FOX 5 News at 11: November 03, 2026

Start our coverage tonight with Fox 5's Sydney Persing. She is live on Capitol Hill with the latest. Yeah, well, we are still waiting for the Associated Press to make those official calls. But as we are watching these races come in one by one in the House and Senate, things are certainly trending well for Democrats at this hour. As you mentioned, they have flipped a handful of seats in both the House and the Senate, hoping next to flip Texas in the Senate. We'll see if Democrats can pull that off. We'll get into Texas more in a moment. But first, let's take a look at the Senate right now. We've got a live map for you that shows these results coming in from the Associated Press, as they call them. So right now, that's 46 to 37. And in favor for Dems, we know 65 seats in the Senate were not up for reelection. It's going to take 51 for Democrats to have a majority here, as if it's a 50-50 split. We know Vice President J.D. Vance, he becomes the tie-breaking vote. We've covered this throughout the night. Big flip in South Carolina with Democrat Annie Andrews knocking out Darlene Graham, the Republican incumbent senator, sister of late Senator Lindsey Graham. A very big win for Democrats there. Roy Cooper in North Carolina. Democrats were certainly hoping to be able to flip that seat. They kind of felt like that might be their best chance. In the Senate, and it looks like he has pulled that off. Let's go to the House now. This live map again of races coming in from the Associated Press. Latest numbers here, 132 to 77 for Democrats. The magic number here, that is 218. I haven't gotten there yet, but certainly looking very good for Democrats as they get closer and closer. And before we go, let's talk quickly about Texas, because we know this has been not just one of the most widely watched Senate races across the country, but the most expensive, with ad spending at more than half. a billion dollars. That race still has not been called yet by the Associated Press. It is far too early. But certainly right now, James Tallarico, the Democrat there, has a substantial lead on Ken Paxton, the attorney general. A race, again, that folks have just been paying so much attention to. And Democrats are sure hoping to flip that seat blue. They think they might be able to do it. And it would be a big win for them in trying to take control back of the Senate. Before we go, back out here live on Capitol Hill, I want to talk Thank you for your attention to this matter. Jim and Kenneth, you will know that, of course, the president is not on the ballot, and he has said, this is not a referendum on me if Republicans lose. The president has also told Republicans, go out and vote like I'm on the ballot. And Darlene Graham, that is a big loss for him. He didn't just campaign with her. He asked Darlene Graham to run. He said, I want you to take your brother's seat. So we'll be monitoring the president's reaction to all of this. He is at the White House right now. We'll be watching this all very closely, but certainly looking good for Democrats where we stand tonight. And several projected winners already in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Decisive victory by Governor Wes Moore in Maryland tonight, defeating Republican Dan Cox once again with more than 62% of the vote at this hour. Fox 5's Homa Bash is live in Baltimore tonight. She's at the Moore election night party. It looks like they're filing out at this point, Homa. They probably only had the room until 11 o'clock, right? Yes, that's right. They're kicking us out at 11, but it has been a celebration, a victory party here at Governor Moore's headquarters at M&T Bank Exchange. 1,200 people. We hit capacity. They weren't letting more people in. And as you can see, they're kind of turning off the lights right now. But Governor Moore's race was called by the AP one minute after those polls closed here in Maryland. 8:01, they called it for Governor Moore, telling you just how decisive this victory was. He took the stage just here in the last hour saying this was not just a While we're proud of the progress that we've made here in the state of Maryland, we know the work, the work isn't finished. And we're gonna build upon our progress and build together the best public education system in America here in the state of Maryland, because every child in Maryland deserves a school that believes in them. That we will continue growing our economy and make our state less dependent on an unreliable Washington, D.C. That means more jobs, it means higher wages, and it means making sure that more Marylanders are building wealth. Four more years of Governor Moore. We have a lot of supporters here tonight. I have one with me now. What are you most excited about now for a second term for Governor Moore? We're excited about the prospects for Maryland, for Baltimore, for the state. I think that is extremely exciting. And it's not just, you know, listen. It's not just about Maryland, it's about the country. It's not a blue wave, it's a blue tidal wave. We have really gotten an opportunity to take this country back and sort of redirect the traffic for this country in a more positive direction. So I'm proud of Wes Moore. I'm proud of what he and Aruna Miller have done. We're proud of what this country has done. We're proud that the country has made a statement. And I'm just overwhelmed. We're all overwhelmed. We're overwhelmed. We're happy. We can see the happiness. We can feel the excitement all around us, and we're singing around the country right now. Thank you, my friend. I appreciate you. You know, in celebrations again tonight for Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, Attorney General Anthony Brown, Representative Adrian Boaffa, who will be replacing Congressman