Election 2012: Live Updates Blog
Election Day is upon us! Did you vote today? Want to find out how your preferred candidate fared? Follow along with ABC/Univision for live updates on the results of the presidential race, key congressional races, and how and why people chose their leaders.
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Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012. 10:20 A.M. California House District 30
In California, with 100 percent of precincts reporting, ABC News projects that in the House District 30 race, Democrat Brad Sherman will win over Democrat Howard Berman.
2:32 A.M. Utah House District 04
Democrat Jim Matheson won reelection to a House seat in Utah's 4th congressional district, defeating Republican Mia Love.
Love, who would have been the first black woman to serve as a Republican in Congress, conceded to Matheson early Wednesday morning. "Congratulations to Jim on a hard fought victory," said Love. "It was a close race, but ultimately the voters of Utah have spoken." Love is the daughter Haitian immigrants who moved to the United States in the 1970s.
2:21 A.M. Nevada House District 03
In Nevada, based on the exit poll and our analysis of the vote in so far, ABC News projects that in the House District 03 race, Republican Joe Heck will win over Democrat John Oceguera.
2:12 A.M. Wisconsin Senate Race
In Wisconsin, based on the exit poll and our analysis of the vote so far, ABC News projects that in the Senate race, Tammy Baldwin will win over Republican Tommy Thompson. Baldwin is the first openly gay person to serve in the Senate.
1:17 A.M. Nevada House District 04
In Nevada, based on the exit poll and our analysis of the vote in so far, ABC News projects that in the House District 04 race, Democrat Steve Horsford will win over Republican Danny Tarkanian.
1:08 A.M. Texas House District 23
In Texas, based on the exit poll and our analysis of the vote in so far, ABC News projects that in the Texas House District 23 race, Democrat Pete Gallego will win over Republican Francisco "Quico" Canseco.
Iowa Congressman Steve King Projected To Win Reelection
By Ted HessonIn Iowa, ABC News projects that incumbent Republican Congressman Steve King will beat Democratic challenger Christie Vilsack in the race for Iowa's 5th congressional district.
The fiscally and socially conservative King is a favorite with Tea Party voters but in Vilsack he faced a well-funded and well-known opponent. Some voters knew Vilsack before she launched her campaign -- she's married to Tom Vilsack, former Iowa governor and current United States secretary of agriculture.
The victory is an affirmation for King, whose rhetoric has landed him in national headlines on several occasions. In May, he compared choosing immigration visa recipients to selecting a "good bird dog," a hunting metaphor that offended immigrant rights groups.
King is currently the vice chairman of the House immigration subcommittee, a body that considers issues like immigration policy and border security. The chair of that committee, Elton Gallegly, a Republican of California, is retiring this year.
King was passed over for the chairmanship in favor of Gallegy two years ago, but as the highest ranking member, his name will be in consideration again if his party holds the House of Representatives.
12:18 A.M.Colorado
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote, ABC News projects Barack Obama will win Colorado.
12:02 AM House of Representatives
ABC News projects that Republicans will retain control of the House, but Democrats will gain between 1 and 5 seats.
Gender Gap Opens in Latino Obama Vote
By Richard Morin, The Note
President Obama's big win among Hispanic voters was fueled in part by Latino women who voted for Obama in greater numbers than they did four years ago, according to national exit polling.
Overall Obama won three out of every four votes (75%) cast by Hispanic women and 63% of Hispanic men, a 12-point gender gap. Four years ago the gap was only four points as Obama won 64% of men and 68% of Latino women. Romney won 35% of Latino men and 24% of women.
11:30 P.M. Barack Obama Projected to Win a Second Term
By Jordan Fabian, ABC/Univision
Barack Obama was reelected as president of the United States on Tuesday, on a pledge finish the work he started during his first term.
By Obama was able to win a battle for his political life against his Republican rival Mitt Romney. ABC News projected Obama would win a second term in the White House at 11:25 PM Tuesday night after he was projected to win the battleground state of Ohio.
