Vote 2010: Official ABC News Election Projections

Photo Courtesy - ABC News Illustration(NEW YORK) -- Here are the latest projections from the ABC News Decision Desk in New York:

1:50am ET Update:
Hawaii - Governor - (D) Neil Abercrombie over (R) Duke Aiona.

1:40am ET Update:
California - Governor - (D) Jerry Brown over (R) Meg Whitman.

1:25am ET Update:
Alaska - Governor - (R) Sean Parnell over (D) Ethan Berkowitz.

12:40am ET Update:
Nevada - Senate - (D) Harry Reid over (R) Sharron Angle.

12:20am ET Update:
Illinois - Senate - (R) Mark Kirk over (D) Alexi Giannoulias.

12:10am ET Update:
Nevada - Governor - (R) Brian Sandoval over (D) Rory Reid.

12:00am ET Update:
Georgia - Governor - (R) Nathan Deal over (D) Roy Barnes.
Hawaii - Senate - (D) Daniel Inouye over (R) Cam Cavasso.
Ohio - Governor - (R) John Kasich over (D) Ted Strickland.

11:55pm ET Update:
Rhode Island - Governor - (I) Lincoln Chafee over (D) Frank Caprio and (R) John Robitaille.

11:50pm ET Update:
Arizona - Governor - (R) Jan Brewer over (D) Terry Goddard.
California - Senate - (D) Barbara Boxer over (R) Carly Fiorina.
Pennsylvania - Senate - (R) Pat Toomey over (D) Joe Sestak.

11:30pm ET Update:
Iowa - Governor - (R) Terry Branstad over (D) Chet Culver.
New Mexico - Governor - (R) Susana Martinez over (D) Diane Denish.

11:05pm ET Update:
Wisconsin - Senate - (R) Ron Johnson over (D) Russ Feingold.

11:00pm ET Update:
Idaho - Senate - (R) Mike Crapo over (D) Tom Sullivan.
Idaho - Governor - (R) Butch Otter over (D) Keith Allred.
Oregon - Senate - (D) Ron Wyden over (R) Jim Huffman.

10:45pm ET Update:
South Carolina - Governor - (R) Nikki Haley over (D) Vincent Sheheen.

10:40pm ET Update:
Wisconsin - Governor - (R) Scott Walker over (D) Tom Barrett.

10:20pm ET Update:
Colorado - Governor - (D) John Hickenlooper over (R) Dan Maes.
Utah - Senator - (R) Mike Lee over (D) Sam Granato.
Utah - Governor - (R) Gary Herbert over (D) Peter Corroon.

10:00pm ET Update:
Arizona - Senate - (R) John McCain over (D) Rodney Glassman.
Iowa - Senate - (R) Chuck Grassley over (D) Roxanne Conlin.
Massachusetts - Governor - (D) Deval Patrick over (R) Charlie Baker.

9:40pm ET Update:
Louisiana - Senate - (R) David Vitter over (D) Charlie Melancon.

9:30pm ET Update:
Missouri - Senate - (R) Roy Blunt over (D) Robin Carnahan.
Nebraska - Governor - (R) Dave Heineman over (D) Mike Meister.
Wyoming - Governor - (R) Matt Mead over (D) Leslie Peterson.

9:15pm ET Update:
Maryland - Governor - (D) Martin O'Malley (R) Robert Ehrlich.
Oklahoma - Governor - (R) Mary Fallin over (D) Jari Askins.
Texas - Governor - (R) Rick Perry over (D) Bill White.

9:00pm ET Update:
Alabama - Governor - (R) Robert Bentley over (D) Ron Sparks.
Kansas - Senate - (R) Jerry Moran over (D) Lisa Johnston.
Kansas - Governor - (R) Sam Brownbeck over (D) Tom Holland.
New York - Senate - (D) Charles Schumer over (R) Jay Townsend.
New York - Senate - (D) Kirsten Gillibrand over (R) Joseph DioGuardi.
New York - Governor - (D) Andrew Cuomo over (R) Carl Paladino.
North Dakota - Senate - (R) John Hoeven over (D) Tracy Potter.
Pennsylvania - Governor - (R) Tom Corbett over (D) Dan Oronato.
South Dakota - Senate - (R) John Thune unopposed.
South Dakota - Governor - (R) Dennis Daugaard over (D) Scott Heidepriem.

