♪ dy: 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." ♪

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor taylor's advice to help you live your life. life well planned. ♪ >> 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 pgram was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: control of the united states congress still hangs in the balance tonight, after the mid-term 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 beergely democrats -- >> thank you, maryland! lisa: not republicans -- celebrating wins. >> thanks to your commitment and hard work, we have won 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 doct mehmet oz, flipping a republican-held post with a no-vote-left-unturned approach. >> i really liked how aggressive a ground campaign they ran, and i really think 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. lisa: some republicans had predicted a potential wave election, common ian unpopular president's first midterm, especially with widespread voter concern about the economy. >> we've 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 in many 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 sixth 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 in the overall results. >> i don't think the american

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. >> 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. >>e 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 lk like in several key races, let's go over to lisa, who's joined by amna nawaz. lisa: the dust is still settling the day after voting ended in these elections. a number of races have yet to be called a when you look at the balance of power in the house, where do we stand? lisa: here's where we have the seats in the house. 207 races called for republicans, 183 f democrats. the republicans are short of 218

they need for control. i have been counting what has happened overnight. i show the republicans now have a net of plus six seats, enough, but who knows if it holds? there are still seats remaining. let's look across the country where the races have been happening. or did republicans do well? new york state, interestingly. they have a number of pickups. you see all of these dark gray seats. these are the many seats we have outstanding. how many are there? let's look at how many remain. there are already races unresolved at this hour, about 30. seven of those races are within a single point. some of those could be going 20 automatic recount. when you look at under resolve -- unresolved races, gop has more pickup than democrats. amna: they will wait until there is no mathematical way.

we will be tracking those races. lisa: these are races we have talked about. let's see where he -- where we are. nevada three, we traveled here last week. democrat susie lee is leading by, what is the margin? just over 1500 votes over april becker, the republican in the race. this is a seat that a lotf democrats thought they wouldn't be able to hold but that is the story of the night. democrats holding against a potential wave. in connecticut, another vulnerable democrat johanna ha yes, former national teacher of the year. look at the margin. just with in about 2000 votes, 95% of expected votes area this is a race i'm watching for a potential recount in dan berry, water berry whereur family is known well. arizona second district, democrat tom o'halleran

the incumbent is down eight points, 86% of the boat is in. crane is a first-time candidate, the republican. he has been openly pro-trump, america first. he ran on election integrity. he hasn't crossed the line into saying 2020 was stolen but he has raised doubts. he is a character. i think we will hear a lot about this man if he gets into congress, someone who was in navy seal and i think he is going to have a big persona in congress if he is elected. amna: 86% is in. we knew many of these would be competitive. there is one in colorado they did that -- not expect. lisa: lauren boebert has a big persona. she is down in her race, a surprise for democrats and reblicans and i think representative boebert as well.

she is outmatched by adam frisch, former aspen city councilman, who ran on a policy of trying to put together a coalition of normal. lower and bore bert -- lauren boebert has run to make a very loud point. 96% of the vote is in. amna: we have talked about how election denial has been on the ballot. the first big test, you are tracking key gubernatorial races. lisa: the arizona governors race, stephanie sy has been doing an incredible job in maricopa county. another 50-50, we are not making this up but right now the democrat katie hobbs is winning by 4000 votes over kari lake. 60% of expected votes are in. this code go back and forth. kari lake has run on the

platform of saying the 2020 election was stolen and that is why she comes -- wants to come to power. let's look at other deniers of the 2020 election who have no evidence for that, we should say. these are the ones we have categorized in that way. look what happened. almost all of them lost their races. some have been in highly competitive races like michigan, wisconsin, the only one to win was kay ivey in alabama, the incumbent governor. secretaries of state, should we say last night? important race, jim marchant is the secretary of state republican candidate in nevada, someone who put together a coalition of like-minded election denier candidate. they say they are fighting for

