2022 United States elections

After the 2020 elections, Democrats had a federal trifecta for the first time since the 111th United States Congress in 2011. This gave them a relatively straightforward path to enacting legislation, but the presence of more centrist or conservative Democrats, namely Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, meant that most of the more expansive and often more progressive legislation was blocked. In the White House, Joe Biden started his term out with positive approval ratings, particularly for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, although at about 54 percent it was the lowest approval rating (other than Donald Trump) of a president's first 100 days since 1953, reflecting the country's growing partisanship. By mid-2021, as the year progressed with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant and the Fall of Kabul, and as key legislation stalled, Biden and Democrats lost popularity and suffered electoral losses, including an upset loss in the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election, which were widely characterized as a red wave election and as a prelude to the 2022 midterms. In addition, the incumbent president almost always loses seats in Congress and often at least one chamber or overall control, in particular since the post-war period. Going into 2022, Republicans capitalized on high inflation, crime, and gas prices, and gained a substantial lead in the election climate towards 2022 results similar to the red wave of 2010. The overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court of the United States in the June 2022 ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'' decision led to a spike in Democratic voters' fervor, which narrowed the gap despite Biden's underwater approval ratings, amid better-than-expected election results during this period; this led some observers to wonder whether the 2022 midterms could break the incumbent president's losses and reflect the 1998 United States elections, as well as the 2002 United States elections, both of which showed increased support for the incumbent president, amid the impeachment of Bill Clinton (1998) and the aftermath of the September 11 attacks (2002). By October, Republicans regained a substantial margin in pre-election polls, which led to widespread predictions for a red wave election in favor of Republicans, though polls remained within the margin of error. ==Campaign==

Primaries After suffering losses in 2021, progressives within the Democratic Party saw improved but mixed results in 2022, with both progressives and moderates winning important races. In 2022, Democratic campaign arms aided radical-right candidates in Republican primary elections, believing they would be easier opponents in the general election. Republican primary candidates who had been endorsed by Trump tended to win, with his support being crucial for many, though his percentage was lower than in previous years, largely due to him taking riskier endorsements. Generally, candidates that received Trump's endorsements were on the far right and those who supported his false claims that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Trump issued primary endorsements to 37 candidates who ran in the general elections in November that were rated as competitive by The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter. Issues Economy Voters suffered from historically high consumer prices, gas prices, and interest rates, which Republicans blamed on Biden's and Democratic policies, as well as government spending; Democrats argued that it was linked to the global surge of inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic-related supply chain issues, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. remained the top issue for voters throughout 2022. According to an October 2022 Monmouth University poll, 82 percent of Americans considered inflation to be an "extremely or very essential issue" for the government to handle, and seven in ten Americans disapproved of Biden's handling of the cost of living rise. and lower presidential approval ratings, which can cause negative election results; some studies suggest that historically it can hurt the incumbent president in terms of election results, Abortion Following the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade'' in June 2022, Democrats outperformed Biden's results in the 2020 U.S. presidential election in several House special elections, with abortion cited as a major contributor to their victories, as many Republican-controlled states passed restrictive abortion laws, including a total or near-total ban on the procedure. Some Democrats, including party strategists and pollsters, were divided on whether this could help them or if focusing on the economy and inflation, as the latter seemed to grow a bigger concern among voters in the fall, was a better strategy. This led some observers, as well as several major news outlets, including among others ABC News, CNN, and NBC News, to question whether their focus on abortion was the best strategy to avoid losses in the midterms and if it had lost significance since spring. The Dobbs ruling made abortion more important for voters, with a rise in support among voters, particularly young women, for Democrats coming after the decision; at least six states had an abortion-related ballot initiative, the most ever in a single year. After Dobbs, Republicans attempted to pass several anti-abortion laws at the state level where they were not fully banned, including removal of incest and rape exceptions, but suffered from internal division