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By Will Steakin, Adam Wren and Dasha Burns
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Presented by
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With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco and Irie Sentner
THE LATEST STATE OF PLAY … It’s complete Democratic domination across both the House and Senate — with the flip of both chambers called before sunrise, in a major shift from previous election cycles and the biggest example of how sweeping the wave really was.
In the Senate: North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Ohio and Maine all flipped blue. Democrats now have 54 seats, Republicans have 44 seats, with two left to be called: Mississippi — which is a nail-biting toss-up right now — and Alaska.
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In the House: Democrats have claimed 228 House seats so far, to 139 for Republicans — with 68 races still to be called. Keep an eye today on NRCC Chair Richard Hudson’s race against Democrat Richard Ojeda in NC-09, Republican incumbent Lauren Boebert’s race against Democrat Eileen Laubacher in CO-04, and Republican incumbent Anna Paulina Luna’s race against Democrat Leela Gray in FL-13. These are all still tight as of this morning.
Called overnight: Democrat Aaron Ford beats incumbent Nevada Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo … Democrat Abdul El-Sayed beats Republican Mike Rogers for Michigan Senate, makes history as the first Muslim elected to Senate … Republican Kurt Alme beats independent Seth Bodnar for Montana Senate … Democratic incumbent Marcy Kaptur beats Republican Derek Merrin for OH-09 … Republican incumbent Pete Ricketts beats independent Dan Osborn for Nebraska Senate … Democratic incumbent Katie Hobbs beats Republican Andy Biggs for Arizona governor … Democratic incumbent Dina Titus beats Republican Carrie Ann Buck for NV-01 … Democratic incumbent Susie Lee beats Republican Marty O'Donnell for NV-03.
Good Wednesday morning. This is Will, Adam and Dasha — still recovering from a whirlwind night. Everyone can take a (slight) breather for now: the AP said it’s finished calling races until 1 p.m. today. Get in touch.
In today’s Playbook …
— Donald Trump gets his turn in the penalty box.
— Ticking through the biggest emerging themes from the night.
— The Boldfaces: Alex Bruesewitz, Susie Wiles, Bill Pulte, Terry McAuliffe, Josh Shapiro, Rahm Emanuel, James Talarico, Gina Hinojosa, Maria Elvira Salazar, Elon Musk and more.
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DRIVING THE DAY |
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Donald Trump’s stranglehold on the Republican Party squeezed the life from his historic coalition across the map Tuesday night, laying bare the illusion of infallibility that may cost Republicans — who spent years following his lead — a generational political defeat.
“I don’t want to blame anybody,” the president told Playbook during the POLITICO Elections Live broadcast last night. “I don’t want to be just sitting there for two years just vetoing everything,” adding that he’s “going to work with the Democrats” and had just spoken with Democratic congressional leaders when Playbook called before midnight.
But in the aftermath of shock battleground defeats in places like Texas, the Republican blame game was swiftly set off.
“It’s something that I haven’t seen in decades. That none of us have seen in decades,” former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus told Playbook, pointing directly to Trump backing Ken Paxton — who lost by more than 10 points to Democrat James Talarico — over incumbent John Cornyn. “President Trump hasn’t exactly done any Republicans favors across the country, they haven’t done themselves favors frankly by following so closely along.”
Top Trump adviser Alex Bruesewitz pointed the finger at GOP candidates, suggesting Georgia Senate candidate Mike Collins who lost by almost 20 points to Democrat Jon Ossoff was among a candidate crop of “lazy people who were ineffective communicators.”
Inside the White House, chief of staff Susie Wiles hunkered down with aides (minus Bill Pulte, who wasn’t invited according to two attendees) to strike a defiant tone.“We’re going to take a page out of President Trump’s playbook and keep fighting for the American people,” a White House source familiar with the speech told Playbook. “We will not stand by while radical Democrats try to undo the progress we’ve made by reopening our borders, making our communities less safe, and raising taxes on hardworking families. Anyone who thinks President Trump or this team is going to take our foot off the gas over the next two years is sorely mistaken. We know exactly what’s at stake, we know what we’re fighting for, and we have no intention of backing down. There is work left to do, and we intend to finish the job.”
