judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, america votes. the country appears headed for a divided government in washington, as election results continue to come in and democrats do better than expected. then, the balance of power. we look at winners and losers and the potential for races still up in the air to change how much influence each party wields in the next congress. and, the takeaways. from the red wave that failed to materialize to the shifting political winds in former swing states, we examine the major themes of the midterms. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. ♪

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>> the walton family foundation. working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org . and with the ongoing support of these institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation of public broadcasting, and from supporters of pbs newshour should from viewers like you. thank you. judy: control of the united states congress still hangs in the balance tonight after the midterm elections of 2022. republicans are closing in on a majority in the house of representatives but a smaller

one than was widely expected. and, it may take another run-off to decide who runs the senate. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins begins our coverage. lisa: the red wave that wasn't. so far it has been largely democrats -- >> thank you, maryland. lisa: not republicans, celebrating wins. >> thanks to your commitment and hard work, we have won this race. cheeeerss!!!!." -- this race. lisa: the election remains dramatic, neither the fate of the house nor of the senate is clear. what is clear? democrats exceeded expectations. on the senate side, a major blue victory in pennsylvania. >> we bet on the people of pennsylvania and you didn't let us down. lisa: john fetterman, the commonwealth's lieutenant governor, defeated television doctor mehmet oz, flipping a republican-held post with a no-ve-left-unturned approached. >> i really liked how aggressive on the ground campaign they ran, and at the end of the day i

think that's what won for the camp. lisa: two other key senate races are undecided in nevada and arizona. both states have democratic senators challenged by trump-aligned republicans. also in both, ballots could take days to count. this, as in georgia, overtime. >> good afternoon, everyone. lisa: secretary of state brad raffensperger, who himself just won reelection announced the u.s. senate race between republican herschel walker and democratic incumbent rafael warnock is heading to a run-off in december. both candidates are asking supporters for patience. >> so you all just hang in there. i'm feeling good. >> if you can hang in, hang in there a little bit longer. hang in there a bit longer. lisa: some republicans had predicted a potential wave election, common in an unpopular president's first midterm especially with widespread voter concern about the economy. >> we have got to do something to reverse the inflationary trend. the democrats are spending out of control, congress is spending

out of control. that needs to come back in line. lisa: but there were other forces at play. >> i like to vote at every election, but i think especially this time, you know, it's about reproductive rights, it's about the environment, it's about ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to vote. lisa: republicans did have a good night imany races like in ohio, where author j.d. vance took the senate seat over democrat tim ryan. but in u.s. house races, the buckeye state was good for democrats. they managed to oust 12-term incumbent steve chabot near cincinnati and win a key toss-up open seat around akron over a former trump surrogate. then in toledo, democratic incumbent marcy kaptur beat j.r. majewski, a trump-endorsed republican who participated in the january 6 rally and denied the 2020 election. this morning, he conceded his loss in a tweet, wishing his opponent the best. also accepting defeat was democrat sean patrick maloney, who oversaw his party's national

house campaign and saw a message in the overall results. >> i don't think the erican people have given up on democracy, and i think with all of the headwinds and all of the damage from the pandemic and the trump years, there's still a beating heart to american democracy, and i think you saw it last night. lisa: former president trump himself reacted to the election with a rare acknowledgment. saying, in a statement that, "while in certain ways, yesterday's election was somewhat disappointing, from my personal standpoint it was a very big victory." president biden called an afternoon news conference and reflected on where things stand. pres. biden: while the press and the pundits were predicting a giant red wave, it didn't happen. i'm prepared to work with my republican colleagues. the american people have made clear, i think, that they expect republicans be prepared to work with me. lisa: in gubernatorial races, voters gave the nod to many incumbents among them democrats tony evers in wisconsin and gretchen whitmer in michigan both edged out their

trump-backed opponents. in texas and florida though, the republican base showed up in droves to re-elect their governors. greg abbott and possible 2024 presidential candidate ron desantis. >> we fight the woke in the legislature. we fight the woke in the schools. we fight the woke in the corporations. we will never, ever surrender to the woke mob. florida is where woke goes to die. lisa: a major election with big races decided and some of the biggest still to be determined. judy: for more analysis of what the results so far look like in several key races, let's go over to lisa, who's joined by am nawaz. lisa: that's right. the dust is still settling in these elections. a number of races yet to be called. when you look at the balance of power in the house, where do we stand? lisa: this is the ballgame. the associated press has 207 races that have been called. 183 for democrats.

