CNN Projection: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will win reelection bid
From CNN’s Eric Bradner
Whitmer speaks on Tuesday, November 8, in Detroit. (Carlos Osorio/AP)
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has won reelection, CNN projects, defeating Republican challenger Tudor Dixon in one of the nation’s most important political battleground states.
Whitmer won a second term after a campaign that focused largely on her support for abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.
She successfully sued to block the enforcement of Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban, and also championed a citizens’ initiative on this fall’s ballot that would amend the state’s constitution to guarantee abortion rights.
Her victory cements Whitmer’s place -- two years after she was a finalist for President Joe Biden’s vice presidential pick -- as a leading figure within the Democratic Party moving forward.
And it demonstrates the limits of voters’ willingness to punish officials in competitive states who took strict measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic, including school and business closures.
2:07 a.m. ET, November 9, 2022
CNN Projection: Michigan votes to enshrine abortion rights in state’s constitution
From CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi and Devan Cole
Michigan on Tuesday voted to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution, a move that will block a decades-old abortion ban from taking effect, CNN projects.
The passage of ballot Proposal 3 amends the Michigan constitution to establish an “individual right to reproductive freedom, including right to make and carry out all decisions about pregnancy.”
Backers of the amendment have said it will block Michigan’s 1931 abortion law, which bans all abortions except to save the mother’s life.
The amendment allows the state to regulate abortion after fetal viability, except if needed to protect a patient's life or physical or mental health. It also bars the state from prosecuting an individual for having an abortion or miscarriage or from prosecuting someone who assists a pregnant person in "exercising rights established by this amendment."
The proposal had to overcome legal challenges to be included on the ballot, with the Michigan Supreme Court ordering officials in September to include the question on ballots in a 5-2 ruling.
3:18 a.m. ET, November 9, 2022
CNN Projection: Vermont will approve measure to further protect reproductive rights
From CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi and Devan Cole
A truck in Middlesex, Vermont. drives by campaign signs opposing and supporting the proposed amendment to the Vermont constitution that would guarantee access to reproductive rights. (Wilson Ring/AP)
Voters in Vermont approved an amendment to the state’s constitution to further protect abortion rights, CNN projects.
The amendment, supporters say, will protect "every person's right to make their own reproductive decisions," including about pregnancies, abortion and birth control.
The Vermont Constitution will now be amended to read: "That an individual's right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one's own life course and shall not be denied or infringed unless justified by a compelling State interest achieved by the least restrictive means."
1:43 a.m. ET, November 9, 2022
Exit polls: About half of New Hampshire voters saw Don Bolduc’s views as too extreme
From CNN's Ariel Edwards-Levy
Don Bolduc greets the crowd before results are announced, in Manchester, New Hampshire, on November 8.
About half of New Hampshire voters called Republican Senate candidate Don Bolduc’s views “too extreme,” according to the early results of the New Hampshire exit poll conducted for CNN and other news networks by Edison Research.
Only about 43% said the same of his Democratic rival, incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan.
CNN projects that Hassan will win a second Senate term in New Hampshire, defeating the Trump-backed Bolduc.
President Joe Biden’s job approval rating in the state is negative, per the exit poll, with only about 42% of voters approving. But roughly 1 in 5 Biden disapprovers, nevertheless, cast their vote for Hassan.
Roughly three-quarters of voters in the state – including similar shares of both candidates’ supporters – said that party control of the Senate was very important to their vote.
3:19 a.m. ET, November 9, 2022
CNN Projection: Republican Sen. Mike Lee will win reelection in Utah
From CNN’s Dan Merica
US Sen. Mike Lee celebrates as he speaks to supporters at an election night party in Salt Lake City. (Rick Bowmer/AP)
Republican Sen. Mike Lee will win reelection in Utah, CNN projects, staving off a challenge by independent Evan McMullin.
Lee’s win does little to shift the balance of power in the Senate -- Utah was seen as a reliable Republican win and Lee has held the seat since 2011. But McMullin, who said during the race that he would not caucus with either Democrats or Republicans if he were to win the seat, gave Lee a tougher-than-expected race by making it a referendum on former President Donald Trump’s dominance of the Republican Party and the Lee’s shift from a Trump critic to a Trump devotee.
