Daily Briefing: The count continues
A handful of the closely watched Senate races have yet to be called, including the contests in Georgia and Nevada. Also in the news: Democrat John Fetterman won the hard-fought U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania and historic midterm ballot measures.
🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. After reading our review, I cannot wait to watch the "Black Panther" sequel.
Here we go with Wednesday's news.
Congressional balance of power still undecided
Democrat John Fetterman has won the hard-fought U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania against Republican Mehmet Oz, flipping a seat. But a handful of the closely watched Senate races have yet to be called, including the contest in Georgia between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and GOP challenger Herschel Walker and the Nevada Senate match-up pitting Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto against Republican Adam Laxalt. Read more
One thing to know: The red wave that pollsters and analysts projected in the 2022 midterms had not yet come to shore by the time observers went to sleep on Tuesday night, with several of the most-watched midterm elections remaining too close to call.
A lot has happened: Victories for Ron DeSantis and Marco Rubio reinforced a rightward shift in Florida; Democrats tackled key races in Colorado and a vulnerable House Democrat survived in Virginia.
Vying for the Senate: Key seats in Georgia, Nevada, Arizona and Wisconsin are still too close to call. In the Georgia Senate race between Warnock and Walker, neither candidate has yet reached the 50% threshold to avoid a runoff.
What about gubernatorial races? Incumbents Greg Abbott of Texas and Brian Kemp of Georgia saw victories for Republicans, while Gov. Gretchen Whitmer won her bid for re-election in Michigan and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro bested Trump-backed Republican Doug Mastriano.
👉 Follow the races that mean the most to you with USA TODAY's live election results tracker.
Maryland's first Black governor; first Gen-Z House member
This year's midterm elections are making history. In Maryland, Wes Moore was elected the state's first Black governor, and nationally he is the third elected Black governor. In an election cycle with record numbers of LGBTQ candidates, the country's first lesbian governor was elected in Massachusetts, while New Hampshire voters elected the first transgender man to a state legislature. Maxwell Frost, Democrat and newly elected representative in Florida's tenth district, becomes the first representative from his generation, Gen-Z. And Arkansas has its first female governor. Read more
More news to know now
🟡 Jailed American basketball star Brittney Griner has been moved to a penal colony in Russia.
🔔 A suspect was arrested after setting seven fires in Jackson, Mississippi, including two at Black churches.
📲 Twitter lost more than 1.3 million users in the week after Elon Musk bought it.
📣 Qatar's World Cup ambassador denounced homosexuality, saying it is ''damage in the mind.''
🗨 Vogue sued Drake and 21 Savage for $4 million involving a fake ''Her Loss'' magazine rollout.
🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, USA TODAY Congressional reporter Candy Woodall explains how John Fetterman won the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker.
🌤 What's the weather this Wednesday? Check your local forecast here.
A big day for votes on abortion
Voters in battleground Michigan enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution, joining reliably Democratic California and Vermont in taking that step. Montana voters, meanwhile, were also considering newborn resuscitative care requirements with possible criminal penalties, including the rare case of an attempted abortion. And in deeply conservative Kentucky, a ballot measure would amend the state constitution to say there is no right to abortion. The Republican-controlled Kentucky Legislature has already passed a near-total ban on abortion. The ballot measure would not change that, but the results could shadow the legal battle returning to a courtroom a week after Election Day. Read more
Nicole becomes tropical storm near Bahamas
People along Florida's east coast are bracing for a rare November hurricane as Tropical Storm Nicole continues to strengthen near the Bahamas. Nicole transitioned from a subtropical storm to a tropical storm Tuesday, a day after forming in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the National Hurricane Center. After brushing past or over islands in the Bahamas, forecasters said Nicole was likely to strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane before making landfall on Florida's southeast coast late Wednesday or early Thursday. Read more
Change of plans: Tropical Storm Nicole disrupts major cruise line itineraries.
Just for subscribers:
✔ Takeaways from Georgia governor's race: Incumbent Brian Kemp defeated Stacey Abrams for a second term.
💊 Is Tylenol safe during pregnancy? Expert raises alarm about possible link to autism, ADHD.
🗨 Is the GOP listening to Evangelical voters' demands on immigration?
✍ Kyrie Irving and Kanye West didn't just say hurtful things. They told ugly lies about Jews.
🏈 Jim Irsay, Chris Ballard air grievances as Colts interim coach Jeff Saturday introduced.
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The latest college football rankings are here
Georgia moved up two places after its resounding victory against previous No. 1 Tennessee in the second College Football Playoff rankings. Following the Bulldogs were a pair of unbeaten Big Ten teams – Ohio State and Michigan. The Buckeyes had an unimpressive win at Northwestern, but still held on to the second spot. The Wolverines, which started slow against Rutgers before puling away, improved two positions to third. The significant unknown coming into the new rankings was the identity of the team that would be placed at No. 4. The committee sided with TCU. Read more
📷 Photo of the day: Voters cast ballots in 2022 midterm elections 📷
Voting rights advocates reported a generally smooth Election Day on Tuesday as millions of Americans cast ballots in the nation's pivotal midterms even as a glitch with voting tabulators in a key Arizona county emerged as an issue on the right. Read more
Click here to see more photos from Election Day.
One more thing
📝 Ancient bronze statues found in prime condition will ''rewrite history,'' Italian researchers say.
💍 Jennifer Lopez, now Mrs. Affleck, explains why she took Ben's last name: ''It's romantic.''
🎤 CMA Awards 2022: Where to watch, who's nominated and who's performing on country music's big night.
👑 ''The Crown'' season 5 is here. From the revenge dress to royal divorce, here's what to know Netflix's drama about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note, shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.
Associated Press contributed reporting.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Raphael Warnock, Herschel Walker, Senate, Congress, abortion: Daily Briefing
