Supporters react as they watch live results during a watch party election night event for Pennsylvania Democratic Senatorial candidate John Fetterman during the midterm election at Stage AE in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 8 November. Photo: ANGELA WEISS / AFP
Americans have turning out to vote in what are being called critically important midterm elections today.
Republicans have picked up a net three seats in the US House of Representatives that had previously been held by Democrats with 88 of 435 races not yet called, Edison Research projected on Tuesday.
But importantly, that number can change as close to 200 of the 435 House races had yet to be called, including some with vulnerable Republican incumbents.
In a bright spot for Democrats, NBC News and Fox News projected John Fetterman won a critical U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania, beating Republican celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz and bolstering his party's chances of holding the chamber.
The mood at the White House improved as the night went on, with once-nervous aides allowing smiles to creep on their faces and saying early signs for Democrats were better than expected.
A critical difference between this midterm elections and pretty much any in recent history is that the most recent occupation of the White House, former President Donald Trump, is an active and vocal factor in the campaigns, plotting a possible 2024 run and more than two years after the 2020 election, continuing to spread false claims that he won.
Follow all the results with RNZ's live blog: