The first results have been called in momentous US midterm elections that will determine the balance of power in Washington DC and shape the rest of Donald Trump‘s presidency.
As results came in from the east coast and midwest, Democrats became more confident of gaining control of the House – and their hopes rose of also taking the Senate.
The first seat to be called as a “flip” was in North Carolina, where Democrat Roy Cooper overwhelmingly defeated Republican Michael Whatley to seize a Senate seat.
While early votes overwhelmingly favoured the Democrats, there were signs of a strong turnout on election day by Republicans, leading to several nail-biting results. However the overall trend was Democrat blue.
Chris Pappas held New Hampshire’s open Senate seat for the Democrats, becoming the first openly gay man in US history to win a Senate seat.
The Democrat incumbent Mark Warner of Virginia has won re-election to the US Senate, defeating Republican Bert Mizusawa, according to the Associated Press, an early and not especially surprising result in the battle to determine who will control the upper chamber of Congress.
Meanwhile in Georgia the Democratic senator Jon Ossoff was projected to win re-election against his Republican opponent Mike Collins – in a major hold for the Democrats. The state was won by Trump two years ago and had been top on Republicans’ list of opportunities to pick up more seats.
Virgin Media O2 cutting thousands of jobs to save costs
Up to 4,000 jobs could be affected as the flailing company attempts to slash outgoings in a bid to save £800m by 2029.
What you need to know
- Virgin Media O2 has built up £22bn in debt.
- CEO Lutz Schüler said in the light of its financial struggles, “doing what we’ve always done is not an option”.
- Currently employing 15,000 people, could cut as many as 4,000 jobs, an inside source told .
- The aim is to reduce the company’s wage bill by 30 per cent.
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What will this mean for customers?
The majority of job losses will be in non customer-facing roles, the company suggested.
Virgin Media O2 has also decided to scrap planned upgrades, including its fibre broadband rollout, to try to reduce costs even further.
Prospect, one of the unions which represents staff, billed the upcoming redundancies as “disappointing and very unsettling”.
Major study into ‘forever chemicals’ in our bodies launched
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has set out to understand more about the health impacts of PFAS, known as forever chemicals.
How will it work?
Dr Edward Wynne-Evans, a director at the UKHSA, told BBC Radio 4 he hopes the study will reveal “what different levels of exposure mean for an individual’s long-term health”.
What are the impacts of PFAS?
They do not break down in the environment and two types have already been banned for cancer risks.
For these, PFOA and PFOS, known risks also include raised cholesterol, lower antibodies and impacts on the thyroid.
This summer, blood testing in the Lancashire town of Thornton -Cleveleys, near a major chemical factory, found elevated PFOA levels.
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The help available for first-time buyers, rated
The Government’s Your First Home scheme won’t launch until the spring but others are currently available.
Here is what might work best for you.
The scheme will see first-time buyers buy a new-build property with a small deposit, backed by a 20 per cent equity loan.
Housing developers will contribute to fund the scheme, which will have an earnings cap.
Experts warn that such a small deposit could mean buyers will have limited savings.
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Lifetime and first-time buyer ISA
The Lifetime ISA allows people to receive a 25 per cent bonus on their savings up to £1,000 per tax year.
The Government also confirmed first-time buyers will have access to a new savings product called the first-time buyer ISA from April 2029.
It will replace the existing LISA for new savers and will allow them to save up to £4,000 a year with a 25 per cent government bonus that will be paid upon withdrawal towards a home worth £450,000, with the maximum value of the bonus capped at £20,000.
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Other options on offer
- Shared ownership: Purchase a share of the property’s value, and then pay the rest in rent, as well as a monthly service charge and ground rent.
- Low-deposit schemes offered by developers: Many developers offer help towards people’s deposits. But experts warned buyers should not be tempted to stretch for a bigger home than they can afford.
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In the House of Representatives, Republican Hal Rogers is projected to win Kentucky’s 5th congressional district, and Democrat Morgan McGarvey is projected to win Kentucky’s 3rd congressional district, according to an projection. Rogers has represented Kentucky’s 5th district since 1981.
In Florida, Democrat Wasserman Schultz won the 20th congressional district, the Associated Press declared. Republicans had redrawn the boundaries of her district earlier this year to boost their chances as part of Florida’s redistricting push.
The battleground states to watch
The real drama of the night is expected to come in a handful of key battleground states in the race for the Senate: Iowa, Kansas, Alaska, Maine, Michigan, Texas and Ohio. All are currently held by Republicans apart from Michigan.
Polls suggest that these elections could end in disaster for Trump’s party. A recent poll by The and Siena University found Democratic candidates ahead in Kansas, Maine, Ohio and Texas, Michigan, with an edge in Alaska and effectively tied in Iowa.
Timings for polls to close (GMT):
- 11pm: Parts of Indiana and Kentucky.
- Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, most of Florida, the rest of Indiana and Kentucky.
- 12:30am: North Carolina (delayed), Ohio, West Virginia.
- 1am: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington DC, the Florida panhandle and most of Kansas, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas.
- 1:30am: Arkansas.
- 2am: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the western parts of Kansas Michigan, the Dakotas and Texas.
- 3am: Montana, Nevada, Utah, most of Idaho and eastern Oregon.
- 4am: California, Washington, most of Oregon and northern Idaho.
- 5am: Hawaii and most of Alaska
- 6am: The far west of Alaska
Results are likely to take even longer elsewhere, and in some states we may not get a complete picture for hours or even days. Different states manage elections differently, and will count at different speeds. In 2022, it was days before the House could be called.
States with a lot of mail-in voting will need more time to count – California accepts ballots postmarked by 3 November if they arrive as late as 10 November, while Alaska accepts ballots mailed from outside the US for 15 days after voting day. Meanwhile states like Maine and Alaska use ranked-choice voting, which can drag out count times if no candidates wins more than 50 per cent of first choice votes.
Results could be further delayed if legal challenges are brought challenging the outcomes of races. The Trump administration has already. A federal judge has already dismissed a Justice Department (DoJ) lawsuit that sought to delay certification of Alaska’s Senate election if the Republican incumbent lost, while on Monday the DoJ asked the Supreme Court to block California from counting about 20,000 mail-in ballots from voters over the suggestion they might not be US citizens. The Supreme Court rejected that request.
However, even before full vote counts are completed, US media outlets may start to call the results of races using modelling. While there is no official national results service, many look to the Associated Press, which will call nearly 7,000 races.
What is at stake?
Up for grabs in these elections is control of both chambers of Congress: all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate.
Both chambers are currently controlled by Trump’s Republican Party, with 218 seats in the House to the Democrats’ 214, and 53 in the Senate to the Democrats’ 45. To flip the House, Democrats need a net gain of three seats, and four to take the Senate too.
While the Democrats are largely expected to take control of the House of Representatives, Republicans are increasingly afraid that they will seize the Senate.
With control of the House, Democrats could launch investigations into the administration, and subject senior officials to more scrutiny. They could also stop Republicans passing legislation, and even vote to impeach Trump again.
If they win the Senate, they could block Trump’s nominees including ambassadors, judges and cabinet officials and force his administration to negotiate over legislation.
Greater Democratic power in Congress could make it “very painful for the President to push through his agenda” and could trigger more investigations into potential corruption and abuse of power in the Trump administration, Natasha Lindstaedt, a professor of government at the University of Essex, told The i Paper.