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11:27 P.M Senate
ABC News projects that Democrats will retain control of the Senate.
11:27 P.M. Obama Claims Big Win Among Latinos Nationwide
By Richard Morin, The NotePresident Obama claimed two out of every three Latino votes nationwide, matching his performance among Hispanics four years ago, according to exit polls.
With votes still being cast in the far West, Obama was winning 69% of the Latino vote to Republican challenger Mitt Romney's 29%.
Four years ago the president won 67% of the Hispanic vote while his Republican opponent Sen. John McCain won 31% of the votes cast by Latinos.
So far Latinos have made up about 10% of the overall vote, roughly matching their 9% share in 2008.
11:25 P.M. Ohio
ABC News projects that President Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States, based on the state we are now projecting: Ohio.
11:20 P.M. Younger Voters Swell Obama Majority among Hispanics in Nevada
By Richard Morin, The NoteLatinos in Nevada continued President Obama's strong showing among Hispanics in the Mountain States. Obama claimed a decisive 69% to 24% of Hipsanic support over Republican challenger Mitt Romney, according to exit polling.
Obama won among virtually every major demographic group in the state. He did particularly well among younger voters in Nevada, claiming 76% of the vote among those younger than 45. In Contrast, Obama won a 56% of the vote among Hispanics 45 and older.
11:20 P.M. Iowa
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote, ABC News projects Barack Obama will win Iowa.
11:13 P.M. North Carolina
Based on exit polling and analysis of the vote, ABC News projects that Mitt Romney will win in North Carolina.
11:12 P.M. Missouri
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote, ABC News projects that Mitt Romney will win Missouri.
11 P.M. Exit Poll: White Voters Make Up Lowest Ever Share of Electorate
By OTUS NewsWhites are down to 72 percent of the electorate in the latest national exit poll data – a new low in exit polls dating to 1976.
Romney holds an 18-point lead among whites (58-40 percent), the biggest lead for a Republican since 1988. But, as noted, there are fewer of them – and Obama wins a huge share of nonwhites.
Hawaii, Washington, California, Idaho, Arizona
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote, ABC News projects that Barack Obama will win Hawaii, Washington and California. Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote, ABC News projects Mitt Romney will win in Idaho and Arizona.
10:27 P.M. Wisconsin
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote, Barack Obama will win in Wisconsin.
10:24 P.M. New Mexico
Based on exit polling and analysis of the vote, ABC News projects Barack Obama will win in New Mexico.
10:22 P.M. Obama Sweeping Latino Vote in Mountain States
By Richard Morin, The Note
The polls are closed in the Mountain West and the verdict of Hispanic voters here is clear. While the overall race results are not yet decided, by lopsided margins exit polling shows that President Obama handily won the Latino vote in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Here's a snapshot of the leanings of the Hispanic voters in these states:
Colorado: Among Hispanics, Obama is leading Republican challenger Mitt Romney 74% to 25%.
Arizona: Again, most likely a big win for the president among Hispanics. Obama claimed three-quarters (77%) of the Latino vote here to Romney's 22%.
New Mexico: Not quite as big a win here for Obama among Latinos, but still decisive. Obama claimed about two-thirds (66%) of the Hispanic vote to Romney's 28%.
10 P.M. Texas House District 20
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote, ABC News projects that Democrat Joaquin Castro will win a House seat in Texas' 20th congressional district.
Castro, 38, is the twin brother of San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who delivered the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in September. Joaquin Castro led Republican David Rosa 61-36 percent with 15 percent of precincts reporting at 9:45 P.M. ET.
Castro will replace long-time Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who is retiring.
10 P.M. Montana, Utah, Minnesota, New Hampshire
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote, ABC News projects Mitt Romney will win in Montana and Utah. Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote, ABC News projects Barack Obama will win in Minnesota and New Hampshire. New Hampshire was considered a swing state.
9:57 P.M. Latinos Endorse Legal Abortion
By Richard Morin, The NoteBig majorities of Latinos across the country and other voters agreed that abortion should be legal, including nearly equal shares of men and women, according to exit polling.
Exit poll results found that about two-thirds of Hispanics (66%) said that abortion should be legal while 28% disagreed. Among all voters, a somewhat smaller majority (59%) would allow legal abortions while 37% were opposed.
There is no gender gap on views on abortion among Hispanics or among all voters, according to national exit polling. About two-thirds of men (64%) and Latino women (67%) would permit legal abortion, as would 58% of all male voters nationally and 60% of women.
9:53 P.M. Texas House District 16
In Texas, based on the exit poll and our analysis of the vote in so far, ABC News projects that in the Texas House District 16 race, Democrat Beto O'Rourke will win over Republican Barbara Carrasco. O'Rourke has been critical of the "war on drugs." He previously served as a representative of the El Paso, Texas area.
9:31 P.M. Exit Poll: Obama on Track for Best Performance Among Florida Latinos for a Democrat Since 1992
By Gary LangerObama's 60-39 percent among Hispanics in FL is better for him than in 2008 - 57-42 – and in fact the best for any Democrat among Hispanics in FL in exit polls back to 1992. Indeed from '92-'04 they broke for Republicans ('92, '04) or evenly ('96, '00).
9:23 P.M. Pennsylvania
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote, ABC News projects Barack Obama will win in Pennsylvania.
9:12 P.M. House of Representatives
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote, ABC News projects Republicans will retain control of the House of Representatives.
9:07 P.M. Long Lines in Florida
By Emily DeRuy, ABC/UnivisionElection Protection, a coalition of voter rights organizations, said its voter help hotline had registered more than 71,000 calls by 5:30 p.m. Eastern time. Most of the calls came from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, New York, Texas, Arizona and Florida, according to the group's afternoon conference call.
In Florida, a swing state that could play a pivotal role in deciding the next president of the United States, voters faced long waits as they attempted to cast ballots.
Adam Deitsch and Chris Frank, voters in Tamarac, Broward County, Florida, said they waited for nearly four hours to vote. Deitsch said a change in polling locations seemed to throw off some voters.
Voters in his district got a card in early July telling him he could vote at Fair Haven Club House. He received a second card in mid-September telling him it had been switched to Millennium Middle School.
Deitsch said the middle school only had four privacy booths and a couple of tables where voters were crammed together to cast ballots.
"It was the most not private thing ever," he said, adding that he waited an additional 20 minutes to feed his ballot into what he said was the only ballot-accepting machine at the poll.
"It felt like we were encouraged to self-disenfranchise," Deitsch said. He added that he's voted in four presidential elections, including the now-infamous 2000 race between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore, and never faced such long lines.
"The person behind me hadn't seen the new card and went to the other location," Deitsch said, "and said there were 15 booths and no line, and we had to sit here for almost four hours."
Dietsche's mother tried to vote at the middle school in the morning, but had to go to work before she could cast her ballot. She returned at lunch to a long line and again after work around 4:30 to finally cast her ballot after a two hour wait.
Other voters simply walked away, discouraged, Dietsche said.
Frank said his father voted at a location down the street with far more privacy booths and poll workers.
"I've never seen anything like it," Deitsch said. "People were camping out."
A spokesperson for the Broward County supervisor of elections did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
9:01 P.M. Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming
Based on exit polling and analysis of the vote so far, ABC News projects that Mitt Romney will win in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.
Romney is also projected to win four out of five electoral votes in Nebraska, which is one of two states that selects its electoral voters by popular vote within each congressional district. ABC News also projects Republican Ted Cruz will win the Texas Senate race over Democrat Paul Sadler. Cruz will become the third Hispanic member of the U.S. Senate, joining Democrat Bob Menendez and Republican Marco Rubio.
ABC News projects that Barack Obama will win in New York.
9:00 P.M. Michigan
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote so far, ABC News projects that Barack Obama will win in Michigan.
