US midterm elections 2018 highlights: Indian-Americans Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna elected to Congress

Democrats rode a wave of dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump to win control of the US House of Representatives for the first time in eight years. They will seek to keep his agenda in check and open his administration to intense scrutiny.The Republicans held on to the Senate and narrowly survived a number of big individual races, including in Florida. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 seats in the 100-member Senate, 36 governor’s posts and seats in state legislatures across the country were up for grabs in these elections.Read more: Controlling the legislature- A guide to US midterm elections 2018Here are the highlights:

3:10pm IST

Indian-American Ro Khanna wins in California

 

3:01pm IST

Indian-American Pramila Jayapal elected to Congress

2:35pm IST

Close race for Senate seat in Florida

The race for US Senate in Florida between Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican Rick Scott is too close to call.

Scott holds a lead of 38,717 votes out of more than 8 million cast — a margin of less than one half of 1 percent.

Under state law in Florida, a recount is mandatory if the winning candidate’s margin is less than 0.5 percentage points.

1:45pm IST

Asian markets swing as traders contemplate split US Congress

Asian markets fluctuated Wednesday after US midterm elections left the two houses of Congress split between Democrats and Republicans, paving the way for gridlock on Capitol Hill.

Sydney added 0.4 percent, with Singapore 0.3 percent up. There were also gains in Taipei and Wellington but Seoul lost 0.5 percent while Manila, Bangkok and Jakarta were also down.

1:35pm IST

Democrats gain governors’ seats, but GOP holds some states

Democrats reclaiming governor’s seats in several key states, marking significant steps in their nationwide strategy to reverse years of Republican gains in state capitols.

Still, their victories in Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Maine and New Mexico were balanced by Republicans holding on to one of the top prizes, Florida, and the governor’s offices in Ohio and Arizona. All three states will figure prominently in the presidential map in two years.

The nation’s other closely watched governor’s race, in Georgia, remained too close.

12:35pm IST

Facebook blocks accounts potentially linked to foreign entity

Facebook Inc said it blocked more accounts, in addition to the about 115 accounts it blocked over the weekend, in the run up to the midterm elections.

The company said a website claiming to be associated with Russia-based Internet Research agency published a list of Instagram accounts they claimed to have created.

“We had already blocked most of these accounts yesterday, and have now blocked the rest,” Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of cyber security policy said in a statement, without disclosing the number of additional accounts blocked.

11:45am IST

Republican Marsha Blackburn becomes first female senator from Tennessee

Republican Marsha Blackburn has won a gruelling, expensive contest to become the first female US senator from Tennessee.

The congresswoman defeated Democratic former Gov. Phil Bredesen on Tuesday by closely aligning her bid with President Donald Trump. The president made three visits to the state for her.

11:16am IST

Republican Mitt Romney wins Senate seat from Utah

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has handily won a U.S. Senate seat in his adopted home state of Utah after a campaign where he backed off his once-fierce criticism of Donald Trump.

Romney clinched the win Tuesday as he defeated Democrat Jenny Wilson, a member of the Salt Lake County council.

11:01am IST

Republican Senator Ted Cruz fends off rising-star Beto O’Rourke

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz fended off rising-star Democrat Beto O’Rourke to win re-election in a much-watched Texas race that began as a cakewalk but needed a visit from President Donald Trump to help push the incumbent over the top.

Cruz finished a surprising second in the 2016 Republican presidential primary and began the Senate race as a prohibitive favorite.

10:45am IST

Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin wins

Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin has won a second term, fending off a challenge from a Republican who ran as a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump.

Baldwin led Leah Vukmir in fundraising and polls throughout the race.

10:33am IST

Democrat leader Nancy Pelosi urges bipartisanship

A victorious Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday said Democrats in the US House of Representatives will use their newly won majority to pursue a bipartisan agenda for a country that she said has had “enough of division.”

10:05am IST

White House gives Trump credit for Republican hold on Senate

On Republicans retaining control of the Senate, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders called it “a huge moment and victory for the president.”

9:54am IST

Trump calls midterm elections ‘tremendous success’

9:15am IST

Democrats flip a string of Republican seats

The House of Representatives has flipped from Republican control into the hands of the Democrats, US networks projected. Early results showed Democrats winning pick-ups in congressional districts in Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado and New Jersey, as voters there sent a message of repudiation against Trump.

