admit, it is a big problem. >> that wouldn't show a pliant and lovely nature towards let's

accommodate each other. >> pelle from kpix 5 news, this is a campaign 2014 update. >> our election night coverage continues here at kpix 5. we are watching the local races for >> the polls are open for another 30 minutes or so, and people still showing up to cast their ballots. these pictures in, as you can see, it's still quite crowded. our team of experienced reporters are covering the bay area races, including a battle for congress. >> voters in alameda and santa clarra county choosing from experience or a fresh new approach. anne makovec goes our coverage. >> reporter: it's real quiet at the campaign because volunteers are out and about getting last minute voters. we caught up with a 38-year-old

freemont lawyer who's made up a lot of ground since june and the race is now in a dead heat. kana is trying to frame himself as a pro-business candidate. >> i think we're going to win because i've articulated a jobs and education plan for the future. >> we have made about 500,000 contacts in. >> mike handa is one of the contestants, and it is an expensive race. they don't think they'll know the final results until sometime tomorrow. in oakland, mayor gene kwan is up against a slew of

troubles. >> councilmember libby shaft and mayor gene kuan is not far behind. in fact, she is out campaigning and has a reputation as a fierce campaigner. she says she's the only candidate to send out mailers in chinese and spanish, but the key is getting the voters to the poles, especially with this ranked choice voting system. we'll be here all night covering the race at different location and we'll have the latest for you throughout the evening. i'm juliet goodrich. >> nobody really knows how this mayor's race will play out. >> they don't. the margins are just too close. we have a slew of candidates, four or five of them in the top running there, only about three or four percentage points and

then you bring in the second and third choice, under instant vote-off. and it becomes a situation of roll are the dice and the dice lands in a rowlett wheel. >> it is one of the most unusual things you'll ever hear in politics. >> error confusing too. we'll be back with another campaign 2014 election night update. in 30 minutes you can follow it on our website at kd web. ,,,,,,

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>> pelley: good evening, again, and back back to cbs on election night. and for those of you just joining us, the headline of the hour is that the republicans will keep control of the house and they are now within striking distance of taking the senate. >> the republicans came into this night needing to pick up six seats now held by democrats. well, they have picked up at least five. the fifth just in. cbs news projects that they have won the state of colorado. corey gardner there. cbs news projecting that he will defeat the incumbent democratic senator mark udall. let's take a look now at the senate map. and there you see the red states are the ones republicans have

won. the flashing red states are republican pickups. and then-- and you can see georgia as well went republican. and let's take a look here. a gain of five seats for the republicans. and now the state of georgia, too, cbs news projects that david purdue has won the state of georgia. and, bob, two significant calls tonight there. >> yeah, very much so. i mean, that was, of course, a republican seat. that was not one, but the republicans had to hold that seat, so it looks like they have now done that. they're down to one now. if they can get one more. >> iowa. >> iowa. and that's where it's going to come. colorado is extremely significant i think, norabecause, you know, when you think about this, you have a large hispanic population out there. the democrat put all this emphasis on winning the women's vote, and it looks like the

republican has won out there. they do not have a large black population out there. but-- >> pelley: nancy cordes, corey gardner, who we have just projected the winner in the colorado race, as a member of congress, which he currently is, one of the most conservative members in the entire house of representatives. >> particularly when it comes to reproductive rights, and that's the democrat, mart udall, mounted the campaign he did, highlighting that in a moderate state like colorado. but gardner walked back some of his positions. he came out and said, "i was wrong," and that's something you don't hear from a politician very often. he got some points for that. and he did end up cutting into udall's support among women. six years ago, udall won among women by 15 points. this year, he only won by nine point, where gardner picked up men by a whopping 16 points. >> again, you know, the democrat put all this emphasis eye mean, so much emphasis on the women's

vote, they were calling him senator uterus out there for a time. he lost. >> 65% of the people-- >> i think that-- that's something the democrats have to look into and think about because that could-- if the republicans were able to withstand that in colorado, can they do it elsewhere? and that's-- that will be very important. >> with 65% of the people in the exit polls said the economy was the most important reason for their vote. >> that may well be why gardner won in that contest. ben tracy is at gardner headquarters in the state of colorado. ben. >> reporter: norah, a lot of happy people here at core gardner's, what is now a victory party, and i think this happened a lot sooner than a lot of them expected. the udall campaign has been tell us it will be a long night because late election returns in coltypically favor the democrats. that has not turned out. you have a lot of republicans in this room tonight who are on a roak mountain high because for