america but in nevada, he is winning. his opponent says -- most of these candidates have been losing. in nevada he is ahead with 77% of the vote. we will watching. amna: we will keep watching those and others that are too close to call. judy: i know you will keep 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. told everyone about the president's news conference this afternoon. you were there. give us the gist of what he said. ask the president was careful to

say the prognosticators got it wrong about big republican gains. he expressed confidence about the signal the voters sent to the public. >> and they sent a clear and unmistakable message that they want to preserve democracy, protect the right to choose in this country. laura: the president gave a shout out to voters age 18-30 because it looks like young voters turned out in record numbers, matching 2018 numbers. they are a key constituency for democrats and a key constituency for president biden when he won the presidency in 2020. judy: we know the president acknowledged, we don't know 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 divide? laura: the president didn't give a lot of specifics about what he may propose, new legislation he may propose. he talked a lot about the use of his veto pen. he said he would use it against any attempts to propose a national abortion ban. he said it would be used if republicans tried to undo the laws we saw him pass in his first two years, the infrastructure law, prescription drug reform and elements of the inflation reduction act that had to do with addressing the climate crisis and boosting renewable energy. the president was asked about ukraine, specifically comments by minority leader, republican kevin mccarthy where he said prior to the election that there should not be a blank check in aid for ukraine. this was his response. >> and there's so much at stake, so i would be surprised if leader mccarthy even has a majority of his republican colleagues who say they're not

going to fund the legitimate defensive needs of ukraine. laura: ultimately the president said he hopes kevin mccarthy, if he winds up being the speaker, as well as other republicans particularly if the senate winds up in republican hands, even by one seat, they will work with him. judy: we heard him say he hopes to be able to work across the aisle. we know also the number of republicans are talking about investigating the president and his administration if they win the majority, especially in the house. they talked about investigating immigration policy, the withdrawal from afghanistan last year, and also members of the president's family, the president himself. how is the white house preparing for what could come? laura: the president was asked about that. he treated it like it is comedy. he specifically said if republicans try to do that, it

is comedic. he said it is out of his conol and ultimately, he would focus on trying to push forward other agenda items for the american public but 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 spokesperson to handle this. one important thing to note is that the president was again very optimistic, although a lot of the races are still, a number of significant races are still left to call. he said this was the best midterm election for a first president in the last 40 years. judy: certainly appears to be going against trend. we are watching it all as we wait for the final numbers to come in. thank you, laura. ♪

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 la night in their efforts to maintain control of the house. democrats flipped the seat long held by gop congressman steve chabot. i spoke withhe winner of that race, representative-elect greg landsman moments ago. representative elect greg landsman, congratulations on your victory. we know this is a district that was redistricted, the lines were redrawn but why do you think you won in a district that had essentially gone republican for a quarter of a century? >> a couple things. redistricting obviously was significant, and you know, the

city that i have been representing as a member of city council for the last five years s fully in one congressional district for the first time in a long time. that made a big difference. i think congressman chabot, who was 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 an election which for me was disqualifying. for a lot of independence and many republicans, it was too much. his position on choice, very extreme. so i think it was a combination of the district and the fact that he was a big lie, antichoice extremists and folks don't want that. if you are in a competitive district, as he found himself in , voters will 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 elected, reelected a republican governor and elected a new republican senator. how do you put that together? you are a democrat, elected where you were elect did. yet the state looks like it is going very red. >> the state is so different than any one pocket. southwest ohio, the city of cincinnati, the eastern suburbs of our county up to warren county, it is trending blue. and it is a lot of folks who i think, regardless of political affiliation, are done with the kind of chaos and extremism that i think voters across the country rejected.

