Election Results Are A "Split Decision"

The results are mostly in, and it looks like we're going to be in for some divided government.  But before I discuss the national results, let's look at my neck of the woods, the state of Maryland.  For the past two decades or so, we've been very blue, with our state legislature, Senators and most of our Representatives in the House reliably Democrat, but have occasionally elected a Republican governor.  Yesterday was more of the same, as Governor Larry Hogan (R) and Senator Ben Cardin (D) won reelection, and seven of our eight House seats went to Democrats.  All House winners are incumbents, except for David Trone (D) of District 6, who replaces John Delaney (D).  (If you ever want to hurt your eyes, look at a map of our congressional districts.)  See the results at WTOP.

Let's move on to the national picture.  It appears that there were both red and blue waves, which did not crash into each other, but passed each other and landed on different beaches.  Writing in HotAir, Jazz Shaw states that "split decision" is the "most common headline" he has seen.  With some races still not yet called, the Republicans have held onto the Senate, and possibly increased their margin, while the Democrats have taken the House.  (These two links come from Yahoo.)  This means that Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal), barring some revolt internal to her party, will once again be - yikes! - Speaker of the House.  Read more at Fox News, Politico, CBS News and USA Today.

For some details on specific races:

From Fox News, Democrats who voted against the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh to the SCOTUS lost, while one who voted for him won.

From CNBC, current Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R) is elected Senator from Tennessee, succeeding Bob Corker (R).  (I think that she will be the first female Senator from her state.)

From the Orlando Sentinel, in Florida, Rick Scott (R) holds a narrow lead over incumbent Senator Bill Nelson (D), which could bring on a recount.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in Missouri, challenger Josh Hawley (R) defeats incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill (D) by almost six percent.

From CNN, Senator Joe Manchin (D) is reelected in West Virginia.

From IndyStar, in Indiana, Mike Braun (R) unseats Senator Joe Donnelly (D).

From Business Insider, in North Dakota, current Congressman Kevin Cramer (R) unseats Senator Heidi Heitkamp.

From AZCentral, in Arizona, the Senate race between current Congresswomen Martha McSally (R) and Kyrsten Sinema (D) is "too close to call".

From Bloomberg, Senator Bob Casey (D) is reelected in Pennsylvania, defeating current Congressman Lou Barletta (R).

From NBC News, in Florida, Ron DeSantis (R) narrowly defeats Andrew Gillum (D) in the gubernatorial election.

From the New York Post, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) becomes the youngest woman elected to Congress, and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) becomes the first black woman from Massachusetts to be elected to Congress.

From Time, Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich) become the first Muslim women elected to Congress.  (I had previously linked an article spelling the latter's surname as "Talib", but "Tlaib" appears to be correct.)

From the Star Tribune, in Minnesota, current Congressman Keith Ellison (D) has been elected attorney general.  (The above-mentioned Ilhan Omar will succeed him in the House.)

From the Star-Telegram, in Texas, Senator Ted Cruz (R) is reelected, defeating current Congressman Robert "Beto" O'Rourke.

And from ABC News, brothel owner Dennis Hof wins a seat in the Nevada state legislature, even though he died in October.