Election 2023 results and analysis: Democrats excel in Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia

In Mississippi, Republicans look somewhat favored to hold onto the governorship. Reeves leads Presley by 11 points, 54.8 percent to 43.8 percent, with two-thirds of the expected vote reporting. However, much of heavily Democratic Hinds County has still not reported, so that margin will tighten. The question is, how much? Looking at the aggregate vote in the 14 counties where 90 percent or more of the expected vote has reported, Reeves is running about 1 point behind his 2019 victory margin. But considering he won by 5 points in 2019, that trend still points to a narrow victory. Critically, it may also be enough to clear 50 percent to avoid a runoff under Mississippi law, which requires the winning candidate to have a majority of the vote. Gwendolyn Gray, an independent, dropped out before the election and endorsed Presley, but she remained on the ballot. She currently has 1.4 percent of the vote, which could be enough to throw it to a runoff if Presley can really close the current gap.

—Geoffrey Skelley, 538

Things are looking decent for New Jersey Democrats in the state Senate, where they look poised to oust at least one GOP lawmaker, Ed Durr (who currently trails his Democratic opponent by 8 points), and bring back all of their incumbents. The AP has called 15 races for Democrats so far (short of the 21 needed for a majority) but just 6 for Republicans. If each party wins the remaining seats in which they're leading, Democrats would actually see a net gain of 1 seat. In the state House, Democrats have successfully ousted at least one GOP incumbent, with Rabbi Avi Schnall edging past Ned Thomson in the 30th Legislative District, but the vast majority of the multi-member races are not yet called.

Ultimately, Republicans weren't able to capitalize on whatever momentum they had generated two years ago when GOP gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli nearly pulled off a massive upset against Gov. Phil Murphy. The GOP looks like they're going to fall short of flipping either chamber of the legislature, a disappointing result for a state party that has struggled mightily over the last decade and was hoping for some good news.

—Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections

After flipping a mayoral seat in New Hampshire earlier tonight, conservatives scored another win in Wichita, Kansas. Like the Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral race, the Wichita race is technically nonpartisan, though it clearly pitted a Democrat against a Republican. The Wichita Eagle has a great summary of the race, which Libertarian Lily Wu, previously a Republican, won. She defeated Mayor Brandon Whipple, a Democrat who ousted the Republican mayor in 2019. Notably, Wu had the backing of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group founded by the Koch brothers.

—Leah Askarinam, 538

Virginia Democrats may be on the cusp of winning full control of the General Assembly, the state legislature. In the Senate, Democrats have won 19 seats, per projections made by the Associated Press, compared with 15 for the GOP. Of the remaining six seats in the 40-seat chamber, Democrats are ahead by about 6 points in the still-unprojected 31st District in the Northern Virginia suburbs, and are likely to win in the 22nd District in Virginia Beach, which has a clear Democratic lean. That would give them 21 seats and a majority. That may be all they get, though, as the 24th and 27th districts are both very close but may lean ever-so-slightly toward the GOP.

The House of Delegates has more races with a large number of votes outstanding, but the election night forecast built by analysts at CNalysis gives the Democrats better odds to win a slight majority of 51-to-52 seats in the 100-seat chamber. The GOP could still pull out a draw or a slight edge there, though, so we'll have to see.

—Geoffrey Skelley, 538