Democrats' Landslide Win; Blue Wave Claims Senate & House

0:02 Bloomberg Audio Studios.

0:04 Podcasts. Radio. News.

0:10 Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager.

0:11 And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today.

0:15 Karen, it is the morning after a historic midterm election in the United States. Democrats are poised to sweep back into power in both the House and the Senate just two years after Republican President Donald Trump's White House comeback. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer watched the results roll in from Washington.

0:33 Against all odds, we Democrats have won the Senate. And we have five words for the American people. Relief is on the way.

0:47 New York's Chuck Schumer is set to become the next Senate Majority Leader, and as the votes are still being counted, NBC News projects Democrats will win 255 seats in the House, 53 in the Senate, to claim majorities in both chambers.

1:01 Well, let's begin with details on the Senate here, Nathan, where we've been watching seven closely contested races. In Michigan, Democrat Abdul Al-Sayed is projected to beat Republican Mike Rogers with 52% of the vote.

1:12 My name. Is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed.

1:23 And I am so proud and honored to stand here as your senator-elect from the great state of Michigan.

1:31 And Abdul El-Sayed's win holds a seat left vacant by retiring Democrat Gary Peters. He'll become the first Muslim in the U.S. Senate.

1:38 And it's a historic shift in Texas, Karen.

1:40 James Tallarico is the first Democrat to win a Senate race in the Lone Star State since 1988. He defeated Republican Ken Paxton with 55 percent of the vote. We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas. James Tallarico's victory came despite $ 280 million in ad spending from Republicans, nearly twice as much as Democrats. In the interest of transparency, we should note that Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg Radio parent company Bloomberg LP, contributed $ 2. 5 million to a super PAC behind the Tallarico campaign.

2:16 In May, Nathan, a 30-year career in the Senate is coming to a close for Susan Collins. The Republican conceded her race even before the networks called it for Democrat Troy Jackson.

2:26 Senator Collins and I had a hired campaign. We had real disagreements, and I was clear about them. But to every Mainer who voted for her... You know, you can count on me to be your senator now.

2:39 Troy Jackson is projected to win the main Senate race with 54% of the vote.

2:44 And in Ohio, Karen Democrat Sherrod Brown is returning to the Senate. He's projected to beat Republican incumbent John Husted with nearly 50% of the vote.

2:53 Corporations, billionaires tried to buy this election.

2:57 You know that.

2:59 But.

3:00 As it turns out, as it turns out, there are a whole lot more of us than there.

3:05 Are of them.

3:06 Democrat Sherrod Brown will take over the Senate seat once held by Vice President J.D.

3:11 Vance.

3:12 Well, Nathan, we've also been keeping an eye on two Senate races in Midwestern states that have been hit hard by rising diesel prices and tariffs. And Kansas Republican incumbent Roger Marshall is projected to fall to Democratic megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton with 51 percent of the vote.

3:29 But I think the people in.

3:30 Kansas, Republicans, Independents, and Democrats are saying what's happening in Washington is not okay.

3:35 Adam Hamilton becomes the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in Kansas since 1932.

3:39 And in Iowa, Karen, Democrat Josh Turek flipped the seat held by retiring Republican Senator Joni Ernst. He defeated Republican Ashley Hinson with just over 50% of the vote. For the first time in 20 years, Iowa will have representation in the United States Senate for the people of Iowa. Josh Turek will be the first Iowa Democrat elected to the Senate since Tom Harkin in 2008.

4:05 And in two other states, Nathan, that have been Republican strongholds for years, the Democratic wave proved to be too much. South Carolina Senator Darlene Graham failed to hold onto the seat left by her late brother, Lindsey. She lost to Democrat Annie Andrews, who garnered 51 percent of the vote. And in North Carolina's Senate race, former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper beat President Trump's handpicked candidate, Michael Watley. Cooper took 59 percent.

4:30 Of the vote.

4:31 Elsewhere in the South, Karen, the Georgia Senate race was called early for Democratic incumbent John Ossoff. He beat Republican Mike Collins with 59% of the vote. In Florida, Republican incumbent Ashley Moody fended off progressive Democrat Angie Nixon with 51%. In Mississippi, where Democrats injected a late surge of funds to try to unseat Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, that race.

4:51 is still too close to call.

4:52 With 96% of votes counted, Hyde-Smith and Democrat Scott Colombe each have 48.9%. Colombe's lead in that race right now is just 43 votes.

5:04 Well, the last polls, they closed early this morning in Alaska, Nathan, and that race is still too close to call between Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola. But with 66 percent of the votes counted, Sullivan leads 48.5 to 47.7 percent. Sullivan addressed his supporters after the final precincts closed in the Aleutian Islands.

5:25 I'm confident when all the votes are counted, I will have the honor of representing you.