On the other side of the wave, Democrats are coming to terms with a win so expansive every faction of the party is looking to claim credit.
“Our wins are so big tonight that there’s no one part or wing of the Democratic Party that’s gonna dictate anything,” former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe told Playbook.
Perhaps no other Democrat captured the dynamic more than Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, fresh off delivering a state-level trifecta and four U.S. House seats. Asked if he could make the most of a unified legislature while running for president, Shapiro deadpanned: “You’ve asked me this question 86 different ways. Let me just tell you something man, I know how to walk and chew gum.” (He insisted that chewing gum was not a reference to a presidential bid.)
But Democrats like Shapiro will have to — they’re on the clock now.
“There’s got to be accountability,” Shapiro said when asked whether Democrats can conduct oversight of Trump while working alongside him to advance meaningful policy. “But listen: We got the power now, the House, the Senate. We have to deliver.”
On today’s Playbook Podcast: Dasha, Adam and Will chew over the biggest takeaways from election night with Alex Burns and Jonathan Martin — plus, an interview with the president. Listen and subscribe on Apple or Spotify
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A message from OpenAI:
How a college freshman is helping firefighters detect wildfires with ChatGPT.
Ryan Honary began developing wildfire detection technology as a fifth-grade science project. Years and many accolades later, that experiment became SensoRy AI—a wildfire detection system that uses ChatGPT to turn sensor data into clear, actionable alerts. Those alerts go straight to departments like Laguna Beach Fire Department, giving responders an early signal when a fire starts. Learn more.
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THE DOWNLOAD |
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THE BIGGEST SHIFT: The cross-country transformation of the Latino voting electorate will go down as one of the biggest stories of the night. From a full sweep in Texas’ Mexican-American Rio Grande Valley to Pennsylvania’s Puerto Rican-dominated Lehigh Valley to even Dem gains in heavily Puerto Rican, Cuban, Venezuelan and Colombian central and south Florida, all showed the same direction toward Democrats. It propelled two of the most stunning victories of the night in Texas that are all but guaranteed to reshape the map by 2028: Talarico and Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa.
- Dems’ energy in Texas was euphoric, Playbook’s Ali Bianco writes in from Austin. The predominantly Latino crowd at Hinojosa’s watch party reveled at the announcement of not just a Democratic governor — but one from Brownsville in the RGV, where Dems suffered some of their biggest losses in 2024. “It is incredibly symbolic. We’ve called the RGV a bellwether for so long,” SOMOS PAC’s Melissa Morales told Playbook. “But to actually get the first Latina governor of Texas from the RGV, I think is a bellwether in its own of what the next generation of leadership looks like.”
- The numbers get more jarring the deeper you go: Heavily Hispanic counties swung more toward Dems than any other, and the Texas districts that are more than 90% Hispanic switched by a staggering 24 points. Democratic Latino candidates claimed victories across the entire map. But of the battleground Latino races, the GOP so far has a lone survivor: Maria Elvira Salazar in Miami, by just over 1,000 votes.
THE GERRYMANDERING FLOP: Trump’s unprecedented mid-decade redistricting gambit petered out with few to zero flips in Texas, Florida and Alabama. Worse, the Tennessee gerrymander may have ended up sacrificing a seat on nobody’s radar, in what would be the biggest federal surprise in the country — though the race is only separated by hundreds of votes. And Republicans are staring down a potentially horrific washout in North Carolina, where as many as six seats could flip to Democrats. (Dems’ California gerrymander worked out better.)
- “I hope that the lesson people will take from tonight is that even in one of the most extremely gerrymandered set of districts in the country, if enough voters turn out, they can have their voices heard.” North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls — who could be in position to undo the GOP gerrymander if Dems flip the court in 2028 — told Playbook’s Eli Okun in Raleigh after winning reelection.
- The “Blacklash”: Democratic strength across the South was powered by high Black voter turnout, itself a partial response to the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais decision, POLITICO’s Calen Razor and colleagues report from the initial data.