one of the reasons why we didn't see or aren't seeing this big red wave, folks are really, you know, wanting a new generation of leaders who are going to work together and be done with all of the nonsense. there is just so much at stake. i think the expectation is that we get to work. judy: discuss what congressman chabot's position were that hurt him. what were the arguments that you de thaton ratesedh i had a provn track record. i had built a broad coalition, republicans, democrats, independents, to pass the preschool promise, which is two years of quality preschool, making cincinnati one of the first cities in the country to do that. we did similar work on big issues and voters knew that

about me. they trusted me. that made a big difference. on the economy, i spoke to i think the larger issue of what is wrong, and why this economy has been broken for decades. just because of this pandemic, and we have decades of wage stagnation and costs that are just too much for too many families. fixing the economy resonated with voters. so we talked a lot about that, but i also did, everywhere i went, reminded folks, look. this is a canary in the coal mine type of 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 provides a cautionary tale to other folks o want to jump into the election denying game. and that is, don't do that. the same thing on choice, don't

take away people's freedoms. judy: you go to washington to serve in the house. it looks like the republicans are likely to take control, take the majority in the house. it may not be a very big geordie, but whether you aren the minority or majority, how confident are you that you can make a difference? at this moment, have you have been alluding to, we are at such a divided time in this country. >> i think there is a lot of hope and what happened last night. certainly, i experienced it here in cincinnati, where a lot of republicans, democrats, independents but a lot of republicans, were very eager to send somebody that was very pragmatic and about they were very clear about that we like your campaign, we like your disposition like you were an

adult and you don't seem to get into all of these fights, these partisan fights. 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. now, whether we are in the majority are not, the majority is going to be slim. it is going to require folks 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, hope to leave the child tax credit -- hopefully the child tax credit, additional funding for police and fire. there are lots of issues where we agree 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 the economy. judy: very quick, do you expect

to support nancy pelosi whether she is, whether your party is in the minority or majority? >> i haven't gotten that far yet. it is hard, as an incoming new member of congress, really understand how that plays out, so that will be part of my learning curve. i'm grateful for all of the support i got nationally, that really made a big difference helping us get over the finish line. but my goal is to go to d.c., vote for the folks back here, i don't take corporate pac money and that is a big issue. for us. to come home every week and get as much work as i can. something we haven't had. judy: i don't see a commitment to support her as leader or speaker.

>> i haven't even been asked the question by anyone in the leadership, so excited to fade -- figure out where that stands. judy: greg landsman, thanks for joining us. tomorrow, we will speak with republican representative elect michael waller, who won a seat in a formerly deep blue district outside new york city. beating 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 contest for some time. in one state, the senate seat won't be decided for another four weeks. i'm no vaux ha amna nawaz is back. amna: two thirds of the vote is

tallied. for the latest, we turn to stephanie sy who has been tracking the results. good to see you. stephanie: those are key races we don't have called. amna: what are the latest tallies telling you? stephanie: the associated press has not made calls on any of arizona's top ticket races. i want to be careful to not draw any conclusions here, because there are hundreds of thousands of violets primarily in mira -- ballots primarily in maricopa county, voters who dropped off ballots yesterday. by arizona law, those ballots, and they say there are more than they have ever had, all of those have signature verified and processed before they can even be counted. but we do have results from the key races and we can show you where the races stand currently. starting with the senate race, done necrotic -- democratic

account -- incumbent mark kelly is leading by nearly 5%. there are 83,000 votes separating those two. the governor's race, which lisa talked about earlier, between katie hobbs and trump-endorsed kari lake, is an absolute tossup. hobbs has a razor thin lead. it is 0.2% right now. anything less than 0.5% would trigger an automatic recount in arizona. i want to look at the current results for the race of secretary of state, which we have been following closely. it involves the democratic former maricopa county recorder in 2020. he is facing off against a state representative, who we mention a lot on this program because he was at the january 6 rally, a four term state representative who led the efforts in arizona

to throw out the results of the 2020 election. he introduced a bill in the state congress to that affect to throw out the votes in maricopa county in 2020. he is currently trailing by more than 4%. there are still lots of boats that were cast and haven't been counted. it is too early for anyone to be celebrating, but i will say that this is closer than a lot of consultants i spoke to would have expected. there areeor r megistered republicans in arizona. it is a republican leading state. and as one gop consultant i spoke to described, republicans have turned what is the best election cycle in years, and made it competitive. his take is that arizona ultimately is not a trump state. trump has a lot of enthusiastic supporters here, but biden did win arizona in 2020 by 10,500

