Democrats take control of the House and Senate

Election night in America. This evening, the voters have spoken. A rejection of President Trump's second term. Democrats overperform in states all across the country. The party winning control of the House and the Senate. The blue wave has swept across the nation tonight. Good evening, everyone. I'm Mike Meeback. And I'm Claudine Wong. Tonight, voters are also making several decisions that will shape the Bay Area and California for years to come. Let's start with a quick look at the top of the ticket right here in California. Democrat Javier Becerra will our next governor of the state and first Latino governor in the Golden State. He defeated Republican candidate Steve Hilton. The results there on the screen, 65 percent of Californians voting for Javier Becerra, 35 percent for Steve Hilton. We will have live reports from both campaigns later in the newscast. And now to the balance of power in Washington. We are following projections as they are called by the Associated Press. Yes, Democrats have now won control of the Senate. You can see there a projected 52 seats, picking up six seats from the Republican Party, almost seven now, which is projected to hold that majority and then maybe grow. And in the House of Representatives, where all 435 seats were up for grabs tonight. Democrats on the cusp of winning the 218 needed to claim the majority so far as you can see the projection 205 seats for the Democrats, 123 for the Republican Party. Those numbers will rise throughout the evening. Now within the last hour, President Trump calling in to Fox News reacting to tonight's election results. Congratulations to the Democrats. They did a good job. They've been looking for this one for 11 years, and they finally got it. But I don't view it as a hit on me. I think we've done a—we've had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency in terms of the economy, in terms of all the things that we've done. Look at the border. The border was an open sieve, and within two months, it was totally closed. Well, the president also told Fox's Brett Baier that he certainly doesn't blame himself for this. And let's bring in KTVU's Greg Lee with final polls closing still in Alaska. So we still have results coming in here. Yeah, it was a stunning rebuke of President Trump and Republicans tonight. And all of that said, historic victories for Democrats and toss-up Senate races. And in states that were seemingly not in play, headed into tonight. In Texas, we give you a look at the numbers. A major upset, Democrat James Tallarico defeating Ken Paxton in a race that's all half a billion dollars spent. Before tonight, Democrats had not won a Senate race in Texas since 1988. Also, a stunning upset for Democrats in the governor's race there. In Kansas, a state that hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932, that's 94 years. The president carried the state by 16 points in 2024. Democrat Adam Hamilton defeating Republican incumbent Roger Marshall. The Republican super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, moved money from North Carolina to Kansas. Towards the end of the campaign, all for naught, and in a stunning upset, Democrat Andy Andrews defeated Republican incumbent Senator Darlene Graham in South Carolina. In a state President Trump carried by 18 points in 24, the president pushed for the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham to finish her brother's term. And one Senate race that has still yet to be called and that continues to be closely watched, progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed. Facing off against Republican Mike Rogers in a contentious race. There's been lots of twists and turns. The latest numbers, 63% in. Syed, El-Syed leading 52 to 48. The leader of Senate Democrats, Chuck Schumer, celebrated this victory tonight. There is now a generational remake of the Senate map that is going to change America now and on into the future. Americans voted for change. And now, Democrats must deliver. Maine also being called for Democrats at this hour. Also, as you heard, a big night for Democrats in the House. Democrats overperforming in many red districts, including in places where maps were redrawn to benefit Republicans. The question now is how big will their majority be? Here's House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. This is not a partisan moment. This is a patriotic one. This is not a blue moment or a red moment. It's a red, white, and blue moment because America has won tonight. Now, there are still lots of votes to count, including here in California, but based on some projections, Democrats are on track to their largest majority in two decades. Greg, thank you for that. Let's bring in David McEwen, political science professor with Sonoma State University. Look, two years ago, there was promise of economic prosperity, of peace. Fast forward to tonight. What are we witnessing right now? It's historic. It's historic because you have a new governor of Georgia, something that they haven't seen in terms of That's state's history. It's historic because Javier Becerra and his win in California. But it's also historic, as Greg mentioned, up and down the ballot for what's happening. Democrats are going to approach a near veto proof majority in the Senate. They're going to have a number that's north of 55 and approaches 60. It'll be somewhere in that range. They're also going to have close to 250 House seats, which is historic. This is not. What we saw in 2010, it's not what we saw with the class of 74 after Watergate, but it's somewhere in the middle there. And looking at these numbers, it is historic. It's a big, big night for