- The big question now: Will this inflame the redistricting arms race, or diminish it? Several more red and blue states had eyed potential redraws for the 2028 cycle. Maryland Democrats got the green light from voters last night, while Missouri Republicans fell short in their attempt to restore a recent gerrymander.
A NEW MAP: The breadth of Democratic strength could scramble the calculus for future cycles. Will Ohio, Iowa and Florida, shaking off their Trump-era reddening, revert to swing-state status? Can Democrats seriously contest more races in Kansas, South Carolina, Mississippi and Alaska? And Texas becoming a state Democrats can win (by double digits) may shake up the Electoral College map, all on its own. The likely loss of several hundred GOP state legislative seats also gives Dems an opportunity to build more state power.
- What’s particularly striking is that this revolution took place without a charismatic Democratic leader — or even a resurrection of the party’s still-unpopular brand. That means the share of dissatisfied, persuadable, swingy voters across many demographic groups may be expanding, despite the country’s entrenched polarization of late. And the competitive 2028 presidential map could be the largest in decades.
2028 STARTS NOW: It was a big night for Shapiro, but plenty of other prospective presidential candidates are walking away emboldened after putting their power behind the cycle’s most notable victors. Here’s a snapshot of how the Democratic 2028er pool fared.
- The governor’s ball: Shapiro kept his midterms pitch focused, and he pulled it off with four House flips across the state. Unlike Elon Musk (who was among the biggest losers of the night, POLITICO’s Calder McHugh notes), JB Pritzker’s millions in fundraising and donations appeared to pay off in Texas, Kansas and Georgia — with Nevada still not called. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s biggest victory will depend on the final two redistricted districts, which have yet to be called. And Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear leading the DGA swept nearly every competitive governor’s race on the map — though he’s likely to face some criticism over spending choices in Florida and Texas.
- The senators: Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin had a great night, with their backed candidates pulling it off both at the Senate and House level. Ruben Gallego is taking a victory lap on the Latino vote swings across the southwest. But arguably no 2028-speculated senator had a bigger night than Jon Ossoff, who coasted to reelection in one of the earliest calls of the night.
- The comebackers: Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg also had near-clean sweeps of endorsements, including both Senate and governor’s races. Rahm Emanuel bet big on Nevada’s governor’s race and Florida’s governor’s race, same as Buttigieg, with Florida going red yet again.
- League of her own: While not every candidate she endorsed emerged victorious — chief among them socialist Angie Nixon in Florida — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had a hell of a night with Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed winning in Michigan and Sen.-elect Troy Jackson in Maine. Bernie Sanders’ progressive wing, which she could claim for her own, is looking all-the-more sizable.
- Under the radar: Joe Biden’s cachet within the party was revived a bit as a handful of prominent administration alums won. The victories, his former staffers say, are an important part of rehabilitating his legacy within a party that all but banished him in 2024, POLITICO’s Alex Gangitano and colleagues report.
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A message from OpenAI:
 
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THE FRONT PAGE |
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POWER DOWN: Trump’s “fundamental theory of power is in ruins,” POLITICO Senior Executive Editor Alex Burns writes this morning of the new reality the president will have to reckon with in the final two years of an administration largely predicated on fear. “With his political coalition in tatters and Democrats on the march even in Texas and Kansas and South Carolina, Trump doesn’t look so permanent anymore.”
WHAT COMES NEXT: In his last two years, Trump now has two dual tormenters — Congress and the court system, POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney writes. Federal courts have already reined in the administration, but now congressional Democrats will also wield subpoena power. A sign of things to come: “LAWYER UP,” Rep. Robert Garcia, who’s poised to lead House Oversight, posted on X just as news outlets began calling the House for Democrats.
TECH DECKED: Democrats’ decisive victories marked a warning shot to politicians who choose to align with the AI industry and its growing unpopularity: rein in the powerful technology and its corporate interests or beware, POLITICO’s Gabby Miller and colleagues report. “Allying with the worst parts of the AI industry is just kryptonite for a campaign, and the results tonight double down on that,” Alex Bores said.