on the issue. Lindsey Graham, who was not up for reelection in 2022, introduced a federal bill to ban abortions after 15 weeks; most Republicans argued that abortion regulations should be left to the states, In several states, such as Indiana, South Carolina, and West Virginia, they struggled to pass new state-level bans and restrictions on abortion despite controlling the state legislatures because they could not agree on their restrictions. Crime and gun violence Mass shootings made gun violence and crime more important issues for voters, in particular after the Robb Elementary School shooting in May 2022, The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which passed in June 2022, provided extended gun-safety laws and was touted by Biden and Democrats. Despite this, Republicans maintained a lead among voters who cited crime as a major issue. Republicans blamed the increase in violent crime and homicides in 2020 and 2021 on progressives and liberals, as well as attempts to "defund the police", a slogan supported by racial justice protesters but eventually rejected by Biden. Democrats pushed for stricter gun laws, including a ban on assault weapons, while Republicans sought to protect legal access to guns and the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. having said that Trumpist supporters grew increasingly authoritarian or "semi-fascist", as Biden had called them in August and September 2022, since Trump and many Republicans continue to contest the results of the 2020 presidential election; citing the many Republican Trump-endorsed candidates who denied the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, During the party primaries, Republican candidates alleged fraud irrespective of the results; among those who did so and later won the party nomination, Kari Lake said: "We out-voted the fraud." During the general election campaign, Lake refused to say that she would accept the result if she does not win the election, Additionally, Republican-controlled states passed laws restricting voting rights or making it harder to vote, as a consequence of Trump's big lie about 2020, which particularly affects minority voters and critics say also reflects a legacy of racial disenfranchisement. In November 2022, Biden said that democracy was on the ballot and cited the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of the Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi, stating that Trump's false claims about a stolen election in 2020 had "fuelled the dangerous rise of political violence and voter intimidation over the past two years". The Democratic Party filed lawsuits to remove Green Party candidates from the ballot, most notably the North Carolina Green Party candidate Matthew Hoh in the 2022 United States Senate election in North Carolina, citing an ongoing investigation into the party for fraudulant signatures. Their warning that Greens could divide progressive voters and give Republicans wins in tight races nonetheless received widespread criticism, and Hoh appeared on the ballot. Education Republicans argued for parents having more control over what their children are taught in schools, gender identity, and sexuality. Democrats dismissed these concerns as a push for censorship, saying that it would especially harm LGBT students. Twenty Republican candidates promulgated the litter boxes in schools hoax, which emerged largely as backlash against recognition of gender variance in schools. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy vowed to "recover lost learning from school closures" during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. 71% of voters considered climate change as a serious problem, even though there were differences in the level of concern. One poll showed that for 51% of voters climate change was one of the more important issues. According to another poll, 64% of people of color were more likely to vote for a candidate that is addressing climate change as one of the three most important points in their agenda. A third poll showed that 9% of voters considered climate change as the most important issue. Progressive Democrats pushed for legislation to combat the negative effects of climate change, including incentives towards the adoption of renewable energy and electric cars. and has been described as the first major or significant climate change law, as well as the largest investment to fight climate change in U.S. history. Immigration Immigration is among the issues where the United States is divided the most. Biden revoked some of Trump's anti-immigration policies but not others, An increase of over 385% in border encounters from 2020 to 2022 gave Republicans an edge over Democrats, as Republicans blamed it on Biden and Democrats, In a September 2022 political stunt, Florida governor Ron DeSantis had migrants sent to Martha's Vineyard. This was also done by Republican governors in Arizona and Texas who sent migrants to northerner, more liberal states, which was criticized by Biden, Democrats, and migrant rights groups as a "cruel political theatre". both parties sought electoral gains from the decision, with Democrats potentially attracting young voters who would benefit from the program, and Republicans targeting blue-collar workers who likely did not go to college and would be unwilling to help subsidize the education debts of others. A majority of voters were found to support student loan forgiveness in the run-up to the election. During the election campaign, conservatives and Republicans attempted to find plaintiffs, as part of an effort to sue the Biden administration over the proposal, and take