they are sure the republicans of the 218 they need for control. i have been counting carefully what has happened overnight. . i show the republicans have a net of plus six seats. that is enough if it holds. who knows if it holds. there are the seats remaining. let's look at what is going on across the country. where did republicans do well? new york state, interestingly enough. they had a number of pickups. you see all of these dark gray seats, these are the many seats we have outstanding. how many are there? i'm glad i asked myself because i'm going to answer myself. look ahow many states are remaining, 30 races unresolved at this hour. seven of those races are within a single point. some of those good -- could go to an automatic recount. republicans, when you look a these races, have more pickup chances than democrats. amna: we have talked about how careful the associated press is being and amazing those race calls. they will wait until there is no

mathematical way to make it up. lisa: these are races we have been talking about with our viewers. let's see where we are. this is where our producer and i traveled last week. democrats, the incumbent, she is leading by just over 1500 votes. over the republican in this race. this is one area, a seat and a lot of democrats thought they would not be able to hold. that is the story of the night. democrats holding against this potential wave. look at what is going on in connecticut. another vulnerable democrat. jahana hayes, the former national teacher of the year, look at that margin. 50-50. within just about 2000 votes. 95% of the expected vote. this is a race i'm watching for a potential recountn waterbury, dan barry where the des jardins family is known well. we also want to go to another one. arizona, this is a different

picture. the democrat is the incumbent. he is down significantly, eight points. 86% of the expected vote. the first time canada here, republican, someone who has been openly pro-trump, america first. someone who has run on election integrity. he has not crossed the line to saying 2020 was stolen but he has raised those doubts. he is a former -- i'm saying this because i think we will hear a lot about this man if he gets into congress. . someone who was navy seal, and i think he is going to have a big persona in congss if he is elected. lisa: we are waiting for a call. 86% of the elected votes. many of these races we knew there was -- we knew these would be competitive. one in colorado. lisa: i expect some of our viewers get to this race. laura boebert, a big persona. she had -- she is down in her

race. this is a surprise for democrats and republicans and representative boebert. she is being outmatched by adam frech, a former councilman for aspen city council. he is someone who ran, one of his campaigns told npr on the policy of putting together a coalition of normal. laura boebert is someone who has run to make a lot point. voters in this district want the coalition of normal by just a little bit. 96% of the vote in. we will be watching this. amna: not get closer. we have talked about how election to nihilism has been on the ballot. this is the first big test for that. lisa: i think the primary that we are watching is the arizona governors race. and our stephanie sy will be talking about that. rit now, another 50-50, we are not making this up. katie hobbs, the democrat, secretary of state is winning by 4000 votes over kari lake, former tv news anchor. 67% of the expected vote here.

ngthis rwaactce coituld go dcarefully. kari lake is someone who has run on a platform of saying the 2020 election was stolen, into change how she believes those are handled. and how elections are handled. let's look at other deniers as we call them of the 2020 election, who have no found evidence for that. these in this column are those we have categorized. . look at what has happened overnight. almost all of them have lost their races. some of them have been in highly competitive races including was -- including michigan and wisconsin. the only one to win, kay ivey in alabama. that is one of the stories of tonight. let's talk about secretaries of state. i should say last night, it feels like the same night. secretaries of state, an important race. jim marchand, he is the secondary -- the secretary of state republican in nevada. he has put together a coalition of like-minded election denier candidates, who say they are

fighting for america, but in nevada, he is manning. his opponent says now, he is harming -- no, he is harming democracy. he is ahead with 77% of the vote. amna: w will keep watching those and all of the other races that we know are too close to call. back to you. judy: so interesting. i know you will be watching. thanks lisa and amna. while results continue to come in and the balance of power in congress remains in question, as we heard earlier, president biden today is celebrating what he called a strong night for democrats and he promised to work with republicans to find bipartisan solutions if they win majorities. for more on the president's reaction to the election and what it means for the next two years, i'm joined by laura barron-lopez at the white house. where she was last night. we told everyone about the president's news conference this afternoon. you were there. give us the gist of what he was saying. laura: the president was

cheerful, sing that the prognosticators got it wrong, about big republican gains. he also expressed confidence about the signal that voters sent to the public. you can listen here. pres. biden: they send a clear message that they want to preserve our democracy and protect the right to choose in this country. laura: the president also gave a shout out to young voters, those aged8 to 30. because of the fact that it looks as though young voters turned out in record numbers, matching 2018 numbers. they are a key constituency for democrats, also a key constituency for president biden when he won the presidency in 2020. judy: we know the president acknowledged, he does not know yet, we don't know yet, whether there will be a republican majority in either or both houses. what is the president saying about how that would affect his agenda?