them this is all about 2016. this is about winning a presidential race, and to do that they had to figure out how to win colorado, and, norah and scott, it appears they have done that tonight. >> one of the busiest republicans on the campaign trail is not on the ballot this year, senator rand paul of kentucky has campaigned on behalf of g.o.p. candidates in 30 states, collecting ious as he considers a run for president in 2016. senator paul, it look likes if iowa comes around you may have republican control of the senate. what will change? what will republicans do to bring about the kind of america they want to see? >> i think you'll see an toned gridlock. i think you'll see bill after bill after bill presented to the president, and we'll decide does the president want to work with us or is he going to obstruct the process? but i would say there are dozens of bills that are bipartisan. i have bills with harry reid and i couldn't even get a vote on them. i have bills with corey booker

and couldn't get a vote on them. i think mitch mcconnell will get these thingsed for because he understands the only way to pass legislation in the senate is to allow the minority party-- and if that's the democrats -- we will allow them to have amendments and allow them to have a say in passage of the legislation. >> what do you say to those who say this was a vote against president obama. it was not a mandate for the republicans? >> a little bit of both, but i wouldn't disagree. i would say this election was a repudiation not only of the president, but of hillary clinton. in my state, the democrat candidate wouldn't even admit she vote for president obama, but she proudly said she was a clinton democrat. and she got washed out. same way in arkansas. the clintons, both of them were there in arkansas. i think the clinton cachet has worn off a bit, and fing you analyze the election, you'll find out the clintons didn't have any great deal effect-- >> pelley: senator paul, i'm sorry to interrupt but we have breaking news that you're going to find very interesting, cbs

news is making a projection now on the state of kansas. cbs news is projected that the incumbent senator republican pat roberts will be the winner in the state of kansas. so this is a hold for the republicans. roberts is a three-term senator. he was fighting for his life on this race. there is only 48% of the vote in, but based on our exit polling information, we are projecting with confidence that senator roberts, the republican, will hold on to his seat in kansas. senator paul, how does that news strike you? >> you know, i think that's good news. i was just out there visiting and campaigning with senator roberts, and it's a tough race. he went through, but i think in the end, people decide they didn't want an independent that couldn't decide whether he was going to caucus with the republicans or democrats. i think a lot of people thought that he wasn't being completely honest with the public about his intentions. >> senator paul, among

republicans, you seem to have been the one who is calling for a change in the republican brand, that it's got to reach out to hispanics, african americans, and young people. so what will you do to do that? >> you know, i think that for a long time, african americans evaporate said, "oh, republicans, i want to be a republican." they just are turned off by there's something about republicans. and so i think we need to change that. because i don't think there's anything wrong with our policies. in fact, if you look at detroit, i think democrat policies have made things worse. or if you look at the median household income right now for households led by african americans, it's much worse under president obama's policies. so i think we have something to offer, but there's this wall that separates us from african americans, and from some hispanics, from some young people, some asian americans, so we do need to change our attitude and our-- the way we present ourselves to attract new people to our party. >> all right, senator rand paul,

congratulations, and thank you for joining us tonight. and the senator from minnesota has been campaigning hard for fellow democrats and she joins us now from minneapolis. senator, good to see you. thank you so much for joining us. >>ed any to see you, norathank you. >> you're going from govern naig democratic majority to likely going to have to live under a republican majority. we haven't called that yet, but how does that factor in to how things will get done? >> well, we don't know yet. and i think that's important to note. but i talked to five of my republican republicans colleagues today, many of whom were up for election, including senator cornyn and senator graham, and i would say especially both of them talked at length about how they want to moveed for. and as you you know how the senate works, we need to get bipartisan support to really beat the filibuster. and i think we talked at length about tax reform, all the money that's stored overseas, ways to intent vise that to come back,

as well as immigration reform and infrastructure. so i'm not going to concede yet until we see-- alaska is still out, and we have iowa still out. but i will say it's going to be close no matter what, and we have to get back to the business of governing. >> senator, let me ask you this question. i have heard people say that's, you know, harry reid didn't bring up a lot of things for a vote because he wanted to protect democrats who were having a hard time. he didn't want them to have to make a hard vote. and now some people are starting to say, you know, that may have backfired. he should have let some of those bills come to the senate floor because there were some democrats that really wanted to vote against the president on some issues, and they would have fared better had they been able to put in the record, i opposed president obama on this or that. what do you think of that? >> well, i think there was stuff going on, on both sides. there was also a lot of really politically charged amendments that didn't really go with the bills that some people were trying to put up.