Steny Hoyer, who we heard from tonight, who is retiring after 45 years at age 87. So a lot to be excited about here at Governor Moore's. Victory party here in Baltimore. Guys, for now, we'll send it back in to you. Alma, thank you. And while you were speaking, two big projections just came down. Fox News reporting Democrats have gained control of the House of Representatives and maybe even a bigger political earthquake out of Texas where the Associated Press has just projected James Tallarico will be the first Democrat elected to the United States Senate in decades, defeating Ken Paxton in a race, in that race, too. President Trump handpicking Ken Paxton to defeat the longtime incumbent senator there, John Cornyn. Just incredible. And deep red Texas. So a pickup there in Texas, but also in Virginia. Senator Mark Warner retained his seat. So let's get to Josh Rosenthal, who's live at the watch party there. That is definitely emptied out. Hi, Josh. Yeah, you're not kidding, Kenneth. The crowd is gone. They've been tearing down there behind us. However, the results remain. And up at the top of the ticket among candidates who are here tonight, Senator Mark Warner re-elected to a fourth, and he's his final term in the U.S. Senate. He was not the only winning candidate who we heard from tonight. Also, Representative James Walkinshaw. Also, Representative Don Beyer, who was kind enough to join us for a live interview a little bit earlier tonight. And interestingly... Some that we've heard nationally tonight, all three of them in their speeches, one of the common themes was that they see this as a rebuke of President Trump. They all talked about how they believe that this election represents Americans wanting to change. And Warner said specifically, he mentioned the tariffs, the high gas prices, grocery prices, electricity. prices. He also said what he views as the president working to enrich himself and his friends. And he believes that that had a major impact on these races here in Northern Virginia and elsewhere as well. Tonight, he also talked about how he says this is going to be his last term in the Senate. Here's a little more from Warner on that. This is my last campaign, but this is not the end of the road. You know, I start tomorrow. On the next seven years, I start tomorrow. I'm sure this agenda becomes reality. I start tomorrow and I say to some of my friends before, you think Mark Warner's so far? Wait till you see an untethered Mark Warner going forward. Talking to his friends about untethered Mark Warner, that's going to be an interesting one. We're going to have to wait and find out what exactly he means by that. Warner in that speech also vowing to fight for universal health care. And he made the joke that even though, yes, he does plan to retire at the end of this term, he said that at age 71 in Congress, he's actually only lower middle-aged was the line that he went with. Well, I mean, compared to the rest of the people in the U.S. Senate, that's saying something. There you go. Josh, thank you. We're also tracking some high-profile Senate races on the national stage tonight in Michigan. Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed is up against Republican Mike Rogers. That race has not yet been called, but we will check in later in Michigan Live with the latest. And still no clear winner there in Alaska in the Senate race, which we might not know the winner anytime soon because incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan is fighting Democratic challenger Mary Peltola and an independent named. Dan Sullivan igniting a controversy and investigations in that state. Democrats accused of recruiting the candidate to confuse voters, which they deny. The state uses ranked choice system there. Unofficial results may not be available for about two weeks, but we'll have a live report on that race coming up later this hour as well. All right. When we come back, we're going to check in with the D.C. mayor's race and Montgomery County will have a new leader as well. All that and more on Fox 5's live coverage continues here on Fox 5 and Fox Local. We're back. It is a new era in the nation's capital tonight. Janice Lewis-George is projected to be D.C.'s next mayor, marking a major political shift after nearly 12 years under fellow Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser. Let's touch for a minute today, live in Southeast D.C. tonight, where supporters of the mayor-elect are celebrating. Sharon. Continuing at this hour, and really, guys, what a historic night in the district. After 12 years... political philosophy. Janice Lewis George was on that stage not too long ago speaking to her supporters saying that this moment is more than just political. It is deeply personal. She was raised here. She went to school here. She always dreamed of leading this city and she spoke as the new mayor-elect. Take a listen. I'll be the mayor, the corner store, corner office, bus drive, and the business owner. Here for five generations. Here just five weeks ago. Every family, no exceptions, because that's what it means to put people first. I love this city, how it shows up. I miss you this. I'm your mayor. You won't ever have to fight alone. Yeah, Louis George is a self-described democratic socialist who campaigned on making D.C. more affordable, building more housing, expanding access to child care, and improving public safety. But the biggest challenge may be turning those promises into reality. She'll inherit a city facing serious financial pressures, concerns about economic development, and a complicated relationship with President Trump. She is willing to work with the president when it benefits D.C. residents, and that's something we'll be watching closely as she prepares to take office. She also mentioned tonight, again, that because she grew up here, she understands the struggles of the people of the district, what needs to be done, and her sister, clearly emotional tonight, her family very proud of this moment, saying it also happens to be her great-grandmother's birthday. But ultimately, she says, today her campaign ends. I think what we've learned from the Janice Lewis-George party there is that clearly they kept the room a little bit later than the others. By the way, the race for D.C. delegate. Exactly. You got to keep the go-go music going. The race for D.C. delegate right now, Robert White. The now former council member at large winning 87 percent over Republican Denise Rosado at seven percent. So that race too something we've been watching all night long. And obviously that race itself has been something closely watched the race to succeed. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Robert Wright will become only the third D.C. delegate after Walter Fauntroy had it for years, then followed by Eleanor Holmes Norton. Fox 5's Tom Fitzgerald is here to unpack what we're seeing right now. Yeah, sweeping elections for the Democrats here across the nation, here in the DMV. No surprise for what we're seeing here in the DMV, but across the nation, though. Look, two big boulders just fell into place for the Democrats in Ohio, Sherrod Brown, and then the monster win tonight for James Tallarico in Texas. Now, remember. John Cornyn, the Republican senator, for years in Texas, had run in the primary. President Trump opposed him in the primary. John Cornyn was defeated. He didn't stand for re-election this year, even though he wanted to. Republicans in Texas turned to Ken Paxton, a man who was not even mildly popular within the Republican Party. He was impeached by his own Republicans. James Tallarico did something tonight that hasn't been seen. In decades, so we're in a position right now. We are seeing unprecedented election results in unprecedented places. They are going to have a Democratic governor of Texas tonight, a Latino woman. We are going to have a Democratic woman governor of the state of Ohio in Amy Acton tonight. You know, we said earlier, presidents had put me on the ballot. Voters did apparently just that. I just want to point out to you, you mentioned that, but Fox News has projected Gina Hinojosa, Gina Hinojosa, 57 percent of the vote to Greg Abbott's 41 percent of the votes. Greg Abbott, by the way, Gina Hinojosa, doesn't roll off the tongue exactly, will become the second female governor of Texas. Behind the late, great Ann Richards. Ann Richards, a memorable Ann Richards. But, you know, she was, you know, of her time, a force in, you know, Democratic politics in the state. She was the one who had the incredible line in the Democratic convention that year that George H.W. Bush was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Silver foot. Yeah. Yeah, and you look... And you look at these races tonight and come back to our region for tonight. We've got races in the state of Maryland where the majority of the Maryland Democrats right now are all winning the races. We've still got a few outstanding ones. But the Republicans in Virginia, a couple of them are running for their lives tonight. And those are races that they didn't think earlier before this war started. Before these gas prices started going up, before these grocery prices started going up, those, you know, we talked about Rob Whitman earlier. Rob Whitman perennially won re-election after re-election, re-election. He's in trouble tonight. And these are races that the Republicans did not have to have in their worry column tonight. And they may be on the verge of extinction in those seats. There were a lot of people who looked at that, looked at the races and thought, would this be a repudiation of Abigail Spanberger? Because some of her polling numbers weren't great. Would this be a repudiation of seeing the redistricting efforts? That certainly didn't seem to be the case. I've spent the better part of 25 years now trying to decide whether or not Virginia is blue, red or purple. Yeah. Um, and, and I think every time we have either a presidential election or a midterm election, we reassess that every time. Yeah. I think it's easy to say tonight. They're pretty blue. You and I are gonna have a lot to talk about, uh, live stream with you, uh, Jim and Fitz, uh, starting at midnight on Fox local till 2am. That's right. Yeah. All right. Fitz, we'll see you later, but in the meantime, let's get to Montgomery County now on a big decision tonight there. Right now, incumbent Congressman Jamie Raskin and county executive candidate Will Jawando both holding strong leads. Regina Urreta's live at Will Jawando's watch party with the latest. That's right, Jim. And we're still here at this watch party. It seems like it's still just getting started. As I mentioned, there have been loud cheers throughout that, especially with Will Jawando projected to be the county executive here in Montgomery County, one of the wealthiest and most populated county to actually have Will Jawando here with me tonight. But first, Mr. Jawando, how are you feeling with just some of the projected results? I know that you came also here with incumbent Congressman Raskin, but what's your reaction? I'm feeling great. I mean, we're up, you know, 60 points, over 80% of the vote at this point. At this point, I think I'm happy about two things. One, the massive turnout. You know, almost 100,000 people voted early. We saw even more today, long lines. Some of the results were delayed coming out at 8 p.m. because people were still in line to vote. And so that just shows how fired up people are. And I'm obviously honored the way it's looking, that we're going to have a very wide margin, probably one