votes. this consultant leaves some republicans and independents in particular may be turned off by the proximity of top gop candidates to trump. amna: on election day yesterday you reported early on meant issues in some polling locations. any fallout from that? stephanie: quite a bit of optical fallout. 17,000 ballots were affected by this issue. the merrick county -- maricopa county election officials say nobody had a vote of -- rejected. they said it was a printing problem and they say every vote will be counted. there were delays in fact in both democratic and republican dominated precincts. one of those voting centers in particular in anthem, arizona, a

very conservative district, got a lot of attention for what were reportedly hours long delays, got attention on social media among far right influencers. that creates a problem for maricopa county. the issue has moved to the forefront of the conversation, especially with people who are already spreading disinformation about 20/20 and that includes the gop gubernatorial candidate kari lake. i want to play sound from her from last night followed by sound from her opponent, secretary of state katie hobbs. >> we have a big day today, and don't let those cheaters and crooks 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 the campaign. it is unacceptable that they were spreading misinformation today while people were

exercising their freedom to vote. stephanie: you can see the contrast between the two candidates. amna: key races in the key state of arizona, yet to be called. stephanie, good to see you. thank you. let's turn now to georgia, where the state's u.s. senate race is headed for a runoff after neither candidate managed to garner 50% of the vote. georgia public broadcasting's stephen fowler has been monitoring senate results in that state. he joins us now. good to have you back. >> republicans did really well. how did this race go to a runoff? >> you are right. republicans didn't do really well in georgia, better than expected cases. governor brian kemp won reelection against stacey abrams, but whereas brian kemp got there -- 53% of the vote,

nearly one in 10 voters that supported him opted not to vote for herschel walker, the republican senate candidate. you have walker's weakness and democratic over performance by rafael warnock have this and told -- onnet -- net to net grace. amna: there was a libertarian candidate who garnered 2% of the vote. we know if those voters will stay home in a runoff? >> it is hard to tell because george's new election law signed last year changes runoff period from nine weeks to four weeks, which is why we have voting december 6. some of the libertarian voters are people who support the libertarian candidate than policies, but before this election, polling showed many of those were launched as a protest vote over republicans who wouldn't vote for herschel walker but couldn't see themselves voting for rafael or knock.

-- rafael warnock. if georgia is the state that once again decides control of the senate, you could see more people sitting this race out or fewer people sitting the race out because it is a crucial race. amna: we have talked a lot this midterm cycle about election deniers. in georgia there are election defenders who did very well. brad raffensperger secretary of state, brian kemp or governor, both resisted pressure from president trump to overturn the results of the election. what does the support among voters safety -- say to you about where georgia voters are? >> georgia is tired of election the nihilism. it was one of the states that was ground zero about trump's false claims about the election. it was counted three times in the winter was biden. georgia voters have a low tolerance for that. during the primary, there were several trump backed challengers

seeking to defeat republicans defended the election and those candidates lost by a wide margin . you are seeing the results reflective of the ectorate of democrat, and dependent and republican that acknowledge raffensperger and brian kemp stood up to those claims and that is why they are the top vote getters in the election. amna: you saw a lot of early turnout, big numbers in georgia. lots of been -- enthusiasm. you see that carrying through to the runoff in the first week of december? >> with the amount of money spent in the race and the amount of intention that all eyes would be on in georgia, you can guarantee people be voting in this race. amna: and the rest of this country will be watching closely. stephen fowler, thank you very much. judy: thank you. 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 like a big wave on the part of republicans didn't materialize. what about independent voters? you have talked about how important they are. amy: what we have seen in midterm elections these last four elections, and the party out of power, in this case republicans, wins independent voters by double digits, that is when they have big gains. in this case independent voters actually in the ap survey broke for democrats this time around. 42%-30 9%. we are seeing in other exit polls, similar margins or even a bit of a smaller margin but a similar story.