Utah Democrats opted not to put up their own nominee to challenge Lee, viewing McMullin as the best chance in decades for a non-Republican to win a Senate seat in the state.
McMullin’s attacks focused on Lee’s tightness with Trump and his actions around the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the United States Capitol, most notably texts he sent to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/25/politics/mark-meadows-texts-2319
“We talk about 9/11, but I have to say, it shook me in the same way,” McMullin said during the campaign. “Different type of event. But just as dark, just as evil.”
Lee pushed back against those attacks during a debate between the two candidates, claiming he was “one of the people trying to dismantle this situation, trying to stop it from happening.”
Utah is home to one of the largest voting blocs of anti-Trump Republicans: In 2016, McMullin won over 21% of the vote in a longshot presidential bid; while in 2020, Trump only won 58% of the vote in the state, far lower than many recent Republican nominees.
There was an awkwardness to the race, too. In 2016, Lee publicly said he voted for McMullin over Trump, something the independent candidate tried to use against Lee.
2:12 a.m. ET, November 9, 2022
John Fetterman says he never expected to "turn these red counties blue"
Fetterman speaks alongside his wife and children in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on November . (Quinn Gablicki/Reuters)
Democrat John Fetterman, who CNN projects will defeat Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania's Senate race, said he is humbled to serve as the state's next senator.
“I'm so humbled, thank you so much,” he told his supporters.
He pointed to his campaign's slogan of "every county, every vote." Fetterman added, "We jammed them up."
“I’m proud of what we ran on — protecting a woman’s right to choose, raising the minimum wage, fighting the union way of life," he said. "Healthcare is a fundamental human right. It saved my life and it should all be there for you if you should ever need it," he said, referring to the stroke he had earlier this year.
He thanked supporters and those who voted for him, saying, "I never expected that we were going to turn these red counties blue. But we did what we needed to do."
“We bet on the people of Pennsylvania and you didn’t let us down. And my promise to all of you is I will never let all of you down," Fetterman added.
1:29 a.m. ET, November 9, 2022
CNN Projection: Democratic Gov. Tony Evers wins reelection in Wisconsin
From CNN’s Eric Bradner
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and his wife, Kathy, leave a polling place in Madison on Tuesday. (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has won reelection, CNN projects, defeating Republican challenger Tim Michels and preserving Democrats’ veto power in a state where the GOP-led legislature is seeking veto-proof supermajorities.
Evers overcame weeks of attacks from Michels, a construction executive backed by former President Donald Trump, and other Republicans who portrayed him as soft on crime.
He campaigned on his support for abortion rights in a state where an 1849 law banning abortions in almost all instances, including rape and incest, took effect after the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade in June. Republicans in the legislature have so far declined to change that law.
Evers’ victory could stymie Republican efforts to implement new restrictions on mail-in voting, defang the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission and more ahead of a 2024 presidential race in which Wisconsin is set to once again play a crucial role.
1:30 a.m. ET, November 9, 2022
Exit polls: Union households help propel Vance to victory in Ohio
From CNN's Tami Luhby
J.D. Vance speaks during an election night party in Columbus, Ohio, on November 8. (Jay LaPrete/AP)
Voters from union households in Ohio favored GOP Senate candidate J.D. Vance over his Democratic rival, Rep. Tim Ryan, which helped the Republican clinch the open seat, according to the early results of the Ohio exit poll conducted for CNN and other news networks by Edison Research.
Nearly 6 in 10 voters from union households cast ballots for Vance, who also garnered about the same level of support from men who voted and White voters. More than half of Buckeye State voters age 45 and older, voters without college degrees and those living in suburban and rural parts of the state opted for Vance, as well.
Ryan was the preferred candidate of just more than half of women who voted, independent voters, college-educated voters and younger voters. Roughly 6 in 10 voters who live in Ohio cities went for Ryan, as did more than three-quarters of voters of color in the state.
Voters who said they were most concerned about crime, inflation and immigration broke for Vance, while those who thought abortion and gun policy were top issues selected Ryan.
Vance was the choice of voters who wanted a candidate who shared their values, but Ryan was supported by those looking for a candidate who cares about people like them and a candidate who has honesty and integrity.