the case to the Supreme Court; this temporarily blocked the plan, which included cancelling up to $10,000 of student debt for those making less than $125,000 a year and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients, as the courts will have to consider legal challenges. In November 2022, a federal judge in Texas struck down Biden's student loan plan. In response, Biden extended a moratorium on the plan from January 2023 to June 2023. Presidency of Joe Biden Republicans were benefiting from Biden's low U.S. presidential approval ratings, His ratings briefly increased after several legislative victories in August and September 2022; by October, they again plateaued when voters focused back on the state of the economy. Biden avoided intervention in several key Senate races, among them Arizona, Georgia, and New Hampshire, where his ratings were further below his presidential approval nationally. Russian invasion of Ukraine The Russian invasion of Ukraine was the major foreign policy issue, shifting support for Biden and highlighting the Republican Party's perceived support for Russia and Vladimir Putin. One day before election day, Russian entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was in the center of accusations of hidden propaganda activities by the Russian government, in regard to Russian interference in U.S. elections, wrote on Vkontakte: "We have interfered, we are interfering and we will continue to interfere." Campaign spending With a total of almost 17 billion U.S. dollars in expenditure, the election campaigns for the 2022 midterm elections were the most expensive in the history of the United States. ==Federal elections==

Senate elections Thirty-five of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate were up for election, including all 34 Class 3 senator seats. Concurrent with the regularly scheduled Class 3 elections, a special election was held to fill a Class 2 vacancy in Oklahoma. As senators serve six-year terms, the last regularly scheduled elections for Class 3 senators were held in 2016. The winners of the Senate elections were sworn in on January 3, 2023, for the 118th U.S. Congress. Going into the election, Democrats and Republicans both held 50 seats, but Democrats had a majority due to their control of the vice presidency, which has the power to break ties in the Senate. This was the third consecutive midterm election in the incumbent president's first term in which the party not occupying the White House was able to win control of the House but was unable to win the Senate. Democrats performed better than expected in New Hampshire, which allowed them to retain control of the Senate, and with an increased majority after winning the runoff election in Georgia. • California Class 3: Incumbent Kamala Harris was elected as Vice President of the United States and resigned from the Senate on January 18, 2021, to take office also as the ex officio President of the Senate. Governor Gavin Newsom used his power to appoint the secretary of state of California, Alex Padilla, to succeed her. A special election to fill the remaining weeks of Harris's tenure was held on November 8, 2022, the same day as the regular election for a six-year term, as a writ proclaimed by Newsom. Padilla won both the special election and the regularly scheduled election. • Oklahoma Class 2: Incumbent Jim Inhofe announced in February 2022 that he would resign from the Senate at the end of the 117th Congress on January 3, 2023. A special election to fill the remaining four years of his term was held on November 8, 2022, concurrently with the regular election for the Class 3 seat, held by James Lankford. Republican Congressman Markwayne Mullin won the special election to fill the remainder of Inhofe's term. Post-election party switches In early December 2022, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona announced she would leave the Democratic Party and register as an independent. She justified her decision in an op-ed for The Arizona Republic on December 9, saying: "Like a lot of Arizonans, I have never fit perfectly in either national party." While she did not say if she would caucus with the Senate Democrats, as the Senate's two other independent senators do, she ruled out caucusing with Republicans. House of Representatives elections All 435 voting seats in the U.S. House of Representatives were up for election. Forty-nine representatives and one non-voting delegate (30 Democrats, 20 Republicans) did not seek re-election, and three seats were vacant at the time of the election. The incumbents in the 2022 elections were determined in the 2020 U.S. House of Representatives elections and subsequent special elections. These elections were the first conducted after the 2020 U.S. redistricting cycle, causing several districts to lack an incumbent or have multiple incumbents. Democrats held a 220–212 majority at the time of the election. The race was competitive and closer than expected, Special elections Nine special elections were held in 2022: • Florida's 20th congressional district: Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick defeated Republican Jason Mariner to succeed Democrat Alcee Hastings, who died on April 6, 2021, from pancreatic cancer. The district has a partisan index of D+28. • California's 22nd congressional district: Republican Connie Conway defeated Democrat Lourin Hubbard in a runoff to succeed Republican Devin Nunes, who resigned on January 1, 2022, to become CEO of the Trump Media & Technology Group. The district has a partisan index of R+6. The district has a partisan index of D+5. The district has a partisan index of R+11. The district has a partisan index of R+8. The district has a partisan index of R+9. The district has a partisan index of R+3. The district has a partisan index of R+9. The district has a partisan index of R+13. ==State elections==