8:45pm ET Update:
Georgia - Senate - (R) Johnny Isakson over (D) Michael Thurmond.
Oklahoma - Senate - (R) Tom Coburn over (D) Jim Rogers and (I) Steve Wallace.
West Virginia - Senate - (D) Joe Manchin over (R) John Raese.

8:30pm ET Update:
Arkansas - Senate - (R) John Boozman over (D) Blanche Lincoln.
Arkansas - Governor - (D) Mike Beebe over (R) Jim Keet.
Connecticut - Senate - (D) Richard Blumenthal over (R) Linda McMahon.
Tennessee - Governor - (R) Bill Haslam over (D) Mike McWherter.

8:20pm ET Update:
North Carolina - Senate - (R) Richard Burr over (D) Elaine Marshall.

8:00pm ET Update:
Alabama - Senate - (R) Richard Shelby over (D) William Barnes.
Delaware - Senate - (D) Christopher Coons over (R) Christine O'Donnell.
Florida - Senate - (R) Marco Rubio over (D) Kendrick Meek and (I) Charlie Crist.
Maryland - Senate - (D) Barbara Mikulski over (R) Eric Wargotz.
New Hampshire - Senate - (R) Kelly Ayotte over (D) Paul Hodes.
New Hampshire - Governor - (D) John Lynch over (R) John Stephen.

7:30pm ET Update:
Ohio - Senate - (R) Rob Portman over (D) Lee Fisher.

7:00pm ET Update:
Indiana - Senate - (R) Dan Coats over (D) Brad Ellsworth.
Kentucky - Senate - (R) Rand Paul over (D) Jack Conway.
South Carolina - Senate - (R) Jim DeMint over (D) Alvin Green.
Vermont - Senate - (D) Patrick Leahy over (R) Len Britton.

Stay tuned to this page for the latest projections from ABC News.

Copyright 2010 ABC News Radio

ABC News: Republican Rand Paul to Win Kentucky Senate Race

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(BOWLING GREEN, Ky.) -- Based on the exit polling, ABC News projects Republican Rand Paul will win the Kentucky Senate race, in what is the first major victory of the night for the Tea Party movement.

Paul's victory over Democrat Jack Conway is seen as an early indication of Republicans return to prominence in Congress and a sign of the Tea Party movement's growing political influence.

"There is a Tea Party tidal wave coming to Washington," Paul told reporters after casting his ballot this morning.

An ophthalmologist and son of libertarian Congressman Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, Paul, 47, became an early face of the Tea Party movement when he secured the nomination in May. But he quickly learned what played to the base in the primary would not work in the general election.

Paul will replace Republican Sen. Jim Bunning, 79, who is retiring after two terms.

Copyright 2010 ABC News Radio

Preliminary Results Show Economic Woes Defining 2010 Election

Photo Courtesy - MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Preliminary exit poll results underscore the economic distress defining the 2010 election. Eighty-eight percent of voters say the national economy is in bad shape, nearly as many as the record 92 percent who said so two years ago. Only 14 percent say their own family's financial situation has improved since 2008. And few see much respite: compounding the political impact of the long downturn, 86 percent remain worried about the economy's direction in the next year, including half who say they are "very" worried.

Twenty-nine percent say someone in their own household has lost a job in the last two years.

The economy has deeply affected the broader public mood. Sixty-two percent say the country is seriously headed on the wrong track (a record 74 percent said so in 2008, as the economy fell into the abyss). More broadly, 39 percent expect life for the next generation of Americans to be worse than it is today, versus just 32 percent who say it will be better.