9:02am IST

Ted Cruz beats Beto O’Rourke in Texas

Democrats had put high hopes in flipping the traditionally Republican Texas, but candidate Beto O’Rourke came up just short against incumbent Senator Ted Cruz.

The party drew blood in Indiana, ousting one-term Democrat Joe Donnelly in a state that had been seen as a must-win for Democrats seeking to gain control of the upper chamber.

Doubling the Democratic pain, North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp crashed to defeat against Republican state lawmaker Kevin Cramer

8:59 am IST

Republicans retain control of US Senate: Networks

Republicans retain control of US Senate and Democrats retake control of US House of Representatives, reports AFP quoting networks.

8:34 am IST

First Muslim, native American women elected to Congress

Voters in Minnesota and Michigan on Tuesday elected the first two Muslim women to serve in the US Congress, a former refugee who fled Somalia’s civil war and a Detroit-born Palestinian-American.

Kansas Democrat Sharice Davids became the first native American woman elected to Congress, defeating Republican incumbent Kevin Yoder, US networks projected.

8:26 am IST

Colorado Democrat Jared Polis elected first openly gay US governor: Networks

Colorado Democrat Jared Polis elected first openly gay US governor, says AFP quoting TV networks

8:06 am IST

Republican governor of South Carolina wins full term

Republican Henry McMaster wins re-election for governor in South Carolina.

7:44 am IST

Republicans pick up Senate seat in Indiana

Republican businessman Mike Braun defeated Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana, according to projections from ABC and NBC, a key pickup for the GOP in a state President Donald Trump won by double digits in 2016.

7:10 am IST

Democrats pick up 2 House seats

Votes were being counted across half the country Tuesday night .

Democrats seized early victories in contested House races in Florida and also in Virginia, where political newcomer Jennifer Wexton defeated two-term GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock. And in south Florida, former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala fended off a stiff challenge from Republican Maria Elvira Salazar.

6:52 am IST

Long lines, machine breakdowns mar vote

Problem signs that arose during weeks of early voting carried into Election Day as some voters across the country faced hours-long lines, malfunctioning voting equipment and unexpectedly closed polling places.

Some of the biggest backups were in Georgia , where the governor’s race was among the nation’s most-watched midterm contests and was generating heavy turnout.

5:48 am IST

Polls close in 8 states

Early results began to trickle in from states such as Indiana and Kentucky, home of a pivotal US House of Representatives race, but it could be hours before the winners are determined.

Democratic Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a 2016 presidential contender, and Tim Kaine of Virginia, Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential nominee in 2016, easily won re-election, networks projected.

4:43 am IST

Big turnout

American voters poured out across their bitterly divided country Tuesday to deliver judgment on Donald Trump in midterm polls where opposition Democrats hope to seize at least partial control of Congress.

From New York to California and from Missouri to Georgia there were long lines from early morning at polling stations as voters finally got their say, following a heated, often tense campaign.

4:35 am IST

First polls close in US midterm elections

The first polls closed Tuesday in some eastern US states . Polling stations closed at 6:00 pm (2300 GMT) in parts of Kentucky as well as Indiana, where Democrats are struggling to hold a crucial US Senate seat in a state won by Donald Trump in 2016.

8:00pm IST

Trump to spend Election Day out of public eye

President Donald Trump returned to the White House in the wee hours of the morning after headlining final campaign rallies in Ohio, Indiana and Missouri, and planned to spend Election Day at the White House but out of public view.

5:10pm IST

Trump says Democrats have become radicalised

“It’s all fragile. Everything I told you about, it can be undone and changed by the Democrats if they get in,” Trump told supporters Monday on a telephone “town hall” organized by his re-election campaign. “You see how they’ve behaved. You see what’s happening with them. They’ve really become radicalized.”

“I would like to have a much softer tone. I feel to a certain extent I have no choice, but maybe I do,” he said.

4:40pm IST

Polling opens in eastern US states

Americans started voting Tuesday in critical midterm elections that mark the first major voter test of Donald Trump’s presidency, with control of Congress at stake.