what is he saying his agenda will be, especially if there is a divided congress? laura: the president d not give a lot of specifics about what he may propose, new legislation he may propose. . he talked a lot about his use of his veto pen. he said h would use his veto pen against any attempts to propose a national abortion ban. he said he would use it if republicans try to undo the laws we saw him pass in his first two years, namely the infrastructure law, prescription drug reform, elements of the inflation reduction act that had to do with addressing the climate crisis. the president was asked about ukraine and specifically, comments by minority leader kevin mccarthy where he recently said, prior to the election, that there should not be a blank check in aid for ukraine, and this was the president's response. pres. biden: there is so much at stake. i would be surprised if leader

mccarthy even has a majority of his republican colleagues who say they are not going to fund the legitimate defensive needs of ukraine. laura: the president said that he hopes that kevin mccarthy, if he ends up being the speaker, as well as other republicans, particularly if the senate ends up in republican hands even by once he, that they will work -- one seat, that they will work with him. judy: he did hear him say he hopes to work across the aisle. we know a number of republicans are talking about investigating the president, his administration, if they win the majority, especially in the house. they have talked about investigating immigration policy, the withdrawal from afghanistan last year. and also members of the president's own family. the president himself. how is the white house preparing for what could come? laura: the president was asked about that today. he treated it as though it is comedy. he specifically said if

republicans try to do that, it is comedic, and he also said it is out of his control, and ultimately, he was going to focus on trying to push forward other agenda items for the american public. you are right. the white house is preparing. they brought on over the summer a senior lawyer, they brought him over from veterans affairs in preparation for this onslaught of possible investigations. they also brought on a new calm spokesperson -- spokesperson to handle this. another important thing i want to note is the president was very optimistic, even though a lot of the races are still left to call. he said this was the best midterm election for a first presidenin the last 40 years. judy: it appears to be going against trends. we are watching at all, as we wait for the final numbers to come in. laura baran lopez at the white house, thank you, laura.

laura: thank you. ♪ judy: as you heard lisa report earlier, one congressional district in the largely republican state of ohio proved to be a bright spot for democrats last night in their efforts to maintain control of the house. democrats flipped the seat long held by gop congressman, steve chapek. i spoke with the winner of that race, representative elect greg landsman moments ago. representative elect greg landsman, thank you very much for joining us. congratulations on your victory. we know this is a house district that had been redistricted. the lines were redrawn. why do you think you won in a district that essentially had gone republican for half -- a quarter of a century? mr. landsman: i think a couple

things. redistricting was significant. and the city i have been representing as a member of city council for the last five years was wholly in one congressional district for the first time in a long time. that made a big difference. i also think congressman shop it who had been in d.c. for decades had really drifted to the far right. on january 6, he sided with the insurrectionists and donald trump, voting to overturn election. which for me was disqualifying, in for a lot of independents and many republicans, was too much. his position on choice, very extreme. i think it was a combination of the district and the fact that he was a big lie, antichoice extremists. folks don't want that. if you are in a competitive district as he found himself in,

voters are going to say no, that is not who we are. i think that is an important message for the country. judy: it is also the case that in ohio, voters elect -- reelected a republican governor, and elected a new republican senator. how do you put all of that together? you are a democrat, elected where you were elected. yet, the state looks like it is going very red. mr. landsman: yeah. the state is just so different from anyone pocket. in southwest ohio, the city of cincinnati, the eastern suburbs of our county,, up to warren county, it is trending bluer. it is just a lot of folks who, regardless of political affiliation are done with the chaos and extremism that i think