Democrats. The question is what comes next for them. Do they put together an alternative program or they. Lash out and run the impeachment and investigations route. But how did this happen and how did no one predict certainly this? Because you heard, Greg was saying earlier, Democrats were saying we're nauseously optimistic today. They were certainly hoping to get a majority in the Senate, but they weren't counting on it. And now it was just race after race after race. This is going to the Democrats across the country. Democrats drew an inside straight. And they have for a little while, all of the projections that we've seen for those of us that run the mathematical model. So if you're in my class, you're going to know that there's a 91 percent chance you were going to win the House. The question is what happened on the Senate side? And what we see is the key districts and key elements kind of folding and locking forward. Give you one instance of this late breaking voters, late deciders broke for Trump the weekend prior to the election in 2024. We'll They're putting gas and diesel in their work truck. be They're going to work to pay their alimony and child support. They're not making ends meet. right And those late deciders, they are moving to the Democratic Party this particular election as a pox on what has happened to them. This was all about personal financial situations across America? back. President Trump said tonight in an interview, he said in the days prior, he said, I wish I was on the ballot. He said, if I was on the ballot, we would have done better. Well, the matter of fact is that... President Trump and his policies were on the ballot. And if you're talking about the top issue for folks, which is the economy, the cost of groceries, the cost of gas, the cost of health care, people are not happy with their pocketbooks as you look at this Truth Social from him that says he would have won in a landslide if he was on the ballot. People are. Upset about what things are costing. This was the same platform that President Trump ran on in 2024 and why he won. Because people felt like they needed change because they didn't feel like the economy was working for them. And now we're seeing a flip of it. And what I've noticed, certainly when Hakeem Jeffries was speaking, Chuck Schumer, when James Falun was just speaking as well in his victory speech, they are going back to this idea of. We're going to fix this economy. You've been telling us if there's no one that you thought was listening, we're listening. They seem to be leaning into that. And to your point, it's a question of do they go in there? Which is their agenda when they go in there? Do they go in there and stay on the economy and try to get these things down? Or do they go after impeachments and certainly go after things that's happened in the Trump administration that they don't agree with? If you've got this big of a frame for Democrats, this big of a tent, it's going to be hard to herd those cats because the DSA folks are going to want to go one route and centrist Democrats another. How Hakeem deals with that will be really important moving forward, because as Greg mentioned, also the health care issue, if you're older and poor and what happens because of the loss of the H.R.1 subsidy, that really advances, and that requires a grand bargain. Can the president, the dealmaker, make the grand bargain? Big question. Looking ahead to the next two years, what does this mean for the MAGA movement? For the Republican Party. I think Republicans, in an after-action report, right, we talk about this. Democrats tried to do this in 24 after Harris lost. Republicans will have to take a hard look in the mirror and say, what do we do now? What is the direction of this party? And you said earlier, what happens to J.D. Vance? What happens to Pete Hegseth? What does this cabinet look like? What happens to Susie Wiles? I mean, there's a conversation now about what is the direction of this party moving forward. Because certainly, and you said this yesterday, the presidential campaign starts tomorrow. Starts tomorrow. For both parties, no one's going to be afraid of J.D. Vance, especially in the wake of this and what is brought forth in Ohio. So that opens up, for Republicans, a dozen candidates. For the Democrats, it's wide open there because you've got a lot of single-digit candidates. But you know, in a hypothetical makeup... AOC can get 12 to 14 percent, a plurality. Gavin can get somewhere around 10 or 11 percent. Rahm's in the middle. Everybody else is in single digits. That's fascinating. Sorry for Super Tuesday in 2020. We're two years in. So when we take a look at, you know, especially the Senate race, you know, in Michigan, what I asked about the identity of the Republican Party, what's the identity of the Democratic Party? They have to be problem solvers. They have to set forth that agenda. Action. Yeah, action. You have to be action-oriented for the pocketbook. Health care is a heavy lift, so can you bargain with the president? Can you create that grand bargain? There's going to be a lot of pressure to not give him anything. And winning a high number in the Senate affects ambassadorships. Any appointments to replace anyone who leaves and anything in terms of personal right of personal privilege in the Senate, it's going to upset how the Senate operates. And we should mention it's not over yet. There are still races that we are watching. Numbers can still change. And so certainly we're watching this historic night so far, but still a big night yet ahead. All right. Don't go far. We'll bring it back a little bit later in the newscast. Let's get back to the race for governor in California.