Election Day 2024 live updates: Trump announces his chief of staff

Democrats have flipped two Republican-held districts in closely watched House races in New York.

ABC News reports that Democratic candidate Laura Gillen is the projected winner in New York’s 4th Congressional District. As of 10:45 p.m. on Thursday, with 94% of the expected vote reporting, Gillen leads with 51% of the vote, while her Republican opponent, Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, follows with 49%.

D’Esposito conceded earlier on Thursday. He had previously won against Gillen in 2022 by 4 points, when he flipped the Long Island-based district held previously by retiring Dem. Rep. Kathleen Rice. In 2020, Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in the same district by over 14 percentage points.

Separately, ABC News reports that Democratic candidate Josh Riley is the projected winner in New York’s 19th Congressional District. As of 10:45 p.m. Thursday, with 95% of the expected vote reporting, Riley leads with 51% of the vote, while GOP incumbent Rep. Marcus Molinaro follows with 49% of the vote.

In 2022, Molinaro defeated Riley by less than 3 percentage points, and Biden won the district in 2020 by around 5 percentage points. Over $40 million was spent by the candidates or groups supporting them in this race, according to an analysis by OpenSecrets.

Cumulatively throughout 2024, Democrats have now flipped 3 of the 4 swing seats they lost in 2022 in New York – the third being New York’s 3rd Congressional district, which Rep. Tom Suozzi won in a special election in February and held onto in the general election.

ABC News reports that incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Lawler is projected to hold onto the fourth, New York’s 17th District.

-ABC News' Emily Chang, Oren Oppenheim and Brittany Shepherd

The race for the House seat in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District will go to ranked-choice voting tabulation, the secretary of state's office announced Thursday. There will also be a potential recount, at the request of one of the candidates.

Incumbent Democrat Rep. Jared Golden was leading with 50.9% of the vote as of around 8:45 p.m. on Thursday, while his Republican opponent, Rep. Austin Theriault, followed with 49% of the vote. Less than 7,000 votes separated the two.

Maine uses ranked-choice voting in its federal races, so voters indicate their first, second and third choices, and so on. A candidate wins outright if they get over 50% of the vote initially.

If the race goes to ranked choice voting tabulation, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and the votes from people who voted for that candidate are applied to their second choice. This continues until only two candidates are left; the leading candidate then wins.

Separately, Theriault's campaign announced Thursday plans to request a recount. According to the secretary of state's office, the recount would also use RCV tabulation.

-ABC News' Emily Chang and Oren Oppenheim

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York is the leading candidate to serve as the ambassador to the United Nations under President-elect Donald Trump, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

While no decision has been made, Stefanik, who has emerged as one of Trump’s most fierce defenders in Congress, is likely to be vetted for the role, the sources said.

Stefanik in recent months has called for a "complete reassessment" of U.S. funding for the U.N. She had previously been on the early list of candidates Trump’s team had considered for vice president.

-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, John Santucci and Will Steakin

There are "at least" 100,000 votes still outstanding in Pennsylvania amid a tight Senate race between incumbent Sen. Bob Casey and his Republican challenger David McCormick, Secretary of State Al Schmidt said Thursday night.

According to Schmidt, that count includes "provisional, military, overseas, and Election Day votes."

"We urge patience as election workers continue to do this important work, especially in contests where the margins are very close," he said.

-ABC News' Nicholas Kerr