Midterm election results updates: Dems keep control of Senate with Nevada win
Catherine Cortez Masto’s victory in Nevada clinched the chamber for Democrats.
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.
Key updates:
Why 'election night' will be more like 'election week'
The results of the 2022 midterm elections will almost certainly not be called on election night but in the days and weeks after polls close on Tuesday, according to election experts and officials.
This is normal, they told ABC News, because the results of a number of decidedly tight, consequential federal and statewide races will be counted on each state's separate calendar. Early and mail-in votes and ensuing recounts or challenges to results could further prolong the certification of votes.
“I would highly doubt that we would know who controls both chambers of Congress by the end of Election Day. I think we need to be prepared for an Election Day that will likely stretch over the week,” said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University.
Read more here.
-ABC News' Isabella Murray
How inflation could impact the midterms
As the midterm elections begin, sky-high prices for essentials like food and gasoline have become a major line of criticism leveled at Democrats, who control the White House and Congress.
In fact, the issue may be enough to drive the incumbent party out of power -- just as it has helped fuel government turnover across the globe, some experts told ABC News.
Global inflation during the pandemic era has helped drive public opposition toward incumbent parties and politicians, contributing to shifts in power across a host of countries over the past year, some financial experts told ABC News.
Experts noted how frustration over living costs has animated efforts to change political leadership in ways that resemble voter sentiment in the U.S. leading up to the midterm elections.
Read more here.
-ABC News' Max Zahn
Trump teases 'very big announcement' for next week
On the eve of Election Day, former President Donald Trump teased Monday night that he will make a "very big announcement" on Nov. 15 at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump was speaking at a final rally in Dayton, Ohio, for Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance and others.
While the former president did not specify the nature of the upcoming announcement, sources told ABC News last week that he could announce a 2024 presidential run as early as next week -- though the sources cautioned that discussions about the specifics, including a date, were still fluid.
“We want nothing to distract from the importance of tomorrow,” Trump said at the rally.
-- ABC News' Teddy Grant and Paulina Tam
Biden makes closing midterms pitch: 'We'll meet this moment'
Biden made one last campaign pitch to voters Monday night from a rally at Bowie State University in Maryland. This cycle, he warned, will shape "what the next couple of decades look like."
"Let's be clear, this election isn't a referendum, it's a choice," he said at the event in support of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore. "It's a choice between two very different visions of America.”
Biden listed legislative accomplishments from Democrats during his first two years -- including low unemployment, job creation, infrastructure investments and more -- before turning to criticism of "MAGA Republicans."
"The hypocrisy is unbelievable," he said, slamming GOP lawmakers who oppose student loan relief despite receiving business loans and debt cancellation during the coronavirus pandemic, or who touted aspects of the American Rescue Plan despite not voting in favor of the bill.
Biden also called out election deniers within the Republican Party, saying they only see two outcomes: “Either they win, or they were cheated.”
"Today, we face an inflection point," Biden said as he closed his remarks. "One of those moments that comes around every three or four generations. We know in our bones that our democracy is at risk, and we know that this is your moment to defend it, preserve and protect it, choose it. We'll meet this moment."