Gubernatorial elections Elections were held for the governorships of 36 U.S. states and three insular areas. As most governors serve four-year terms, the last regularly scheduled elections for most seats up for election in 2022 were held in 2018. The governors of New Hampshire and Vermont each serve two-year terms, so incumbents in these two states were determined in 2020. Prior to the election, Republicans held a total of 28 seats, 20 of which were up for election in 2022, and Democrats held 22 seats, 16 of which were up for election. Democrats picked up the seats of retiring and term-limited Republican incumbents in Arizona, A Democratic incumbent also prevailed in a closely contested race in Kansas, while the party held onto Oregon in another closely contested race. Tina Kotek of Oregon is set to be one of the first lesbian governors in the United States, along with Maura Healey in Massachusetts. Democrats made a further gain in Arizona, The sole gain for Republicans was in Nevada, Other state executive elections Various state-wide executive positions across several states held elections in 2022. State attorneys general were elected in thirty U.S. states, three territories, and one federal district. The previous elections for this group of states took place in 2018. The attorney general of Vermont serves two-year terms and was last elected in 2020. While Democrats flipped Vermont and Charity Clark became the state's first female attorney general, one notable Republican upset was Brenna Bird's narrow win over Tom Miller, the incumbent Democratic attorney general of Iowa and the longest-serving state attorney general in U.S. history. Secretaries of state were elected in twenty-seven U.S. states. The previous elections for this group of states took place in 2018. The secretary of state of Vermont serves two-year terms and was last elected in 2020. State treasurers and equivalents were elected in twenty-seven U.S. states, plus a special election in Utah. The previous elections for this group of states took place in 2018. The treasurer of Vermont serves two-year terms and was last elected in 2020. State judicial elections Numerous states held judicial elections in 2022. Republicans gained a majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court by picking up two seats, raising the possibility of mid-decade redistricting. In another election with major redistricting implications, Republicans retained a majority on the Supreme Court of Ohio. Legislative elections In 2022, 46 states held regularly scheduled elections in 88 legislative chambers, although not all seats were up in the legislatures holding elections, as some states use staggered terms. Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia did not hold regularly scheduled state legislative elections, as those states all hold such elections in odd-numbered years. The District of Columbia and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands also held legislative elections in 2022. As in the U.S. House of Representatives, these elections were the first conducted after the 2020 U.S. census and the 2022 U.S. redistricting. Prior to the election, Republicans controlled 60 legislative chambers, Democrats controlled 37 chambers, and a cross-party coalition controlled the Alaska House of Representatives. Democrats successfully defended every legislative chamber they had held prior to the election, the first time the president's party accomplished this feat in a midterm since the 1934 U.S. elections. However, Republicans established a cross-party coalition in the Alaska House of Representatives, shifting the majority from a predominantly Democratic caucus to a predominantly Republican caucus. Democrats picked up the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, the Minnesota Senate, both state legislative chambers in Michigan, and also established a cross-party coalition in the Alaska Senate. Democrats had not controlled the Michigan Senate since 1984, one reason being that although Democrats won the popular vote several times (2012, 2018, and 2020), Republicans continued to win more seats due to a more favorable map. This map was redrawn by an independent commission in 2021, which was established by a 2018 ballot initiative. while Democrats lost a trifecta in Nevada. Following the election, although Republicans held trifectas in more states, more people lived in Democratic-controlled states than in Republican-controlled states. Though Republican governor Phil Scott won reelection, Democrats gained a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers of the Vermont General Assembly. At the same time, the Republican Party fell short of attaining a supermajority in the Wisconsin State Assembly and the North Carolina House of Representatives, meaning that Democratic governors in both states will retain the ability to veto legislation that is passed without Democratic support. Referendums Of the many proposed for 2022, 132 ballot measures were certified in 37 states. In response to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'' that held there was no constitutional right to abortion in the United States and gave individual states the full power to regulate any aspect of abortion, six states had an abortion‑related ballot measure: California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont. California voters considered Proposition 1 during the