The political impacts are powerful. Seventy-three percent in these preliminary exit poll results describe themselves as dissatisfied or even angry (26 percent) about the way the federal government is working, compared with 69 percent in 1994, when the Republicans seized the House, and a whopping 80 percent in 1992, when they lost the presidency.

Preliminary exit poll results are tentative only, and will change as additional data come in.

Copyright 2010 ABC News Radio

Republicans Poised to End Pelosi's Historic Reign

Photo Courtesy - JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Two years after voters gave President Obama and Democrats a mandate to govern, angry voters appeared poised to give Republicans control of the U.S. House of Representatives, leaving droves of incumbent Democrats without jobs.

Republicans need to win 39 seats from Democrats to claim a 218-seat House majority, a feat ABC News' pre-election race ratings and many recent polls indicate will be easily within reach.

That result would bring to an end the often embattled tenure of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who made history in 2007 when she became the first woman to ever hold that rank. Pelosi's thumb-in-the-eye style of politics had made her almost as much a target of Republican challengers as President Obama during the campaign.

If the vote goes as pollsters are predicting, Pelosi will be succeeded by Ohio Rep. John Boehner, the son of a bar owner and one of 12 children who became president of a plastics company before starting his political career.

The expected GOP victory will also force dozens of Democratic reps to hand over the gavels -- and the offices -- of their powerful committees to their Republican rivals.

While top Democrats are optimistic about averting a GOP landslide, more than 100 Democrat-held seats appeared vulnerable going into midterm Election Day, including 68 seats that either lean Republican or are toss-ups.

The last time Republicans took control of the House from Democrats in a 1994 avalanche -- the so-called Republican Revolution -- they flipped 52 seats.

Copyright 2010 ABC News Radio

Vote 2010 Election: Democrats Playing Blame Game Before Elections

Photo Courtesy - ABC News(LOS ANGELES) -- President Obama was on the campus of the University of Southern California Friday, stumping in a deep-blue state for Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who six years ago won with almost 60 percent of the vote.  Now, however, she is locked in a dead heat with former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.

Friday night in Nevada, he tried to raise money and excitement for embattled Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who may lose to Republican Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle.

One thing the president seems to not be raising is expectations.

“Let me be clear, this is going to be a difficult election, because we have been though an incredibly difficult time as a country,” the president told the crowd at USC.

Being the incumbent party at a time of nearly 10% unemployment is of course perilous in itself, but  many Democratic officials are surprised at how difficult it has been for the president and Democratic lawmakers to reach voters.

Vice President Joe Biden, the most publicly optimistic prognosticator in the Obama administration, for the first time allowed for the possibility that Democrats would lose the House.  He blamed outside spending by third-party groups.

"I've been out now on a lot of races," he told Bloomberg News "I was amazed at the amount of money.  I've never seen this before.  So the only caveat I'd put in terms of the House is how much impact this $200 billion are going to mean."

Though that number is actually closer $200 million, it appears that even before the election returns have come in, Democrats are eager to explain why things have gone so wrong for their party.

"We had to move so fast,” President Obama said Thursday in Seattle, explaining the many crises his administration faced.  "We were in such emergency mode that it was very difficult for us to spend a lot of time doing victory laps and advertising exactly what we were doing, because we had to move on to the next thing."

Copyright 2010 ABC News Radio

First Lady To Host Conference Call For Vote 2010 Update

Photo Courtesy -- The White House(WASHINGTON) -- The First Lady is not slated to formally hit the campaign trail until Oct. 13, but on Wednesday “the closer,” as she was affectionately dubbed by her husband, will host a conference call with “Organizing for America” supporters to give an update on the race just four weeks before Election Day.

“She'll talk about the work we've all been doing together and the importance of volunteering in the final four weeks before the November elections,” Mitch Stewart, the Director of OFA, says in an e-mail. He adds, “With so little time until November 2nd, this update with Michelle Obama will be an exciting way to get motivated for the work we have left to accomplish together.”

The call scheduled to take place Oct. 6 at 12 p.m. Eastern time.

Copyright 2010 ABC News