republicans, to win big on election night, needed to win big with swing voters. we talk a lot about everybody looking at the party base. those folks are important, but you can win your base but if you are not winning independent voters by big margins, it is hard to put up big numbers. judy: when it comes to issues, we talked in the weeks leading up to the election about the economy of the role it would play. what do you find about how that tued out? amy: it was clear the economy was an important issue for voters. there is no doubt about that. but when we look at how voters viewed the economy through the lens, do you think it is good or bad? that didn't tell the whole story. you look at voters who said, for example, i think the economy is not so good. they didn't think it was good, they didn't think it was poor. we talked abou-- they were sort of meh about the economy. those people supported democrats, which leads to the

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

said thiisn't your father's republican, fighting for the soul of america, we have about an -- election denialsnd protecting democracy. what you saw from voters was exactly that. many of them believed yes, while they didn't necearily approve of biden, those who somewhat disapproved of biden still ultimately ended up splitting their votes for democrats and republicans. many folks who said i really like, i want to make this an election about the economy or joe biden, they were cross pressured because they didn't like what they were seeing on the republican side. once we have all the data back, it will be fascinating to go through all of it but in the last two midterm elections, the challenge for republicans has been, they have all the baggage of maga-ism and trumpism without

trump on the ballot to help voters who don't turnout unless trump is on the ballot. it became a choice from the trump wing and biden but without trump on the ballot, they weren't able to turn out some of those infrequent voters who potentially could have helped republicans do better. judy: another issue, abortion. the supreme court decision overturng roe v. wade, how did that factor in? amy: 38% of voters said this is an important factor. that -- and 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 just joe biden, it wasn't just a referendum on biden but it was also about a lot of other angst. when i talked to a democrat this

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

strategist guy cecil, and sarah longwell, a republican strategist and founder of the republican accountability project. welcome back to the newshour. i will start with you. how did democrats do it? there was a sense going in that there would be a red wave and it would be a good night for republicans. they could still take the house and the senate. how did democrats do what they did. >> i think there were warning signs for republicans that democrats ended up taking ivant sningag.e wh signs, last year mitch mcconnell failed to recruit republican governors in arizona and new hampshire and 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 these races, similar to what happened in gubernatorial races around the country. amy hit the nail on the head,

republicans, or democrats rather, were able to make this a choice between a democratic party that was actually working to solve america's problems, versus extreme republicans running for the house and the senate and for governors races around the country, who were more focused on election the nihilism and -- denial and the right of a woman to choose. that didn't provide compelling solutions as to how they would solve problems they criticized democrats four. judy: if that is what democrats were able to do to a degree, what is it the republicans were not able to do to have a better night? sarah: eight all started with republican primaries were donald trump was able to bring his base together to push across a bunch of really extreme candidates who ultimately became the nominees and were poison for swing voters. i talked to swing voters and

focus groups, and despite the fact that they were frustrated with biden and they cared about the economy, when it came down to vote choice, when they had to choose between a guy like josh shapiro for a guy like doug mastriano, didn't believe on any exceptions for rape and incest and the life of a mother, you hear josh shapiro winning by a blowout. it was a nice night for democracy. the thing that kept me up at night was the idea that these governor evers and -- governor and secretary of state races would be swept up in the red wave and people would be certifying elections in 2024 that didn't leave in the original results. but pennsylvania, michigan, they had good nights where the democrats kept out these election deniers. it was a bad night for donald trump and his candidates that he put forward. judy: one of the things we

noticed was, there was a lot of money poured into these races. what did you see? how did that make a difference for democrats? guy: if you want to know how candidates think they can win elections, you look at how they spend their money. when you look at how republicans were spending their money online, for example, most of the money they were spending wasn't actually focused on abortion. it was focused on crime, policing, and a smattering of economic messages. democrats were focused on the economy, health care, abortion, three issues that the republican -- the republic was telling us they cared about. democrats were able to stay competitive because senate and gubernatorial and house candidat and secretary of state candidates were able to raise snificant amounts of grassroots moneynline, which powered a lot of the campaign,

