Midterm election results updates: Dems keep control of Senate with Nevada win

Catherine Cortez Masto’s victory in Nevada clinched the chamber for Democrats.

ByAlexandra Hutzler, Tal Axelrod, Emily Shapiro, Morgan Winsor, Isabella Murray, Meredith Deliso, Nadine El-Bawab, Julia Jacobo, and Stephanie Guerilus
Last Updated: November 12, 2022, 10:59 PM EST

The 2022 midterm elections shaped up to be some of the most consequential in the nation's recent history, with control of Congress at stake.

All 435 seats in the House and 35 of 100 seats in the Senate were on the ballot, as well as several influential gubernatorial elections in battleground states like Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Democrats were defending their narrow majorities in both chambers and retained control of the Senate, though control of the House isn't yet clear. But a Republican flip of the lower chamber would be enough to curtail most of President Joe Biden's legislative agenda and would likely result in investigations against his administration and even his family.

Key updates:

Here is how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Nov 12, 2022, 10:59 PM EST

Biden speaks on Democrats retaining the Senate: 'I feel good'

President Joe Biden, who is overseas participating in the East Asia Summit, reacted to the news that the U.S. Senate was called for Democrats on Saturday night.

"I'm not surprised by the turnout. I'm incredibly pleased by the turnout. I think it's a reflection of the quality of our candidates, and they're all running on the same program," Biden told reporters.

"I feel good, and I'm looking forward to the next couple of years," he added.

Now, Biden said the party will turn its attention to Georgia, where Sen. Raphael Warnock faces a runoff election against Republican Herschel Walker on Dec. 6.

When asked if he thought Democrats could win control of the House, Biden responded: "It's a stretch, everything has to fall our way."

Nov 12, 2022, 10:31 PM EST

Democrat Cisco Aguilar projected to win Nevada secretary of state race

ABC News can report that incumbent Democrat Cisco Aguilar is projected to win Nevada's secretary of state race against Republican Jim Marchant. With 96% of the expected vote reported, Aguilar won by 49%-47%, or by 20,057 votes.

Marchant is a staunch election denier who lost his race as the Republican nominee for Nevada’s 4th Congressional District in 2020. Marchant filed a lawsuit following that loss, arguing over ballot discrepancies.

-ABC News’ Isabella Murray

Nov 12, 2022, 10:17 PM EST

Schumer says Senate win is a ‘vindication for Democrats’

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer held a press conference Saturday night at his New York City office to celebrate the projection that Democrats will keep majority control of the chamber.

“This election is a victory -- a victory and a vindication for Democrats, our agenda, and for America and for the American people,” Schumer said.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer celebrates his victory along with his wife Iris Weinshall and his daughters, Jessica and Alison Emma Schumer, at the Democratic midterm election night party in New York, Nov. 8, 2022.
Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters

Schumer credited the win to three things: “terrific” Democratic candidates, the party’s agenda and what he called the rejection of “extremist MAGA Republicans” who were on the ballot this cycle.

"The American people rejected -- soundly rejected -- the anti-democratic, authoritarian, nasty, and divisive direction that MAGA Republicans wanted to take our country in,” Schumer said.

Nov 12, 2022, 10:26 PM EST

Democrats projected to keep control of the Senate

Democrats will keep their majority in the Senate, ABC News has projected.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s victory in Nevada on Saturday clinched the chamber for Democrats, giving them the 50 seats needed regardless of the outcome of next month’s runoff election in Georgia.

The victory is a major boost to President Joe Biden in the second half of his term, both for his legislative agenda and his ability to appoint judges and other officials.