… and several key Senate races
7 p.m. is when the earliest polls will close in states that could offer insights into the Senate map, my colleague Nate Cohn explained:
In the Senate, there are several states on the periphery of the battleground where Democratic strength and Republican resilience will quickly be put to the test, like New Hampshire and Southern states like Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia. If it looks like a good night for the Democrats Annie Andrews in South Carolina or Angie Nixon in Florida, the Republicans are in some real trouble.
7:30 p.m.: Ohio
Let’s shift our focus away from the House for a moment. Polls close at 7:30 p.m. in Ohio, and as the counting gets underway there, we’ll get some insight into one of the ugliest contests in the country: the governor’s race between Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican, and Dr. Amy Acton, a Democrat.
If Acton wins, my colleague Jonathan Weisman, an editor on the National desk, said that it will give us some insight into the accuracy of the polls, which showed her with a lead.
The counting will be already underway in two other revealing governor’s races. In Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott, a moderate Republican, is trying to defy the national environment in an otherwise deep blue state. And in New Hampshire, the strength of Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s re-election bid will offer further insight into how well a fairly popular incumbent Republican was able to separate herself from the president.
8 p.m.: Georgia
Georgia’s polls close at 7 p.m., but the count of early ballots is released about an hour later. The counting of Election Day ballots continues into the evening.
The state has a big governor’s race between a Democratic former mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, and the self-funding businessman Rick Jackson. If Bottoms wins, Jonathan told me, it will be a historic moment — she would be the nation’s first Black female governor. It might also offer a hint about the power of Black turnout in the South, which several other Democrats across the region are hoping will pull them across the line.