i think in general, people want to go back to the business of governing. there's a group of us try to work on allowing amendments in. and i think one of the things we've learned, and i appreciated your point, bob bfocussing on the economy. i think the candidates that did that this time, like senator franken who found out his results in six seconds instead of six months this year. those candidates, i think, have fared better. and i think it will be a message to both sides that we need to work on delivering for the people of this country. >> thank you very much, senator, great to see you again as always. anthony mason is keeping up with the exit polling information that we've been pulling in from voters all across the country as they have left the polls. anthony. >> scott, of the three senate battleground states still in play, two, including north carolina, are now leaning republican. the economy a big issue in all of those states as it has been across the country, gayle. >> that is certainly what we heard today, anthony. our exit poll shows the economy was the number one issue for the

rest of the country as well, 45% of the voters we talked to today called it the most important issue. as for the direction of the economy, you see there on your screen, 78% of the people we talked to today are very worried, 22%, anthony, not so worried. >> the reason for that concern, family finances. more than 70% of the voters in our exit poll told us their financing are either treading water or getting worse. so if it's all about the economy, scott, people are not feeling good about their pocketbooks still. >> pelley: unemployment is down, but wages are not rising. >> all right, thanks to gayle and anthony. and in addition to the battle for congress, republicans and democrats are fighting over 36 governorships tonight. we'll look at those races and we'll have the latest returns when we return. it's more than the driver. it's more than the car. for lotus f1 team, the competitive edge is the cloud. powered by microsoft dynamics, azure, and office 365,

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>> pelley: welcome back to election night on cbs, and there is breaking news. cbs news is projecting a winner in the tightly run governor's race in wisconsin. cbs news is projecting that scott walker, the republican, will win reelection in wiscons wisconsin. bill whittaker has been covering the governors' races for us tonight. and this is a big one, bill. >> this is a big one, scott. scott walker followed a very

conservative agenda when he was running as the governor of wisconsin. he cut taxes. he restricted access to abortion. and the big thing was he ended that collective bargaining with most of the state workers, and as you remember, that triggered those massive demonstrations at the state house back? 2011. he was turned into a hero on the right bit virtually vilified by his opponents on the left. but this race actually hinged on the economy. and if you look at our exit polls, nearly half of all voters said that the economy actually got better under scott walker. and that just was too much for mary burke to overcome. now, with this win, we will definitely hear more about scott walker as a potential presidential contender in 2016. but, just this one little tidbit from our exit polls. 56% of the voters in wisconsin

told us that he would not make a good president. >> well, wisconsin, has been a traditionally progressive state, and now scott walker can make the case, look, my governing philosophy as a conservative in this state is a model for the country. he will be at the top of republicans' list for 2016, no doubt, right? >> absolutely. you even have the speaker of the house saying the next republican nominee for president is going to be a governor. he knows that this has been a spectacularly unproductive congress, that members of congress don't have much to run on, don't have much to tout when they're running for president. he thinks whoever it is, who becomes the republican nominee, is going to be someone like scott walker, like kasich and jeb bush if he decides to run. >> dean reynolds is in burlington, wisconsin, tonight. dean. >> reporter: good evening, norah. well, you know, scott walker is the guy the democrats just can't beat. this is the third time he's run in four years, and he's won them all. and now he has shown that he can win in a blue state.

remember, wisconsin is a state that the president won twice. now, he has universal republican support, so there must be a considerable amount of independents who like what he is selling. he has manifestly strong fund-raising skills. a lot of the money came from outside the state. now, he is sort of a nonthreatening, low-key persona. but what he says certainly electrifies republicans. when we talked to him last week, i asked him, "are you going to run for president? is this it?" he said i have a four-year plan in wisconsin. it's not a two-year plan or a year and a half plan. but he didn't say no, i'm not going to run. >> pelley: dean reynolds reporting for us tonight from wisconsin. dean, thank you very much. we have a lot of returns pouring in, and we will have them for you when we come back.

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>> and welcome back. it is election night here at cbs news. let's take a look at the senate map to see if republicans have managed to win the majority this evening. and you can see those flashing red states, one, two, three, four, five of them flashing tonight. that means they're just one seat away from taking the majority. it's been a big night for republicans, bob. >> it has been a very big night. as you say, norayou're one away. i can't believe that the white house is all that surprised at this. when you think about the president actually got out and campaigned for only one senate candidate in one of these battle ground states. they had to know that it was

going to be pretty tough going in here tonight. but what i keep wondering about is what is the impact of what is happening tonight? what is the impact it's going to have on both parties now as they move away from this? there are two years left in the president's term here. do the republicans really want to help? do the democrats really want to try to get something done. >> and do they think their brand is appeal. >> the republicans are two seats away from taking the majority tonight, jon. how do they do it? >> they have to get to six and not lose georgia or kansas. so that's how they would get to do it. it would be iowa-- they can get to six by iowa or north carolina. you know, one thing as bob was saying about you know what gets done, we've talked a lot tonight about the structure, that it doesn't favor democrats, the structure of the races going on. well, in 2016, the structure is going to favor democrats. there are a lot of battleground states that are up. there will be a national race

where the democrats tend to turn out in presidential races. so the structure for republicans will be to try to govern in a way that helps those republican candidates in those battle ground states. but, democrats could very well diswied in the senate, we're not going to work with them at all. and in those battle ground states we'll just say the republicans were too conservative. they were-- they weren't main stream, and then run on that, and that could be a recipe for gridlock from the democrats. >> here's one small point in terms of what we know so far-- every senate republican incumbent in a competitive race won tonight and there's only one waiting, that's jim risch, in idaho. >> part of that is because of the map john was talking about. you have far more democrats up for reelection and a lot in republican-leaning states than republicans. two years from now, you've got 24 republicans running for reelection and only 10 democrats. >> pelley: it could be different. never midterm election the difficulty every party has is getting their voters motivated and out to the polls.