voters across the country rejected. one of the reasons why we did not see or are not seeing this big red wave, folks are really wanting a new generation of leaders who were going to work and be done with all of that nonsense. there's so much at stake and i think the expectation is that we get to work. judy: you discussed what congressman chapa's positions were, that you think her 10. what about you? what do you think the arguments you made that did resonate with voters? mr. landsman: i think a couple things. i had a proven track record. i had built a broad coalition, republicans, democrats, independents, to pass what we call the preschool promise, which is two years of qualities preschool -- quality preschool. and had done similar work on other big issues, and voters

knew that about me. they trusted me. i think that made a big difference. on the economy, i spoke to the larger issue of what's wrong. and why this economy has been broken for decades. not just because of this ndemic, but we have got decades of wage stagnation and cost that are too much for too many of our families. fixing the economy resonated with voters. we talked a lot about that. i also did, everywhere i went, reminded folks hey, look, this is a canary in the coal mine situation. we can say to the country, this is a competitive district. you have on one hand a big lie antichoice extremist. if we retire him, it does provide a cautionary tale to other folks who want to jump into the election denying game. and that is hey, don't do that.

in the same thing on choice. don't take away people's freedoms. judy: you go to washington to serve in the house. it looks as if the republicans are likely to take control, to take the majority in the house. it may not be a very big majority. but whether you are in the minority or majority, how confident are you that you can make a difference? we are, at this moment, as you have been alluding to, at such a divided time in this country. mr. landsman: i do think there is a lot of hope and what happened last night. certainly i experienced it here in cincinnati where a lot of republicans were very eager to send somebody that was very pragmatic and just about the work to congress. they were very clear about that. we like the campaign you are running, we like your

disposition, you seem like you are an adult, and you don't seem to get into all of these partisan fhts. i think we will see more folks like me getting elected, because the last few years have been too much for a lot of voters. whether we are in the majority or not, the majority is going to be slim. it is going to requireolks to work together. i think you are going to see a group of republicans and democrats come together on some shared priorities, whether it is immigration reform, hopefully the child tax credit, it could be additional funding for police and fire. there are a bunch of issues where we agree, and it would be great to see, and i will push for, a bipartisan effort in the next congress, to get some big things done that voters expect us to do as we fix this economy. judy: very quick last question,

do you expect to support nancy pelosi, whether she is in -- whether your party is in the minority or majority? mr. landsman: i have not gotten that far yet. it is hard to, as an incoming new member of congress, really understand how all of that plays out. that is going to be part of my learning curve. i am grateful for all of the support i got nationally that really made a big difference in helping us get over the finish line. my goal is to go to d.c., vote for the folks back here, i don't take corporate pack money, so that was a big issue. we need somebody who is going to vote for us. and then to come home every week and get as much walk -- much work done here as i possibly can. something we have not had appeared that's my focus. judy: i don't hear a commitment there to support her, whether it

is for leader or the speaker. mr. landsman: i have not even been asked the question by anyone in the leadership. excited to figure out where all of that saints. judy: representative elect greg landsman, thank you again for joining us, and congratulations. mr. landsman: thank you, judy. judy: tomorrow, we will speak with republican representative elect michael waller who won a seat in a formerly deep blue district outside new york city, blocking out a democratic leader in the process. ♪ judy: as we have been reporting, we are not likely to know the results of some of last night's contests for some time. in one state, the u.s. senate seat one not be decided for another four weeks. amna nawaz is back with more on those races. amna: that's right. arizona, races for governor and senate arnett and neck with two

thirds of the votes tallied. for a look at the latest from on the ground, we turn to stephanie sy who has been tracking this results. good to see you. those are some key races we do not have calls in. what are the latest tallies telling you? stephanie: the associated press has not made calls on any of arizona' top ticket races. i want to be careful to not draw any conclusions he because there are hundreds of thousands of ballots primarily in maricopa county that have yet to be counted. those were voters that voted yesterday, were who dropped off ballots yesterday, and by arizona law, all of those ballots, and they say there are more of those dropped off ballots yesterday than they have ever had, all of those have to be signature verified and processed before they can be counted. we do have results from the key races that can show you where the races stand currently, starting with the senate race that you referred to.