general election, which was approved, In Nebraska, Nevada, and Washington, D.C., voters approved to increase the minimum wage, and one such attempt (requiring 60 percent for any ballot measure to pass) failed in Arkansas. voters in Nevada also approved to replace the traditional primary system and first-past-the-post voting with top-five ranked-choice voting statewide, unlike the other ballot measures, this was opposed by both Democrats and Republicans. In Arizona, voters approved a ballot measure that limited medical debt interest rates. In Tennessee, voters voted on Amendment 1, which would amend the Constitution of Tennessee to make it illegal for workplaces to require employees to be members of labor unions as a condition for employment; In Maryland and Missouri, the measures were approved, Alabama, Tennessee, Oregon, and Vermont abolished slavery in prisons; ==Local elections==

Since the beginning of 2022, elections were held for the office of mayor, as well as several other municipal and county-level positions. Major U.S. cities saw incumbent mayors re-elected, including Fort Smith, Arkansas (George McGill); Little Rock, Arkansas (Frank Scott Jr.); Tallahassee, Florida (John E. Dailey); Lexington, Kentucky (Linda Gorton); Flint, Michigan (Sheldon Neeley); Reno, Nevada (Hillary Schieve); Newark, New Jersey (Ras Baraka); Charlotte, North Carolina (Vi Lyles), and Raleigh, North Carolina (Mary-Ann Baldwin); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (David Holt); Clarksville, Tennessee (Joe Pitts); Murfreesboro, Tennessee (Shane McFarland); Denton, Texas (Gerard Hudspeth); and Washington, D.C. (Muriel Bowser). Open mayoral seats were won in Anaheim, California (Ashleigh Aitken); Chula Vista, California (John McCann); Long Beach, California (Rex Richardson); Los Angeles, California (Karen Bass); Oakland, California (Sheng Thao); and San Jose, California (Matt Mahan); Augusta, Georgia (Garnett Johnson); Louisville, Kentucky (Craig Greenberg); Henderson, Nevada (Michelle Romero), and North Las Vegas, Nevada (Pamela Goynes-Brown); Columbia, Missouri (Barbara Buffaloe); Providence, Rhode Island (Brett Smiley); Austin, Texas (Kirk Watson); Laredo, Texas (Victor Trevino); Lubbock, Texas; (Tray Payne); and Newport News, Virginia (Phillip Jones). Bass succeeded two-term incumbent Eric Garcetti, and in doing so became the first woman and the second Black person (after Tom Bradley) to be elected mayor of Los Angeles. In San Bernardino, California, city worker Helen Tran was elected to replace incumbent John Valdivia, who was defeated in the blanket primary. In Shreveport, Louisiana, incumbent Adrian Perkins lost re-election in the Louisiana primary, and was succeeded by the winner of the runoff on December 10, former city councilor Tom Arceneaux, who became the first Republican elected to the position in 28 years. In Norman, Oklahoma, Larry Heikkila defeated one-term incumbent mayor Breea Clark. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, acting mayor Cavalier Johnson defeated Bob Donovan in a special election to complete the term of Tom Barrett, who resigned in December 2021 to become the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg. He is the first African-American and first millennial to be elected mayor of Milwaukee. ==Tribal elections==

Several notable Native American tribes held elections for tribal executive positions during 2022. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska reelected tribal president Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson to a fifth term; Lynn "Nay" Valbuena was also elected to serve a fifth term as chair of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. Terry Rambler won election to a fourth consecutive term as chair of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. Osage Nation principal chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, tribal council chief Beverly Kiohawiton Cook of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, Mark Fox of the Three Affiliated Tribes, Jamie Azure of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Seneca Nation President Rickey Armstrong Sr., and Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Chairperson Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, were all reelected to third terms. Chairman Marshalle Pierite of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe, the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma chief Craig Harper, as well as Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation tribal chairman Joseph Rupnik, were all reelected to a second term. Also reelected were Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community president Martin Harvier and Quapaw Nation chairman Joseph Byrd. Bill Sterud was reelected as chair of the Puyallup Tribe; he first joined the Puyallup Tribal Council in 1978. Brad KillsCrow was elected to his first full term as chief of the Delaware Tribe of Indians. Reid D. Milanovich was elected chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, replacing the retiring Jeff Grubbe. Clayton Dumont Jr. won an open seat to become chairman of the Klamath Tribes, Arden L. Kucate was elected governor of the Pueblo of Zuni, and the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate in the Dakotas elected J. Garret Renville as their new tribal chair. Lawrence Spottedbird won a contentious race to become chairman of the Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma. In the Wabanaki Confederacy, the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Motahkmikuk reelected William Nicholas to a fourth term as chief, chief Kirk Francis was elected to serve a sixth term as head of the Penobscot Nation, and tribal representative Rena Newell was elected chief of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik, ousting chief Maggie Dana. Several tribal leaders were defeated when seeking reelection. Buu Nygren defeated Jonathan Nez to become president of the Navajo Nation; Nygren's running mate, Richelle Montoya, is the first woman elected as Navajo Nation vice president. Lora Ann Chaisson defeated August "Cocoa" Creppel in the election for principal chief of the United Houma Nation. Kasey Velasquez defeated chairwoman Gwendena Lee-Gatwood to become the second woman elected to lead the White Mountain Apache Tribe. RoseMary LaClair defeated incumbent Nooksack Indian Tribe chairman Roswell Cline Sr. Former Red Lake Band of Chippewa chairman Floyd "Buck" Jourdain defeated incumbent chairman Darrell Seki Sr. Ryman LeBeau defeated incumbent Harold Fraizer to become chairman-at-large of the Cheyenne River Sioux. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Tribal Government, formed in 2021 to unite 56 Yup'ik, Cup'ik, and Athabascan tribal governments in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta region, held its first elections in November 2022. James Akerelrea was elected tribal president. Several native groups weighed referendums regarding how tribal membership is determined. The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, in two advisory referendums, approved removing blood quantum provisions from the tribe's constitution and allowing individual bands or reservations to determine membership requirements. Shareholders of Sealaska Corporation, an Alaska Native corporation, similarly voted to drop blood quantum requirements. The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon approved a measure to limit tribal disenrollment. ==Table of state, territorial, and federal results==

This table shows the partisan results of president, congressional, gubernatorial, and state legislative races held in each state and territory in 2022. Note that not all states and territories hold gubernatorial, state legislative, and Senate elections in 2022. The five U.S. territories and Washington, D.C., do not elect members of the Senate, and the territories do not take part in presidential elections; instead, they each elect one of the six non-voting members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The unicameral Nebraska Legislature and the governorship and legislature of American Samoa are elected on a non-partisan basis, and political party affiliation is not listed. ==Aftermath==

Results The race for Congress was much closer than expected; control of Congress remained uncertain for several days, and the House remained too close to call for over a week, Abortion and the economy were major issues, and young and independent voters, which Democrats narrowly won while keeping enough of their key voting blocs and could explain their key wins, turned out in record numbers particularly in some key swing states, which were won by Democrats; it is not agreed among experts only to what extent and by how much the youth vote helped Democrats. 2022 is the first midterm since the 1934 U.S. elections in which the president's party did not lose any state legislative chambers or incumbent senators. It was also the first midterm since the 1986 U.S. elections in which either party achieved a net gain of governorships while holding the presidency, which last happened for Republicans in the 1986 U.S. gubernatorial elections, and gained in the Senate, even though the president's party usually lose many seats in the midterm elections; In addition, Democrats gained a Senate seat in Pennsylvania where John Fetterman defeated Mehmet Oz, while they held their seat in Georgia in a runoff election, Many factors have been attributed to the lack of a red wave and better-than-expected performance for Democrats, including the quality of candidates, youth turnout, Incumbent president Joe Biden, a Democrat, and incumbent Florida governor Ron DeSantis of the Republican Party, as well as reproductive rights, have been widely considered as the biggest winners, while former president Donald Trump was considered to be the biggest loser by the election results. Sean Patrick Maloney, the chair of the Democratic House coalition's fundraising arm, lost his reelection bid after ten years in Congress. Gretchen Whitmer, the incumbent Democrat, won the 2022 Michigan gubernatorial election. On the Republican side, incumbent governors performed well. Greg Abbott won the 2022 Texas gubernatorial election, while Brian Kemp won the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election; in both cases, they defeated the Democratic opponents, Beto O'Rourke and Stacey Abrams, respectively, who had lost by narrower margins in 2018. results showed that he performed better than other Republicans among Hispanics, who got mixed results. Both parties elected female governors, resulting in the most female governors in U.S. history. Incumbent Laura Kelly of the Democratic Party narrowly won the 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election, Despite losses, Republicans flipped a governorship from Democrats by winning the 2022 Nevada gubernatorial election, in which Joe Lombardo defeated the incumbent Steve Sisolak, For over a week, control of the state legislatures of Alaska, Arizona, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania was not determined. In New Hampshire, where Democrats made gains, the race for the House was so close that a series of recounts and legal challenges have followed, leaving the state of the