Tag: Live updates: Midterm election results and news

Former President Donald Trump, aiming to become only the second commander-in-chief ever elected to two non-consecutive terms, announced Tuesday night that he will seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

“In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump told a crowd gathered at Mar-a-Lago, his waterfront estate in Florida, where his campaign will be headquartered.

Surrounded by allies, advisers, and conservative influencers, Trump delivered a relatively subdued speech, rife with spurious and exaggerated claims about his four years in office. To evoke nostalgia for his time in office among Republicans who have shown signs of Trump fatigue following the midterms, he frequently contrasted his first-term accomplishments with the Biden administration’s policies and the current economic climate. Many of those perceived accomplishments – from strict immigration actions to corporate tax cuts and religious freedom initiatives – remain deeply polarizing to this day.

As Trump spoke to a roomful of Republicans who expect him to face primary challengers in the coming months, he also claimed the party cannot afford to nominate “a politician or conventional candidate” if it wants to win back the White House.

“This will not be my campaign, this will be our campaign all together,” Trump said.

Trump’s long-awaited campaign comes as he tries to reclaim the spotlight following the GOP’s underwhelming midterm elections performance – including the losses of several Trump-endorsed election deniers – and the subsequent blame game that has unfolded since Election Day. Republicans failed to gain a Senate majority, came up short in their efforts to fill several statewide seats, and have yet to secure a House majority, with only 215 races called in their favor so far out of the 218 needed, developments that have forced Trump and other party leaders into a defensive posture as they face reproval from within their ranks.

Trump’s paperwork establishing his candidacy landed with the Federal Election Committee shortly before he delivered his announcement at Mar-a-Lago.

Read more about Trump’s 2024 bid here

Democrat Katie Hobbs will win Arizona’s governor’s race, CNN projects, defeating one of the most prominent defenders of former President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. 

Calling the 2020 election rigged, Republican Kari Lake had repeatedly said she would not have certified Joe Biden’s win in Arizona in 2020. Hobbs, as Arizona’s secretary of state, had rejected GOP lies about the election. 

Lake’s defeat follows the defeat of two other high-profile election deniers in the state – Republican Senate nominee Blake Masters and secretary of state nominee Mark Finchem. 

Before the projection, Lake had already begun sowing doubts about the 2022 results.

During an appearance on right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s talk show Thursday, she said, “I hate that they’re slow-rolling and dragging their feet and delaying the inevitable. They don’t want to put out the truth, which is that we won.”   

There is no evidence that the election officials were delaying the reporting of results. At a news conference Thursday, Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, called out Lake’s comments. “It is offensive for Kari Lake to say that these people behind me are slow-rolling this when they are working 14-18 hours,” Gates, a Republican, said, gesturing to the election workers who were involved in tallying the ballots behind him through a glass window.    

Lake, a former news anchor at Fox 10 in Phoenix, ascended quickly to become one of the most prominent Republicans in the 2022 cycle as she and Hobbs vied to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Doug Ducey. The outgoing governor had endorsed Lake’s primary opponent, but then backed Lake in the general election.   

Hobbs, a former social worker who worked with victims of domestic violence before becoming a state lawmaker, ran a far more low-key and understated campaign, limiting her access to reporters and holding small, intimate events with supporters. She made democracy and abortion rights her central focus, portraying Lake as an “extreme” and “dangerous” figure who could jeopardize the sanctity of the 2024 presidential election by refusing to certify the results.     

As you tune into CNN’s election coverage on Monday morning, here are the 19 races that are yet to be called.

Alaska’s At-Large District: Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola was the surprise winner of a special election in August to succeed the late GOP Rep. Don Young. She is in a rematch with former Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, and Republican businessman Nick Begich in her bid for a full term.

Arizona: As of late Saturday, an estimated 290,000 votes were left to be counted. Two of Arizona’s nine House races remain uncalled as of Sunday afternoon

California has 10 uncalled races: CNN has not yet projected who will win California’s 34th District but is counting it as part of the Democrats’ total because both candidates are Democrats.) These include races in the 3rd District, 9th District, 13th District, 21st District, 22nd District, 27th District, 41st District, 45th District, 47th District, 49th District.

Colorado: It gained an eighth seat in reapportionment after the 2020 census. Two races remain uncalled.

Maine’s 2nd District: The state, like Alaska, uses ranked-choice voting to decide its winners in federal elections. In the 2nd District, Democratic Rep. Jared Golden and former Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin could see their race decided by the state’s ranked-choice voting system for a second time. Neither candidate nor independent Tiffany Bond had cleared 50% of the vote as of Sunday afternoon for a district that covers much of the state north of Portland.

New Mexico’s 2nd District: Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell trails Democrat Gabe Vasquez in her bid for a second term representing a district that now includes parts of southern and western New Mexico and that became more Democratic in redistricting. While Herrell has conceded the race, CNN has not yet made a projection.

New York’s 22nd District: Republican Brandon Williams and Democrat Francis Conole, both Navy veterans, are competing for this redrawn Central New York district. It’s an open seat that Biden would have carried by under 8 points.

Oregon’s 6th District: Elections are conducted entirely by mail. Ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and can be received up to seven days later. The state gained a new House seat in redistricting. Democratic state Rep. Andrea Salinas and Republican businessman Mike Erickson are competing for this newly drawn district, which includes Salem. Biden would have carried it by 13 points in 2020.

CNN’s Maeve Reston, Eric Bradner and Renée Rigdon contributed reporting to this post.