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A message from OpenAI:
 
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TALK OF THE TOWN |
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DUCK DUCK GOOSE — The most suspenseful result from D.C.’s election wasn’t progressive Janeese Lewis George clinching mayor, Robert White becoming U.S. delegate or Brian Schwalb earning reelection as AG. It’s really the issue that has taken over the city, become a Halloween costume and even made a duck famous. Yes folks, D.C. has voted to ban restaurants from selling foie gras or risk being fined $5,000 and get their licenses suspended. At the celebratory party by pro-Animal D.C., the duck being paraded in a stroller (named Olivia) quacked into the mic to “announce” the win. More from City Cast D.C.
OUT AND ABOUT — Chuck Todd, Chris Cillizza, Grace Panetta and Geoffrey Skelley hosted “The Projection,” an election watch party and live broadcast presented by Kalshi and Noosphere at PubKey last night. SPOTTED: Jon Tester, Jane Ferguson, Laura Trevelyan, Shashank Joshi, Rob Crilly, Brooke Brower, Lucas Stockslader, Sabrina Wolman, Juliegrace Brufke, Yuk Chi Chan, McLaurine Pinover, Chris Marklund, Daniel Strauss, Emily Murry, Kristian Denny Todd and Gia Cillizza.
— Romanian Ambassador Andrei Muraru held an election night watch party with the results playing out across screens of four TV networks, as hundreds of attendees drank Romanian wine. SPOTTED: Saudi Ambassador Reema bint Bandar Al-Saud, Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar, EU Ambassador Jovita Neliupšienė, Slovenian Ambassador Iztok Mirošič, Finnish Ambassador Leena-Kaisa Mikkola, Dutch Ambassador Birgitta Tazelaar, Lithuanian Ambassador Gediminas Varvuolis, Monaco Ambassador Maguy Maccario Doyle, Moldovan Ambassador Vladislav Kulminski, Nina Totenberg and David Reines, Tareq Alotaiba, Orson Porter, Bill Anaya, Katy Balls, Greg Bowman, Margaret Carlson, Francesca Craig, Jason Kello, Paula Dobriansky, Steve Clemons, Juliet Eilperin, Andrew Hale, Aamer Madhani, Adam Goodheart, Trevor Potter, William Swenson and Cathy Merrill Williams, and Christina Sevilla and Steve Rochlin.
TRANSITION — Jill Hazelbaker is joining OpenAI as chief corporate affairs officer, per Axios. She previously worked at Uber.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), Carol Miller (R-W.Va.) and Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.) … Tim Saler … POLITICO’s Mike DeBonis, Noah Baustin and Marissa Scola … Michael Hough … Semafor’s Ben Smith … Laura Bush … MS NOW’s Catherine Rampell and Carol Leonnig … Morgan Mohr … former Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) … Julie Siegel … Kevin McVicker of Shirley & McVicker Public Affairs … Michael Clauser … Jessica Reis of Bully Pulpit International … Gabby Orr … Flint Global’s Joe Armitage … Casey (Martel) Decatur … Beau Schuyler of Thorn Run Partners … Rick Ungar … former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez … Amanda Thayer … Erik Eykel of Senate Commerce … Jean Roseme … Aaron White of Sen. Peter Welch’s (D-Vt.) office … Julie Tippens … Amanda Eisenberg … Georgetown Law’s Rima Sirota … Avi Berkowitz … Ashley Estes Kavanaugh … Blair Latoff Holmes … Alex Sanz … Maggie McNerney
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Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editors Giuseppe Macri, Garrett Ross and Kyler Alvord.
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A message from OpenAI:
Using ChatGPT to detect wildfires early.
Detecting a wildfire early can mean the difference between containment and catastrophe. That’s what SensoRy AI is built for. After seeing the devastation of the 2018 Camp Fire in fifth grade, Ryan Honary thought there had to be a better way. He turned that thought into a science project, using a few wires, a heat detector, and a hair dryer. Five years later, that science project became SensoRy AI, a wildfire detection system that identifies fires at ignition and immediately alerts firefighters and officials. ChatGPT then translates complex sensor data into clear, actionable alerts responders can act on. Today, SensoRy AI is being used by the Laguna Beach Fire Department and deployed across three Southern California cities. It has already detected fires in the field and is expanding to more than 100 sensors across the state. Explore the story.
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