race uncertain. In Pennsylvania, Republicans retained control of the Senate but the House was too close; by November 16, Democrats regained control of the House for the first time since 2010. Referendums to preserve or expand abortion access won in all six states where they were on the ballot (California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont). Senator Lindsey Graham commented: "It's certainly not a red wave, that's for darn sure. But it is clear that we will take back the House." On November 9, when the results for the House were still uncertain, the Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy launched his bid to succeed long-time House Democrats leader Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. In a letter asking for support among Republicans, he wrote: "I trust you know that earning the majority is only the beginning. Now, we will be measured by what we do with our majority. Now the real work begins." On November 30, Hakeem Jeffries was selected by acclamation as the Democratic nominee for the House speakership. Earlier on November 15, McCarthy won an internal Republican caucus poll as their speaker nominee. As several members of the Republican caucus did not vote for him and have expressed opposition to his speakership, it cast doubt on how the U.S. speaker election on January 3 would unfold. McCarthy would ultimately be elected speaker, but on the 15th ballot, due to internal divisions within the House Republican Conference. This resulted in the first speaker election since 1923 in which the speaker was not elected on the first ballot. Analysis Polls both prior to and after the elections found that the status of the economy and inflation was the most important issue for voters, with concern about abortion being relatively low compared to them, Florida and New York were the exception to this national trend. The lack of a red wave election was attributed to, among others, Increasing concerns over climate change and the higher approval of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 compared to the previous climate policy also played a role in it, where Fetterman improved on Biden's 2020 results from white voters without a college degree. Democrats also performed well in Colorado and New England, while Republicans made gains in Florida and New York. In New York, where Democrats suffered major losses, a gerrymander had been rejected by the courts, while gerrymanders in Florida and Tennessee gave Republicans more seats by virtue of the redistricted map being much more Republican-leaning. Defensive gerrymanders helped both parties hold competitive seats in various states; Republican gains in New York and Democratic gains in North Carolina and Ohio were made possible because state supreme courts overturned gerrymanders passed by their state legislatures. Close results While it is normal to take several days to know the results, including blue shifts and red mirages as Democrats vote by mail more often than Republicans, the fact the race for Congress was competitive, and also closer than expected, resulted in control of the House being uncalled for over a week, the Senate also remained too close to call. as they made a gain in Pennsylvania's open race, while three races remained uncalled, all of which are Democratic-held; and had to defend their net gain in the Georgia runoff election in December 2022, a competitive election where polls gave Warnock a small edge but remained within the margin of error and both candidates could win, as some polls came from pollsters without established records. Republican attempts to stop early voting, such as the Saturday after Thanksgiving, were blocked by a state court. There was also some concern that Georgia's new state law, which shortened the runoff campaign period, would have negative effects on turnout; research shows that this particularly affects turnout among voters of color. By November 12, Democrats had retained the Senate, as the Democratic incumbents in Arizona and Nevada (Mark Kelly and Catherine Cortez Masto, respectively) were projected to have retained their seat. Warnock, the Democratic incumbent, won the runoff in Georgia on December 6, Some gubernatorial races, such as in Arizona and Nevada, were not projected for several days, as they were too close call. refused to concede. Over two weeks later, results in many races were still unknown. including upsets in , , and congressional districts, and narrowly missed by 550 votes a further upset for the seat held by Lauren Boebert. On November 10–12, Republicans were favored to regain control of the House with a narrow majority of 3 seats (221–214) according to NBC News, with 218 seats needed for a majority. 211–203 according to the Associated Press, By November 14, Republicans were projected to possibly have a narrow majority in the House by as little as a single seat. which was followed on November 16 by NBC News, Demographic trends Starting in 2012, Democrats suffered losses among the American working class, particularly whites. Since 2016, Republicans made gains among minorities who are working class or Hispanic and Latino Americans; at the same time, Democrats continued to improve among college-educated whites, which helped them win in 2020. though not to the extent they expected, According to exit polls, such as from Edison Research, Democrats won a majority of voters under $30,000 and $30,000–49,999, while Republicans won a majority of voters in the $50,000–99,999 and $100,000–199,999 income brackets, with the bigger gap between the two parties being that of those over $200,000, whom Republicans also won. Simon Rosenberg was one exception. Republican pollsters such as the Trafalgar Group had a notable polling miss, with errors well outside the margin of error in races such as the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Washington. Since 2016 and 2020, the latter of which was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, polling companies attempted to understand the misses in recent years and how to get better. There were also fewer polls in general, and a larger share came from partisan sources. On election eve, an unweighted average of 17 polls indicated that Republicans were expected to defeat Democrats by 2.5% in the generic congressional vote. Polls were relatively good, but did not exclude that 2022 could be akin 1998 or 2002 (after Dobbs) or have a bias in favor of Republicans, as it happened. assumed the possibility that polls underestimated Republicans; its polls-only version saw the Senate as a tossup. Many pollsters had their own worries, and many feared they would miss Republican overperformances as it happened in 2016 and 2020 in particular. Potential green wave Some environmental organizations and media described the result as a green wave, saying candidates addressing climate change did better compared to those considered who did not. Among Republicans who won, they did not campaign against climate measures in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Biden specifically thanked young climate voters. Speculation about 2024 elections Democrats performed well in states that could be key to the 2024 U.S. elections, and their better-than-expected performance may have avoided a damaging primary for the incumbent president; with many more seats to defend than Republicans. As some moderate Republicans admitted that the party had an extremist problem and had a moment of reckoning, as well as infighting, many analysts believed that the results set up a potential contest between DeSantis and Trump for the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries. Despite losses, Trump called the results a "great evening", though those close to him reported him "livid" and "furious with everyone" for the losses, in particular the Senate open seat in Pennsylvania. About DeSantis, Trump stated that he was ready to reveal what he described as "bad things" about him, claiming to know him "more than anyone else, perhaps more than [his wife]." On November 18, attorney general Merrick Garland announced that he appointed Jack Smith as a special counsel to run part of the Department of Justice's probe into the January 6 Capitol attack, which could affect his eligibility under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as argued by some legal experts, as well as the FBI investigation into Trump's handling of government documents. Trump's 2024 campaign announcement received wide media coverage and a mixed response from both Democrats and Republicans. Some Democrats warily welcomed the campaign, viewing Trump as beatable, while other Democrats, along with many observers and some Republicans, opposed it, citing the negative effects it could have on U.S. democracy. Some Republicans, consisting mostly of Trump loyalists, welcomed the campaign, while others opposed it, viewing him as a weak candidate who had lost Republicans the past several election cycles including the 2022 midterms and engaged in conspiracy theories, and also cited his legal troubles. Turnout Voter turnout was relatively high by midterm standards, with an estimated 46.6% of the voting-eligible population casting a ballot. After the blue wave of 2018, it was the second highest since the 1970 U.S. elections. The trend was further confirmed by turnout among young voters (18–29), which was also the highest (after 2018) since the 1970s, and helped Democrats, even as Republicans turned out in greater numbers; for example, youth and Latino voters turnout in a battleground state like Arizona was historically high. According to the Edison Research National Election Pool, the youth vote for the House was 63–35 in favor of Democrats. Pollster Antonio Arellano commented that young voters were the only age group in which more than 50 percent of voters supported Democrats. ==Milestones==

Arkansas, Massachusetts, and New York elected female governors for the first time, and Arkansas and Massachusetts became the first states in which women concurrently served as governor and lieutenant governor. Alabama elected its first female senator, California elected a Latino senator for the first time, and Maryland elected its first African-American governor. Markwayne Mullin became the first Native American to represent Oklahoma in the Senate since Robert Latham Owen retired in 1925. In Florida, Maxwell Frost became the first member of Generation Z elected to the House. Marcy Kaptur's reelection made her the longest-serving woman in Congress following the completion of her term. Becca Balint became the first female member of Congress from Vermont—the last of the 50 states to elect a woman to Congress—and Summer Lee became the first black woman from Pennsylvania elected to Congress. The 2022 election was the first time that LGBTQ candidates appeared on the general election ballot in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. With their respective victories, Tina Kotek of Oregon and Maura Healey of Massachusetts became the first openly lesbian state governors. James Roesener, elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, became the first transgender man to win a state legislative seat. ==Election night television viewership==

Legend Total television viewers8:00 to 11:00 p.m. Eastern ==See also==