The 2022 midterm elections shaped up to be some of the most consequential in the nation's recent history, with control of Congress at stake.
All 435 seats in the House and 35 of 100 seats in the Senate were on the ballot, as well as several influential gubernatorial elections in battleground states like Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Democrats were defending their narrow majorities in both chambers and retained control of the Senate, though control of the House isn't yet clear. But a Republican flip of the lower chamber would be enough to curtail most of President Joe Biden's legislative agenda and would likely result in investigations against his administration and even his family.
Here is how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Nov 12, 2022, 10:26 PM EST
Democrats projected to keep control of the Senate
Democrats will keep their majority in the Senate, ABC News has projected.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s victory in Nevada on Saturday clinched the chamber for Democrats, giving them the 50 seats needed regardless of the outcome of next month’s runoff election in Georgia.
The victory is a major boost to President Joe Biden in the second half of his term, both for his legislative agenda and his ability to appoint judges and other officials.
Nov 12, 2022, 9:48 PM EST
Catherine Cortez Masto projected to win Senate race in Nevada
Democratic incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto will win Nevada’s Senate race against Republican Adam Laxalt, ABC News has projected.
Cortez Masto, the first Latina elected to the Senate, was narrowing the gap with Laxalt before the race was officially called on Saturday evening.
Democrats now have 50 seats in the upper chamber of Congress.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is shown at an election night party hosted by Nevada Democratic Victory at The Encore on Nov. 8, 2022, in Las Vegas.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Nov 12, 2022, 8:41 PM EST
Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez projected to win Washington House race
ABC News can report that Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is projected to win Washington's Third Congressional District, defeating Republican Joe Kent, who former President Donald Trump endorsed.
With 97% of the EV in, Gluesenkamp Perez had 50% of the vote and Kent had 49% of the vote.
Gluesenkamp Perez will replace Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler, one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for his role in the Capitol riot. Beutler did not advance in Washington's all-party primary in August.
Now that the district will be represented by Gluesenkamp Perez in the next Congress, it's another seat flipped by Democrats.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Nov 12, 2022, 5:55 PM EST
Arizona’s Maricopa County to release new vote tallies
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Bill Gates said Saturday to anticipate the next vote drop in the 8 p.m. ET hour -- and to expect about 80,000 votes, with a "large majority" being late early ballots dropped off on Election Day.
The key race in the state that remains too close to call is the gubernatorial contest between Democrat Katie Hobbs and Republican Kari Lake. As of Saturday morning, Hobbs led Lake 51% to 49% with 84% of the expected vote reported.
Ballots for the U.S. midterm elections are counted with a machine at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Nov. 9, 2022.
Jim Urquhart/Reuters
Gates and Sheriff Paul Penzone, in the press conference, also addressed what they described as a “peaceful” protest outside the tabulation center.
"If you want to come stand out front, that's your prerogative, that's your right, that's your freedom -- but you are in one way or another undermining the Sheriff's Office ability to address the other needs in our community because this becomes a drain on resources," Penzone said.
"It's important for folks to be adults in the room when some are acting like children," Penzone said, praising Gates.
