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21m ago
(11:49 GMT)Photos: How the US voted in the 2022 midterm elections
Results continue to roll in from Tuesday’s midterm vote. See more photo’s from election day here.
Voters fill out ballots at a polling station during voting for the 2022 midterm elections in Brooklyn, New York [Brendan McDermid/Reuters] 
Alex Erby fills out his ballot while voting at a polling station inside the Grace Bible Fellowship Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania [Mike Segar/Reuters] 
A voter moves to cast her ballot at an electronic counting machine at a polling site in the Brooklyn Museum, Tuesday [John Minchillo/Reuters] -
1h ago
(10:53 GMT)Results ‘will raise some questions about Trump’s electability’: Analyst
Trump’s voice was felt throughout the election season, with several candidates courting his endorsement ahead of the polls.
But the “mixed bag” of success of the candidates Trump endorsed is likely to “raise some questions about Trump’s electability going forward into 2024”, according to Julie Norman, the co-director of the University College London’s Centre on US politics.
“There were a couple victories, like [Senate candidate] JD Vance in Ohio, but many other Trump-backed candidates have either lost their races or are in really tight races that really should have been Republican’s for the taking,” she told Al Jazeera.
“This is coupled by a real surge by his main rival in the party, Ron DeSantis, who had a major victory, a double digit victory… So I think it’s setting up a bit of battle for 2024,” she said.
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1h ago
(10:12 GMT)States vote to close ‘slavery loopholes’
Measures meant to close so-called “slavery loopholes” appeared on the ballot in five states on Tuesday.
The term refers to the 13th amendment of the US constitution, which bans enslavement or involuntary servitude except as a form of criminal punishment. In turn, nearly 20 states have constitutions that include language permitting slavery and involuntary servitude as criminal punishments.
Voters in Alabama, Tennessee and Vermont all approved constitutional measures to remove that language. A similar question in Oregon was too close to call.
Meanwhile voter Louisiana rejected a ballot question that asked whether they supported a constitutional amendment to prohibit the use of involuntary servitude in the criminal justice system, with many reporting confusion over the wording of the question.
Voters line up to cast their ballots in the midterm election at the Aspray Boat House in Warwick, Rhode Island [David Goldman/The Associated Press] -
2h ago
(09:49 GMT)Kremlin: US midterms will not change bad Moscow-Washington relations
The Kremlin has said that US midterm elections would not improve the “bad” relations between Moscow and Washington, as it dismissed allegations Russia was meddling in the US vote, Russian state media reported.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told reporters it was too early to talk about a dialogue with the US on extending the New START nuclear arms treaty.
US Senator Ron Johnson casts his ballot for his reelection at the Oshkosh Town Hall in Oshkosh, Wisconsin [Annen Maury/EPA] -
3h ago
(08:53 GMT)Michigan votes to protect abortion rights, overriding 1931 state ban
Michigan voters have approved a change to the state’s constitution to protect abortion rights.
The measure will put a definitive end to a 1931 ban on abortion. A state judge blocked the ban, but another court could revive it.
The initiative will negate the ban and affirm the right to make pregnancy-related decisions about abortion and other reproductive services such as birth control without interference. Similar measures were passed in Vermont and California.
Meanwhile, a measure in Kentucky that would would amend the state constitution to explicitly say abortion is not a protected right remained too close to call on Wednesday.
The ballot measures came months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and the constitutional right to abortion it guaranteed to women nationwide. The decision in June has led to near-total bans in a dozen states.
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3h ago
(08:46 GMT)Democrats win another closely watched House race in Michigan
Representative Elissa Slotkin has won her US House race in Michigan, defeating Republican challenger Tom Barrett, a state senator who denies the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The race was considered a bellweather for Democrats, as Slotkin was running in a largely redrawn district.
It comes after Hillary Scholten, an immigration lawyer, bested Trump-backed candidate John Gibbs, a former official in the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The victory flipped the seat for Democrats. In the primary, Gibbs had defeated Republican Congressman Peter Meijer, who had voted to impeach Trump.
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3h ago
(08:37 GMT)Fetterman win ‘big step’ for Democrats: AJ correspondent
Reporting from Pittsburgh, Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo has said John Fetterman’s victory in Pennsylvania has given Democrats hope that they would be able to keep control of the Senate, even as they are widely expected to lose control of the House of Representatives.
“This is the first flipped state in this election, this midterm, this Senate race. This is the first time tonight that either of the two parties has been able to flip [a Senate seat],” Elizondo said.
“Now with this race being called for John Fetterman, this puts the democrats in the driver’s seat to potentially remain in control of the US Senate,” he said. “It’s not there yet, but it’s a big step in that direction for Democrats.”
Fetterman will replace retiring Republican Senator Pat Toomey.
Supporters of John Fetterman waves signs during an election night party in Pittsburgh [Gene J Puskar/The Associated Press] -
4h ago
(07:58 GMT)Voters approve recreational marijuana in Missouri
Voters have made Missouri the latest state to approve recreational marijuana, joining Maryland, who also passed a ballot measure on Tuesday.
Voters in Arkansas and North Dakota rejected a similar measure.
The ballot measure legalises recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older in Missouri and expunges most records of past arrests and convictions.
Approval of the new constitutional amendment comes just four years after Missouri voters legalised medical marijuana.
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4h ago
(07:40 GMT)Georgia race likely headed to run-off: AJ correspondent
The increasingly significant race for a Senate seat in Georgia is likely heading to a run-off, with both candidates appearing unlikely to break the 50 percent threshold needed to win outright, Al Jazeera’s John Hendren reported from the state.
Both Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock, and challenger, Republican Herschel Walker, “were hovering approximately 49 percent of the vote, but not passing the 50 percent they would need to avoid a run-off”, he said.
“It remains very close to call, and with fewer and fewer votes left to call, unless one of them pulls rabbit out of the hat in the next couple of hours, they’re going to have a run-off,” he said.
Georgia is just one of a handful of races that remain that could decide which party controls the Senate.
Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver had received about 2 percent of the votes early Wednesday and was expected to prevent Warnock or Walker from reaching the 50 percent mark.
Democratic US Senate candidate Raphael Warnock takes a photo with a supporter after speaking to labor organizers and the media outside a labor union’s offices in Atlanta, Georgia, US January 5, 2021. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage -
4h ago
(07:32 GMT)Democrats flip key House seat in Michigan
Democrats have flipped a House seat in Michigan, defeating a far-right candidate who had pushed out a moderate Republican incumbent.
In a district in western Michigan, Hillary Scholten, an immigration lawyer, bested Trump-backed John Gibbs, a former official in the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Earlier this year, with Trump’s support, Gibbs won the Republican Party’s nomination for the seat, narrowly defeating Congressman Peter Meijer who had voted to impeach the former president.
With losses expected elsewhere, the win in Michigan could prove decisive to Democrats’s chances of protecting their slim majority in the House of Representatives.