democratic incumbent mark kelly is leading his opponent, blake masters, in that race by nearly 5%. there is any 3000 votes separating those two. the governor's race which lisa talked about earlier between democrat katie hobbs and trump-endorsed kari lake, is an absolute tossup. hobbs has a razor thin lead. it is at .2% right now. anything less than .5% would trigger an automatic recount in arizona. i also want to take a look at the current results for the race of secretary of state, which we have been following closely. it involves the democrat adrian font, the former maricopa county recorder in 2020. he is facing off against state representative mark fincham, who we have mentioned a lot on this program, because he was at the january 6 rally. he is a four term state representative who has led the efforts, at least in arizona, to

throw out the results of the 2020 election. he introduced a bill in the state congress to that effect, to throw out the votes of maricopa county voters in 2020. fincham is currently trailing fontes by more than 4%. there are still a lot of votes that were cast and have not been counted. it is too early for anyone to be celebrating. what i will say this, this is closer than a lot of consuants i spoke to would have expected. there are more registered republicans in arizona. it is a republican leading state . as one gop consultant i spoke to described, republicans have turned out is the best election cycle in years and made it competitive. his take is that arizona ultimately is not a trump estate. trump certainly has a lot of enthusiastic supporters here,

but biden did win arizona in 2020 by 10,500 votes. this consultant believes summer publicans and independents in particular may be turned off by the proximity of some of the top two peak candidates to trump. amna: i need to ask you, yesterday, you reported early on some equipment issues and -- in polling locations. any fallout from that today? stephanie: quite a bit of optical fallout, i would say. we have also learned 17,000 ballots were affected by this issue. but the american anti--- the maricopa county election officials say no one had a vote rejected. they have apologized. it was a printing problem. they say every vote will be counted. there were delays in both democratic and republican dominated precincts. one of those voting centers in particular in anthem, arizona,

which is a very conservative district, got a lot of attention for what were reportedly hours long delays. got a lot of attention on social media among far right influencers. and that does create a problem for maricopa county. the issue has moved to the forefront of the conversation, wpe already spreading disinformation about 2020. that includes the gop gubernatorial candidate, kari lake. i want to play some sound from r from last night. that is followed by sound from her opponent, the secretary of state katie hobbs. let's listen. >> we had a big day today, and don't let those cheaters and corks think anything different. don't let them put doubt in you. >> we know my opponent and her allies have been sowing doubt and confusion throughout this campaign. it is unacceptable that they were spreading misinformation today while people were

exercising their freedom to vote. >> you can see the contrast between the two candidates there. amna: and some key races in the key state of arizona. stephanie sy reporting for us tonight. good to see you. thank you. stephanie: you too. amna: let's turn now to georgia where the state's u.s. senate race is headed for runoff after neither candidate managed to garner 50 percent of the vote. georgia public broadcasting's stephen fowler, who has been monitoring senate results in that state. he joins us now. thank you for joining us. republicans did really well in georgia in a number of other races. how did this race end up going to a runoff? stephen: you are right, republicans did do really well in georgia. that are then expected in some cases. you had a brian kemp decisively win reelection against his opponent, stacey abrams. whereas kemp got the 3% of the

vote, nearly one in 10 of the voters that supported him opted not to vote for herschel walker, the republican senate candidate. you have walker's weakness and a little bit of democratic over performance by rafael warnock, have this and that race where nobody cleared the 50% needed to avoid a runoff according to georgia's runoff law. amna: there was a libertarian candidate, we should mention, garnered 2% of the vote in that race. do we have a sense of where those voters will break or will they stay home in a runoff? stephen: it is hard to tell. georgia's new election law signed last year changes the runoff period from nine weeks to four weeks, which is why we have a voting in december. some of those libertarian voters are people that do support the libertian candidate policies. polling before the election ohoseer unch aprott s showmany of republicans who would not vote for herschel walker, but also could not see themselves voting

for rafael warnock. it depends on the other races that we have outstanding if georgia is in fact the state that decides control of the senate. you could see more people sitting this race out, fewer people sitting this rate -- this race out because it is a crucial race. amna: we have talked a lot about election deniers. we should note in georgia, there are election defenders who did very well. brad raffensperger for secretary of state. brian kemp for governor. both men resisted pressure by then president trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election. what does their support among georgia voters say to you about howhis issue is viewed and where georgia voters are on it? stephen: georgia is certainly tired of election to nihilism -- election denialism. it was counted three different times. the winner was still president joe biden. georgia voters have a very low tolerance for that. during t primary this year, there were several trump backed

