Nov. 11, 2022 US election coverage

In the hotly contested Senate race in Nevada, Republican candidate Adam Laxalt's lead over incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto has shrunk to about 800 votes – after new tallies were released from Clark County, the largest in the state that includes Las Vegas.

Of those newly reported ballots, about 66% of them were for Cortez Masto, according to analysis from CNN’s John King. He added that most of the ballots yet to be counted are in Clark County.

CNN is yet to project which party will win the House and the Senate as several key races are too early to call — including this one in Nevada. Right now, Democrats have won 48 states and Republicans hold 49.

There are still about 68,000 votes left to be tabulated in Nevada, according to CNN’s David Chalian.

Of these remaining votes, Cortez Masto needs between 50-51% of them to win, while Laxalt needs to get between 49-50% to hold onto his slight lead, Chalian predicted.

Full breakdown: Click below for the full analysis of the Nevada data from CNN's John King.

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Watch: John King breaks down latest Nevada Senate numbers | CNN Politics

Despite the push by some conservatives to delay next week’s Senate GOP leadership elections, they are going on as scheduled.

Sen. John Barrasso, who oversees the leadership vote, shared the news in a message to the conference that was obtained by CNN.

"I welcome the questions and points made in the letter circulated by Senators Rick Scott, Lee and Johnson," Barrasso wrote, referencing a message from the three senators that called for "serious discussions" about the party's lackluster midterms showing before a vote.

"I too support a robust Conference discussion about our agenda, federal budgeting and spending, floor procedures, and the other important priorities outlined prior to elections and the beginning of the 118th Congress," Barrasso wrote.

"To help accomplish that, I propose we continue that effort immediately," he continued.

The conference will hold a policy lunch Tuesday and then on Wednesday meet for the scheduled elections, the senator said. Barrasso argued both meetings would provide ample opportunity for debate.

Democratic Rep. Susie Lee will win her bid for a third term in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, fending off a fierce challenge from Republican April Becker, CNN projects, in a race that drew millions of dollars from the super PACs tied to the House leadership.

This win would be a hold for the Democratic Party.

CNN now projects Democrats have 200 seats of the 218 seats needed to control the House.

CNN projects Republicans have 211 seats.

Democrat Tina Kotek will win an unexpectedly difficult race for governor in Oregon, CNN projects, where the independent candidacy of former state Sen. Betsy Johnson had created a rare pathway for a competitive race in a deep-blue state.

Kotek will be one of the first out lesbian governors in the nation along with Democrat Maura Healey, who clinched the Massachusetts governorship Tuesday.

Her Republican opponent Christine Drazan conceded the race, saying she'd spoken with Kotek and "hope for the best for our state as she steps into this role."

"Though the campaign for Governor of Oregon has come to an end, I am immensely grateful for all the Oregonians who joined our movement to take our state in a new direction," Drazan said in the statement.

Johnson, a former state senator who cast herself as the candidate who would govern from the center, received more than 8% of the vote, according to the most recent tally.

Listen to the CNN Political Briefing podcast to learn where the vote counts stand in key states.

Several Metro Atlanta school districts will transition to remote learning for the Dec. 6 Senate run-off between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker. 

“A majority of Fulton County schools serve as polling sites, and this decision will keep students and staff safer. Since the run-off election is expected to draw high voter turnout, there will be a large number of outside visitors to our campuses. The additional traffic can also create campus congestion with packed parking lots, which can affect buses and car rider lanes," Fulton County Schools said in a statement.

Additionally, Atlanta Public Schools said that 29 facilities are active polling stations with three additional locations serving as ballot drop-off sites.

“December 6 will be a virtual, asynchronous learning day for all schools and all departments, to support quality teaching and learning while balancing the safety and security of scholars and staff,” APS said in their statement.

Cobb County Schools will also have a virtual learning day on Dec. 6, the district announced saying many of their buildings will be directly impacted by the run-off election.

Political organizations, especially Democratic-leaning unions, but also Republican organizations, that spent months urging people to vote in Nevada’s key Senate race are now turning their focus toward “curing” flawed mail-in ballots in the still-uncalled contest.

“Curing” is a process where voters correct problems with their mail ballot, ensuring that it gets counted. This can mean validating that a ballot is truly from them, by adding a missing signature, or by addressing signature-match issues. The deadline for voters to “cure” their ballots in Nevada is Nov. 14, according to state law. 

With the razor-thin margin in the contest between Democratic incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Republican challenger Adam Laxalt, the relatively small universe of ballots that need to be “cured” could make a difference. Laxalt currently leads Cortez Masto by about 9,000 votes, according to the latest tally.

The Clark County Registrar announced earlier on Friday that 9,659 ballots were eligible to be cured in the pivotal county, which includes Las Vegas. Officials from Washoe County, which is home to Reno, said they have 1,440 ballots that need to be cured.

The Culinary Union Local 226, which represent roughly 60,000 workers in populous Clark and Washoe County and is central in Democratic efforts in the state, tells CNN they have the “largest cure team in the state," with union spokesperson Bethany Khan saying the group has "200 canvassers doing phone bank, door knocking, and employee dining room cures." 