of the widest margins in the county executive race in a very, very long time. And we're going to take that energy into making sure people's daily lives, they have what they need, that they're safe, that the schools are good, that we protect our immigrant communities. So I'm just really excited and really honored. Not to mention around the country we're seeing great news, too. I mean, yeah, we can talk about that. It seems not only here in Montgomery County, but it seems like Democrats, you know, are sweeping around the nation. What's your reaction towards that? Well, I think people are fed up. I mean, like whether it's gas and groceries, health care, immigration, public safety, they want real solutions. And I think you're seeing that in Maryland. You're seeing that in Montgomery County. Look, question three passed because they want to push back against Trump's illegal gerrymandering. And I think we're at our best as Democrats when we solve people's daily life, local problems, their kitchen table, their gas tank, their health care. And that's what this election was about. It's a repudiation of a politics that tries to divide us. So I'm really excited. We've got a few more races, a few more county council races, a few more school board races here. But I mean, the fact that we've won Texas nationally, we've won Ohio, both Senate and the governorship, I think it just shows. That this is a movement across the country. We're in a state, Maryland, which we knew was going to be democratic, but people still turned out in large numbers to say that we want to change. And that's really heartening for democracy. And I'm excited to, in the largest jurisdiction in our state, the wealthiest, the most highly educated, to be an example of what America should be. We are running out of time. I know that you had quite the health scare there, but I'm glad that you're here and you're fine and healthy. Jim, for now, I'm going to send it back to you. All right, Regina, thank you. And as we had a break, we're going to check in on the referendums on the ballot tonight. Everything from abortion to same-sex marriage to foie gras. When your news continues after this. Welcome back. Voters in Virginia and Maryland have voted to amend their respective state constitutions tonight on major issues. Chief legal correspondent Katie Barlow is tracking those details tonight. Hey, Katie. That's right. We've got several major issues to get through. Let's start off in Maryland, where voters approved amending the Constitution to give the political party in power, they're the Democrats, the ability to redistrict. In this case, seven out of eight seats are Democrats in Maryland. There's only one held by a Republican, Republican Maryland First District Congressman Andy Harris But they can redistrict to try and change that seat to flip it blue. Also, let's turn to Virginia, where all three constitutional amendments on the ballot have also passed. The first one enshrining the right to choose to have an abortion in the state's constitution. You can see there on your screen, 88 percent of the votes in, and that has already been called. That is a yes there. But I will caution, there is an ongoing lawsuit regarding question one. The abortion rights amendment and there's an upcoming hearing in a Virginia court on November 13th on whether to certify that vote. So there are still some legal challenges that remain on both question one and let's go to question two, which also involves the right to same sex marriage where voters approved removing a ban that currently exists in Virginia's constitution on same sex marriage. That is also facing a legal challenge working its way through the court. So certification could become a part of that as well. So keeping an eye on question one and question two approved by the voters, but still being challenged in the courts. And then finally, question three in Virginia, voters approved to allow people who have been convicted of felonies and served their time and gotten out of prison the right to vote. And along with the right to vote comes with the right to run for public office, the right to serve on a jury and fun fact, the right to be a notary public. And then, of course, All eyes in D.C., perhaps the most controversial thing on the ballot in the nation's capital tonight is the ban on foie gras, and there, with 73 percent of voters saying yes, there should be a ban on foie gras in D.C.'s restaurants and grocery stores. That was a hotly contested... The ballot initiative, Jose Andres, who is a known Democratic supporter and humanitarian, was against the ban, but it brought people together on both sides of the political aisle on both sides of that question. But it looks like at the end of the day, voters approved the ban there. Those are all of the major ballot referendums. Just a quick recap. Yes to redistricting in Maryland. Yes to enshrining abortion rights in the Constitution in Virginia. Yes to getting rid of the ban on same-sex marriage in Virginia and allowing people convicted of felonies to vote. Katie, I've got to ask you, with the referendums in D.C., because we saw that with minimum wage, we've seen it with other initiatives, ranked choice voting, are there going to be legal challenges to the flag-broad ban? I don't think so. I think D.C. is going to be pretty busy with a few things in the coming weeks now. But look, you know what? Lawyers got to get paid. Right, exactly. But still a big talker. And as you said, Jose Andres probably will not be happy about that result there. Katie Barlow, thank you so much. We appreciate it. And when we come back, we're going to check in on those key Senate races in Michigan and Alaska. Check live at the Capitol tonight. Stay with us. Our special election night coverage will continue here on Fox 5 in a moment.