primary challengers seeking to unseat republicans. those trump backed candidates lost by wide margins. you see in of an electorate, both a democrat, independent, and republican, that acknowledged ryan cap and brad raffensperger stood up to those claims. that is why you see the two of them as the top vote getters. amna: briefly, you saw a lot of early turnout. some big numbers in georgia. a lot of enthusiasm in these midterm elections. do you see that carrying threw two this runoff inber? stephen:em wecith the amount of money that has been spent in the race and the amount of tension -- attention, you can guarantee people will be voting in this race. amna:amna: you can guarantee the rest of the country will be watching closely. stephen fowler joining us. thank you. stephen: thank you. judy: thank you, anna, and to our guests. while several key races are yet to be called, we are getting a

better look at why people voted the way they did. amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter is here to break down some interviews with voters. you have been looking at these big surveys done by the associated press. it looks as the big wave on the part of republicans did not materialize. what about independent voters? you have talked about how important they are. amy: i have been talking about them incessantly for years. what we have seen in midterm elections, of specially these last four midterm elections, when the party out of power wins independent voters by double digits, that his hat -- that is when they have big gains. independent voters actually, in the ap survey, they broke for democrats this time around. 42% to 39%. we are seeing in the other exit polls similar margins or maybe smaller margins, but a similar

story, which is republicans, to win big on election night, needed to win big with swing voters. we talk a lot about everybody looking at their party's base. those folks are important. . you can win your base but if you are losing independent voters are not winning them by big margins, it is hard to put up big numbers. judy: when it comes to issues, we talked a lot in the weeks leading up to the election about the economy, the role it could play. what do you find about how that turned out? amy:amy: it was clear the economy was an important issue for voters. when we look at how voters viewed the economy, just through the lens, do you think it is good or bad, that did not tell the whole story. if you look at voters who said i think the economy is not so good, they did not think it was good, they did not think it was poor, they kind of were meh. those folks actually supported,

democrats which leads to this question of why, if they think the economy is not doing well, and i'm sure many voters disapproved of the job the president was doing, did they still vote for democrats? the answer is there were a lot of other issues being decided. abortion being one of those, opinions about other issues that were going on in their state. while the economy was a driver, even folks who were not feeling great about it were willing to support the party that is in charge. judy: you mentioned the president. we know midterms are seen as a refendum on the president who is in office at the time. how did the role of joe biden turnout? amy: it was actually what democrats had wanted to do for many months in this election, take it less of a referendum than a choice. a choice between president biden, but also donald trump or maybe maga-ism.

president biden would go on the trail saying, this is not your father's republican party. we are fighting for the soul of american -- soul of america. what you saw from voters was exactly that. many of them believed yes, while they did not necessarily approve of biden, those who somewhat disapproved of abiding, still ultimately ended up splitting their vote for democrats and republicans, but many of the folks who said, i really like -- i want to make this an election about the economy, or about joe biden, were also crossed pressured because they did not like what they were seeing on the republican side. in the interesting thing, once we have all of the data back, it will be fascinating to go through all of it, but it seems to me in these last two midterm elections, the challenge for republicans as they have all of the baggage of trumpism, without

trump on the ballot to help turnout voters who just don't turn out trump is on the ballot. it became a choice between the trump wing and biden, but without trump on the ballot, was not able to turn out some of those infrequent voters who potentially could have helped republicans do better. judy: another issue that we had spent time talking about this year, abortion after the supreme court decision overturning roe v. wade. in the end, how did that factor in to what we saw? amy: we saw 38% of voters say, this was an important factor. not surprisingly, 68% of those folks went with the democrats. it was pretty clear, as we saw over the summer when we talked about seeing the shift in attention off of just joe biden, it was not just a referendum on joe biden, but it was also about a lot of other things.

when i talked to a democrat this morning, his argument was where democrats did well is they were able to link trumpism, january 6, and this decision to overturn roe v. wade, because it was all in the same part. this was not just theoretical what it would mean to have republicans in charge, but it was actually in front of voters all across the country. judy: it was all about democracy and about this argument of women's reproductive freedom. amy walters, so fascinating to look at what voters were saying, over 100,000 of them. amy: that's right. judy: thank you very much. amy: thank you. judy: we know that last night brought a host of surprises, including the democrats' ability to minimize their expected losses across the board, as we have been discussing. here to talk about what worked and what didn't for each of the parties, i'm joined by