one of the things we've been doing all day is talking to voters as they left the polls and we have exit poll date doot from anthony mason and gayle king. which party did the best job getting their voters out to the ballot box? >> you can see pretty clearly in the numbers, scott. midterm elections are, as you said, getting up on the the base. let's look at three constituencies-- young voters, african american, and hispanics. althey're making up a smaller percentage of the electorate this time around. the biggest decline in young voters from 19% down to 13%. >> but the republicans, on the other hand, they managed to energize their base. they got their people to the polls. in all of the categories we followed today the biggest increase is in the voters 65 and older, 23% compared to 16% two years ago. it appears that republicans were helped by an older, more conservative electorate. >> and that is why they are gaining ground in congress,

scott, norah. >> pelley: bob, we went into this night not knowing if we were going to be able to project whether the senate will go to the republicans. now it's looking more like a sure i think. >> i think they're very close. i think it's all but certain that that idaho race is going to go to the republican out there. >> and the iowa race may go to the republicans. >> and the iowa race is leaning. that poll is not closed yet. >> pelley: we're not going to have to wait on alaska which closed at 1:00 a.m. for eastern time and doesn't count for days. >> tell grandma she can go on and go to bed. i think we'll know here. >> pelley: there's going to be a great deal more about this election night on your late local news and online, of course, as always, at cbsnews.com. >> and charlie, gayle. >> and will have more coverage first thing tomorrow on cbs this morning. >> pelley: and we will do the same on the cbs evening news tomorrow night. for our entire election night team, i'm scott pelley with norah adonnell. good night to you all.

from kpix news, this did a 2014 campaign update. >> welcome back to our local election night update. >> just minutes away from the polls closing in california, and the first returns coming in. we'll take you a live look inside the san francisco election office. watching the first ballots coming in and being colated for counting. >> a videotape cal night in the south bay where they're choose -- a critical night in the south bay where they're selecting a new mayor. >> reporter: public safety at the forefront of the election today. tonight, we've been reminded how important public safety is with a gang-related homicide in the city tonight. both candidates say they can

make the street safer, but they both have different approaches. sam wants to continue bench reform which passed with 70% of voters. since that time, about 400 police officers have left the force. >> it's not about spending more and promising big pensions. it's about being more efficient, more innovated, and more effective. >> i'm concerned about the fact we've lost about 300 police officers since i left city hall we have a crime rate now higher than the state and national average. >> reporter: last week, our exclusive poll showed 19% undecided. the polls are closing in a few minutes here. hopefully, that 19% will have decided and we'll find out the results later tonight. reporting live in san jose. san francisco and berkeley

trying this time around. cape is live in -- kate is live in berkeley. kate? >> reporter: they need a majority of voters in favor of measure d. for that to pass -- very different from san francisco -- a 2/3 majority. they found 2/3s of voters want the tax. and voters tell me if the soda chance has a pass of -- chance of passing, it'll be in the city. we talked about how much money was spent and raced. the campaign on no d racked up about $2 million which is far above the half mal from the supporters. >> all right, cate. phil joins us again. >> does measure d have a chance at berkeley? >> yes, it does! it has a good chance. they just need 50% vote, unlike that 2/3 vote.

it's gotten a lot of attention and taken a lot of money as well. >> i will say, though, it's berkeley. that's the rest of the -- how the rest of the country will look at it, right? >> but it's also big money. it's not just a loan when we're talking big money. let's look at the state campaigns and how much and spent on there. prop ones and twos. rainy day fund, $20 million. but look at 45 and 46, 56 million and 63 million between the doctors and lawyers. >> a lot of doug. we have another update coming up in a few minutes. ,,,,,,,,

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[ dramatic music ] ♪ [ music ] ♪ >> i'm scott pelly with nora o' donald. and it's a good night for republicans. >> they've held on the house and on the verge of the senate. now picking up six seats by democrats. they've taken five so far in west virginia, south dakota, arkansas, colorado, and montana. >> the gop held two hotly contested seats in kentucky. mitch mcconnell holds another term. and in kansas, pat roberts keeps his seat, defeating independent greg warmoth. >> scott walker, the only governor to survive a recall attempt has