Other Democratic groups are also engaged in the curing effort. Somos Votantes, a political organization founded in 2019 that targeted boosting Latino turnout in Nevada, is reaching out to voters in both Spanish and English and offering to provide transportation to voters who need it.

Republicans are also engaged in the effort. Republican National Committee spokeswoman Hallie Balch said in a statement that the group had “a duty to inform voters that their ballot needs curing in order to be counted.” 

According to Clark County’s Election website, curing happens “if a question arises about your signature on the outside of your mail ballot return envelope or if you did not put your signature on the outside of that envelope, the Election Department will notify you using the contact information in your voter registration.”

Former President Donald Trump is calling up his allies in the Senate, GOP sources tell CNN, and making a suggestion on the heels of a lackluster midterms performance: Take aim at Mitch McConnell.

Trump, who is facing a round of sharp criticism from inside his own party for hurting Republican candidates in the midterms, has instead sought to gin up opposition to McConnell before leadership elections next week.

The GOP leader has already locked down enough support to win another two years, which would make him the longest-serving Senate party leader in US history. But he is facing new dissension within the ranks as a faction of Senate Republicans are grumbling internally about the timing of the leadership elections next week and are now calling for a delay —  something that several GOP sources signal is unlikely to happen.

Privately, Trump is trying to turn GOP anger toward McConnell. 

He and aides have specifically alluded to the Alaska Senate race, where the McConnell-aligned Senate Leadership Fund spent more than $5 million attacking a Trump-backed Republican challenger to incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski. That candidate, Kelly Tshibaka, appears poised to advance to a ranked-choice runoff against Murkowski on Nov. 23.

Trump has been extremely critical of McConnell's decision to slash support for Arizona Senate hopeful Blake Masters over the summer, one aide noted. Masters currently trails incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly by more than 100,000 votes with 80% of votes counted, according to the latest CNN data.  

Sources said Trump has conveyed these frustrations to nearly everyone he has spoken to since Tuesday, hoping it will translate into an onslaught of public criticism of McConnell.  

Listen to the CNN Political Briefing podcast to learn where the vote counts stand in key states.

CNN’s Alex Rogers contributed to this report.

Several prominent Republican senators are calling for a delay in next week’s Senate GOP leadership elections.

While Mitch McConnell is widely expected to easily win the top spot again, making him the longest Senate party leader in history, he is facing some dissension in the ranks.

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley says he plans to oppose McConnell and called for a delay, citing the upcoming Dec. 6 Georgia runoff. 

“I don’t know why Senate GOP would hold a leadership vote for the next Congress before this election is finished. We have a runoff in #GASenate — are they saying that doesn’t matter? Don’t disenfranchise @HerschelWalker,” Hawley tweeted.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted: “The Senate GOP leadership vote next week should be postponed. First we need to make sure that those who want to lead us are genuinely committed to fighting for the priorities & values of the working Americans (of every background) who gave us big wins in states like #Florida.”

Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rick Scott of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah also joined the calls for a delay in a letter that's circulating in Washington, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The comments come as Politico reported that Scott was considering a long-shot bid against McConnell but ultimately dropped the effort amid the lackluster GOP showing on Tuesday. Scott had little chance of defeating McConnell, who has been working for months to lock down the votes and told CNN last month that he has the votes.

CNN has reached out to McConnell’s office about the Hawley and Rubio comments.

Arizona's Maricopa County will release tonight its first batch of results from the 290,000 mail-in ballots that voters dropped off on Election Day, a top county official told CNN. 

Officials expect to release the results from about 60,000 to 70,000 votes, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chair Bill Gates estimated in an interview with CNN's Bianna Golodryga and Boris Sanchez.

A majority of those will be mail-in ballots dropped off on Election Day, as well as mail-in ballots received before Election Day and “Box 3” votes (ballots from Election Day that were not able to be read due to technical issues).

Maricopa County officials have estimated there are about 17,000 of those Box 3 ballots.

The number of people who dropped off their mail ballots on Election Day far surpassed previous records, and that is part of the reason why counting has taken as long as it has, Gates said.

He added that he expects workers to finish counting ballots by “very early next week.”

Why it matters: A big batch of results from Maricopa County, which is Arizona's most populous, could bring more clarity to the state of a key race for control of the Senate. Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly currently leads his Republican opponent Blake Masters.

Democrats need to win in two out of three states — Arizona, Nevada and Georgia — to maintain a narrow majority in the Senate. CNN has already projected that Georgia will head to a December runoff.

Unfounded claims: Responding to Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who said without evidence that election officials in the state are trying to delay the results, Gates said it’s “particularly hard to digest” her statements.

“Today is a holiday in Maricopa County and we have many people here today working 14 and 18 hours keeping this count going forward,” Gates said. “To have those sorts of comments accusing these good people of slow-rolling or dragging their feet, that’s hard for me to swallow.”