particularly early on. judy: do you see money making a difference? democrats raised a lot of money and so did republicans, especially so-called outside groups. sarah: money absolutely made a difference. the thing that strikes me in the focus groups is howuch 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 yet, the early money democrats spent defining the republican candidates as very extreme on abortion, when i did focus groups in the beginning and i would ask how do you think things are going? they would be frustrated. they would talk about crime and the economy and inflation but when it came to vote choice in a witmer versus tudor dixon, she said if i young woman was raped she was should carry the baby to

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

threats about how they will disrupt the next congress. the reality is there are democrats who are willing to work across the aisle. rafael warnock worked with ted cruz to try to solve the country's problems. we have an extreme element of the republican party especially in 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 just that. judy: sarah, how do someone like you who cares about the republican party see republicans dealing with that in the next couple years? sarah: as someone who has been extremely alarmed to watch the republican party's dissent into conspiracy theories and election to nihilism,'m grilled to see such a repudiation -- thrilled

to see such a repudiation of election deniers and swing states. the party continues to radicalize. there are lots of election deniers the one last night that they are in safer areas. i remember -- i remain deeply concerned about the state of the republican party, but i think it is a good early sign. that donald trump didn't get his way. it would be nice to see the republican party, and i think you are seeing a little of this, start to see we can't 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 base and that base is quite large. we have to deliver sustained electoral defeats. that is the only way the republican party ultimately reforms itself. you have to beat donald trump.

he has to lose in the republican primary and the general election if he runs again. that is the only way to bring the republican party back to some kind of sanity. judy: we so appreciate the inspired unwise observations of both of you. thank you very much. ♪ stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with news our. 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 present, all those who wanted to, more than 115,000 people have left this area. stephanie: officials in kyiv suggested any russian retreat could actually be a trap to lure in ukrainian forces. in russia, lawyers for american -- a federal jury indicted a suspect accused in the hammer attack on paul pelosi. he was indicted for attempted kidnapping and assault. he faces state charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. 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 will get serious about a prisoner swap, now that the u.s. elections are over. there is word of major new layoffs in the tech industry.

facebook's parent company, meta, says it's 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 duringhe pandemic has faded. florida-bound storm nicole strengthened into a hurricane afternoon.fter making landfall 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 isolatedornadoes. due to the size of the storm, strong wind gusts will be felt across the entire florida peninsula, big ben and even over into the panhandle. i urge floridians statewide to stay indoors in a safe structure and away from the coastline. stephanie: several florida counties ordered mandatory evacuations.

that included former president trump's resort estate at mar-a-lago. officials in daytona beach ordered residents to evacuate several apartment buildings over concerns they could collapse in the storm. the 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 attack on their sovereignty. the centers for disease control will conduct a health study event at a now shuttered military base in california to determine whether veterans were exposed to high level toxins. this after an investigation finding hundreds of veterans stationed at fort ord developed fatal and terminal blood cancers.

the suit says the chemicals were improperly dumped and they knew. the world health organization reports covid-19 deaths have dropped nearly 90% since february. there were just over 9,400 globally last week, 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 of guangzhou are affected. that is the newshour for tonight. i'm stephanie sy. keep up-to-date with the latest election results as they come in on our website, pbs.org/newshour, and join us again tomorrow evening for more analysis. for all of us at the newshour, thank you and good night. >> 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. we offer no contract plans and

our customer service team can find one that it's you. visit consumercellular.tv. >> end with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour, including jim and nancy, and kathy and paul. >> these are people that are trying to change the world. startups have this energy. i'm thriving by helping others every day. people who know no bbo. >> the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the frontlines lines of social change worldwide. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station by viewers like you. thank you. this is the pbs newshour from wbt a studios in washington and in the west, from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arona state university. ♪

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