8:55 P.M. Two-Thirds of Latinos and Half of all Voters See Romney Policies Favoring the Rich
By Richard Morin, The NoteBy better than 2-1, Latino voters nationally say Republican nominee Mitt Romney's policies would benefit the rich over the middle class, while half say the policies of President Obama have mostly favored middle class Americans, according to preliminary exit poll results.
Two-thirds of Latinos (68%) who voted Tuesday say Romney's policies favor the rich, more than double the share (26%) who say they help the middle class. Less than 1% said Romney favors the poor. Among all voters, the views of Romney were only less one-sided. Still, about half (53%) said Romney's plans for the country would help the rich more than the middle class (34%) or poor (2%).
About half (51%) of all Latinos nationally say that Obama's polices have mostly helped the middle class more than the rich (5%) or the poor (28%), according to preliminary exit poll results. Among all voters, four-in-ten (44%) say the president has helped the middle class more than the rich (10%) or poor (31%).
8:53 P.M. Missisippi
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote so far, ABC News projects that Mitt Romney will win in Mississippi.8:48 P.M. How are Florida Hispanic voters affecting the race?
By Gary LangerObama seems to be holding his 2008 strength among Hispanics – a key Florida voting group. Exit polls suggest that about one in six Florida voters are Latino (17 percent), perhaps a slight increase from 2008 (14 percent) to a high in exit poll data back to 1988, and they are voting for Obama over Romney by comparable margins to 2008 (60-39 percent). Non-Cuban Latinos in Florida are going for Obama by better than two to one, even as Romney has a narrow lead among Cuban-Americans.
At 8:19 PM, Romney led Obama by a slim 50-49 percent margin with 31 percent of precincts reporting. But results are still incomplete in key areas of the state, so stay tuned.
8:31 P.M. New Jersey, Tennesse
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote so far, ABC News projects that Barack Obama will win in New Jersey and Mitt Romney will win in Tennessee.
ABC News also projects that Democrat Bob Menendez will win the New Jersey Senate race over Republican Joe Kyrillos.
8:30 P.M. Georgia, Alabama
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote so far, ABC News projects Mitt Romney will win Georgia and Alabama.
8:29 P.M. Connecticut
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote so far, ABC News projects Barack Obama will win in Connecticut.
8:24 P.M. Florida: Bill Nelson Projected to Win Over Connie Mack
By Jordan Fabian, ABC/UnivisionBased on exit polls and analysis of the vote so far, ABC News projects that Democrat Bill Nelson will win over Republican Connie Mack in the Florida Senate race.
Political observers had once predicted the incumbent Nelson would have a tough time winning reelection in the key presidential battleground state, but he has consistently led his Republican challenger in the final stretch of the campaign.
While Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is running close in Florida, Mack was unable to pick up on his coattails, eliminating the possibility of Republicans picking up a seat in Florida in their quest take back a majority in the Senate.
ABC News does not yet have enough information to project a winner in the presidential race.
8:02 P.M. Illinois, D.C., Maryland, Massachusetts, Delaware, Rhode Island
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote so far, ABC News projects Barack Obama will win in Illinois, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Delaware, and Rhode Island. Mitt Romney is projected to win in Oklahoma.
In Maine, ABC News projects three out of the state's four electoral votes for President Obama. Maine is one of two states that selects its electoral voters by popular vote within each congressional district.
8:01 P.M. Majority of Latinos Support State Recognition of Gay Marriage
By Richard Morin, The NoteHispanic voters were more likely than other voters to say they would approve if their state recognized same-sex marriage, according to preliminary exit poll results.
Nearly six-in-ten Latino voters (59%) said their state should legally recognize same-sex marriage while 32% said their state should not. But among all voters, about half (48%) favored legalization of gay marriage while nearly the same share said they would oppose it (47%).
Non-Hispanic whites were the most opposed to states legally sanctioning same-sex marriage (47% favored but 50% were opposed). Among blacks, half (52%) would support while 40% opposed state support for gay unions.
7:40 P.M. South Carolina
Based on exit polls and analysis of the vote so far, ABC News projects Mitt Romney will win in South Carolina.