democratic strategist guy cecil, and sarah longwell, a republican strategist and founder of the republican accountability project. welcome back to the newshour to both of you guys. cecil, i will start with you. how do democrats do it? there was this sense going in that there would be a red wave, it would be a good night for republicans. they are not off the table. they could take the house in the senate. how do democrats do as well as they did? cecil: judy: i think there were warning signs for republicans that democrats ended up taking advantage of. when i say warning signs, it was just last year that mitch mcconnell failed to recruit republican governors in arizona and new hampshire, maryland. all three of whom would have transformed the map for the republican party. on top of that, they ended up with the most extreme candidates in many of these races. similar to what happened in gubernatorial races across the country. i think amy hit the nail on the

head. republicans -- democrats were able to make this a choice. between a democratic party that was working to solve america's greatest problems versus extreme republicans running for the house, the senate, and for governors races around the country who were more focused on election denialism and restricting the right of a woman to choose. and frankly did not offer any compelling solutions to how they would solve the very problems they were criticizing democrats for. judy: sarah longwell, if that is what democrats were able to do, to a degree, what is it that republicans were not able to do to have a better night last night? sarah: it really all started with the republican primaries, where donald trump was able to bring his base together to push across extreme candidates who ultimately became the nominees, and then were really poison for

swing voters. i talked to swing voters in my focus group all the time. despite the fact that they were frustrated with biden, despite the fact that they cared about the economy, when it came down to voit -- two vote choice, when they had to choose between a guy like josh shapiro or a guy like doug mastriano who was at january 6, who did not believe in any exceptions for ra, incest, you see a guy like josh shapiro winning by 14 points. it was a really good night for democracy. the thing that had been keeping me up at night was the idea that these governors races and secretary of state pieces could get swept up in this red wave and you would have a bunch of people certifying elections in 2024 who did not believe in certifying the actual results. in wisconsin, pennsylvania, michigan, there were very good nights where the democrats won and they kept out these election deniers. it was a bad night for donald trump and his candidates that he

had put forward. judy: one of the things we have noticed is there was a lot of money poured in to these races. what did you see their? how did that make a difference for democrats? guy: i think if you want to know how candidates think they can win elections, we look at how they spend their money. when you look at how republicans were spendg their money, online for example, most of the money they were spending was not focused on abortion. it was focused on crime, policing, and a smattering of economic messages. whereas democrats were focused on the economy, health care, abortion, three issues that republans were telling us they cared about. i think democrats were able to stay competitive, not because of outside money, but because our candidates, senate candidates, gubernatorial candidates, secretary of state candidates, were able to raise significantly larger amounts of grassroots money online which powered a lot

of the campaign, particularly early on in the cycle. judy: sarah, do you see money making a difference? the democrats did raise a lot of money, so did republicans. especially the outside groups. sarah: money absolutely made a diffence. one of the things that strikes me in the focus groups is how much people's opinions are shaped by the television advertisements. people will tell you they hate the tv advertisements, they are sick of hearing about them, and get the early money that democrats spent defining the republican candidates as very extreme on abortion, when i would do the focus groups in the beginning and i would ask how you think things are going in the country, they would be frustrated, they would talk about crime, the economy, inflation. when it came to vote choice in a witmer versus tudor dixon, like in michigan, everybody knew tudor dixon had said if a young woman was raped, she should still have to carry the baby to term. democrats did a great job, they

spent a lot of money early, and by the time it came down to vote choice in this election, the swing voters knew how extreme these republican candidates were and that made a ton of difference. i know people like to talk about money and politics being a bad thing. running tv, running radio, billboards, that is how you persuade. there was a lot of persuasion that happened in this election. judy: guy cecil, back on this question, both of you have raised messaging from each party. do we come away saying, these are the messages that they should have talked about? and are they messages that are going to translate into a productive congress in the next two years? guy: i think the only thing that will make congress more productive is if the republican party deals with the extremist elements. we already have extreme members of the republican caucus today

who are threatening, with all sorts of threats, and how they will disrupt the next congress. there are democrats like michael bennet who are willing to work across the aisle. we have seen raphael warnock work with ted cruz, of all people, to solve the country's problems. we have an extreme element of the republican party, particularly in the house, and the reality is until the republican party deals with that element, it will be almost impossible for democrats and republicans to work constructively to solve the biggest problems our country faces. despite the fact that president biden has tried over and over again to do that. judy: sarah, how does somebody like you who cares about the republican party see republicans dealing with that in the next cup -- next couple of years? sarah: as somebody who has been extremely alarmed to watch the republican party's dissent into conspiracy theories and election denialism, i'm thrilled to see a

reprieve he of a lot the election deniers in these key swing states. that being said, the party continues to radicalize. their are a lot of election deniers that won last night. they are just call in safer areas. i remain deeply concerned about the state of the republican party. but i do think it is good, it is a good early green shoot sign, that donald trump did not get his way. and it would be nice to see the republican party, and i think you are seeing a little bit of this, start to say, we cannot let this guy back in. the republican party has tried this before, and donald trump has always found a way. he has a tight grip on his face and that base is quite large. until -- you have to deliver sustained, electoral defeats. it is the only way the republican party reforms itself and you have to beat donald trump. he has to lose again in a

general election if he runs again. that is the only way to ever bring the republican party back to some kind of sanity. judy: sarah longwell, guy cecil, we so appreciate the inspired and wise observations of both of you. thank you very much. guy: thank you. sarah: thank you. ♪ judy: and in the day's non-election news, russia's military announced its forces are withdrawing from a key city in southern ukraine, a major new blow to its war effort. moscow said it's retreating from kherson, on the west bank of the dnieper river as ukrainian forces advance in the area. russian state tv broadcast the decision in a conversation between its top general in ukraine and the defense minister. >> kherson and nearby

settlements cannot be properly supplied or function. people's lives are in constant danger. the enemy is firing indiscriminately at the city. at present, all those who wanted to, more than 115,000 people have left this area." judy: officials in kyiv suggested any russian retreat could actually be a trap to lure in ukrainian forces. in russia, lawyers for american basketball player brittney griner say she's been sent to a penal colony to serve a 9 year sentence for drug possession. they say they don't know the exact location of the prison. griner is facing a 9 year sentence, but president biden said today he hopes the russians ll get serious about a prisoner swa.s. elections are over. uhep no ttht there is word of major new layoffs in the tech industry. facebook's parent company meta says it is letting 11,000 employees go, around 13% of its

staff. the company's stock has dropped 70% in value this year as the tech boom during the pandemic has faded. florida boundtorm nicole strengthened into a hurricane tonight after making landfall in the northwestern bahamas this afternoon. the storm is on track to hit the state's atlantic coast as a minimal hurricane by early tomorrow. but today, officials warned against taking it for granted. >> this will bring significant coastal flooding, strong winds, storm surge, heavy rain, beach erosion and isolated tornadoes. due to the size of the storm, strong wind gusts will be felt across the entire florida peninsula, big ben and even er into the panhandle. i urge floridians statewide to stay indoors in a safe structure and away from the coastline. judy: several florida counties ordered mandatory evacuations and that included former president trump's resort estate at mar-a-lago. the u.s. supreme court heard oral arguments today about

favoring native american families in adoptions of native children. at issue is whether a decades-old federal law racially discriminates against non-native americans. a lower court struck down parts of the law. tribal groups say it's an aack on their sovereignty. the world health organization reports covid-19 deaths have dropped nearly 90 percent since february. there were just over 9400 globally last week. that is down from 75,000 a week in february. meanwhile, new lockdowns have hit a major chinese manufacturing hub again threatening global supply chains. nearly 5 million people in the southern city are affected. on wall street, uncertainty over who will control congress sparked a selloff. major indexes fell 2 -- fell 2% to two by 5%. the dow jones average lost 647 points to close below 32,514.

nasdaq fell 263 points. the s&p 500 dropped 79. >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: a lot of news today. with that, that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. you can keep up to date with all the latest election results as they come in on our website, pbs.org/newshour. and join us again here tomorrow evening for more analysis. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe and we'll see you soon. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no contract plans and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv.

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. hello, everyone and welcome to "amanpour and company." here is what is coming up. >> our support is unwavering and we'll continue to be unified until ukraine wins this war. >> my conversation in kyiv with linda thomas green field. reassuring ukraine as americans go to the polls. and in this nail biting midterm election top of min on the home front, it's the economy. the facts with former u.s. treasury secretary larry summers. > also ahead. >> the united states coming out of afghanistan and iraq and it's failures there does not want to another middle east war. >> on the world stage the peaks and pitfalls of president biden's first two