5:29 In the United States Senate again for six more If Senator Dan Sullivan does win, it would be the one bright spot for Republicans in the seven major battleground states. There is another Dan Sullivan on Alaska's ranked choice ballot. And as it stands now, retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan is in last place with less than 2% of the vote.

5:50 Let's turn to the House of Representatives now, Karen, where the blue wave was decisive for Democrats. They needed to pick up just three seats to win the 218 seat majority in the lower chamber. NBC News is projecting they'll end up with 255. A big night for House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries.

6:07 This is a change election.

6:10 And we understand as House Democrats that we need to deliver dramatic change.

6:17 Hakeem Jeffries is now poised to become the first black House speaker in American history. Former House Financial Services Chair Republican Patrick McHenry says last night's results are a bloodbath for the GOP.

6:28 This is a generational wipeout for the Republican Party. And what it means for the Democratic Party could be something akin to what 1994 meant for my Republican Party and 2010 meant for my Republican Party. The magnitude of this is felt not just at the federal level, but very much in these state houses.

6:48 Former House Republican Patrick McHenry is now a Bloomberg contributor. He appeared on last night's special election night edition of Balance of Power on Bloomberg Radio and Television and the Bloomberg Business app.

6:58 So, Nathan, how is this all sitting with President Trump? He says he's willing to accept the results of these midterm elections, but is not taking responsibility for the GOP defeats.

7:09 The president spoke to Fox News. You know, I don't like to consider it a defeat for me.

7:13 I was on the ballot. You're on the ballot.

7:16 It's different than if you're not on the ballot.

7:18 But nevertheless, you know, I feel badly for a lot of very good Republicans, a lot of very good patriots that lost tonight.

7:26 President Trump says he is willing to work with Democrats. However, Lonnie Chen, policy director for the 2012 Mitt Romney campaign, is skeptical.

7:33 I think that conciliatory tone will last all of about 18 hours. I don't really think that the president is all that interested, frankly, in working together with Democrats, particularly not when that first subpoena lands on his desk from the House Oversight Committee. I think that what we're going to see over the next couple of years is President Trump doubling down. on the kinds of policies, the kinds of methods, the kinds of techniques that we've seen, he's going to go back to what he believes has made him successful, which is to never apologize, to never look back, to never step back.

8:03 Lonnie Chen, former policy director for the 2012 Romney campaign, President Trump tells the New York Times he regrets nothing about the first two years of his second term despite the Republican election defeat.

8:14 Well, Karen, Republicans also lost several governor's races in states that went for the president in 2024. In Georgia, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms beat Republican Rick Jackson with 54 percent of the vote. Lance Bottoms will become the first black woman governor in American history. In Iowa, Democrat Rob Sand won with 55% of votes. And in Ohio, Democrat Amy Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy with 52%. In the Rust Belt, Michigan Democrat Jocelyn Benson won the governor's race with 54%.

8:44 Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro held on with 60% of votes. Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar was victorious with 55% in that governor's race. And in Wisconsin, Democrat David Crowley claimed 54% of votes to win the race there.

8:59 Well, the votes are still being counted in California, where we're watching a ballot measure that would allow a 5% tax on the state's richest residents. The no votes currently lead by about 56%, with a little more than half counted, according to the Associated Press. The measure calls for a one-time tax on residents whose net worth exceeds $ 1 billion.

9:16 And if adopted, it would be the world's first wealth tax specifically targeting billionaires. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Daybreak coming up after this.

9:31 Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio. Nationwide on Sirius XM. And around the world on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg Business App. This is Bloomberg Daybreak.

9:41 As we continue our coverage of this morning after the midterm election in the United States, we are joined by Terry Haynes, the founder of Pangea Policy, along with Jennifer Lawless, professor of politics at the University of Virginia. It's great to speak with the both of you. And Terry, I have to start with you because I was looking at your last note. before this midterm election, and you were saying that there was no way there could be a blue wave or tsunami or anything else.

10:08 What happened last night?

10:10 Good morning, Nathan. What you have here is the election kind of busting out of its limitations. There wasn't anybody that really thought that there could be bigger changes outside of about one out of ten House seats and the seven contested Senate seats. And what you're seeing now is slightly bigger consequences than that. That's a political rebuke for Trump. But, you know, it's positive for markets, I think, frankly, because there are no significant negatives here. Democrats aren't going to be able to do anything in the next two years to affect what happened in Trump's first two years. And so they'll react positively to that.

10:46 Professor Lawless, let's bring you into the conversation. The polling, the final polling from New York Times and Siena College had shown strength for Democrats in the lead up to the election. It seems like the polling was right this time around. What is the message that voters sent to Washington last night?

11:03 The first is that the affordability crisis is real, and it didn't matter whether you lived in a blue state or a red state. If your representative or if Donald Trump convinced you that what you were feeling was not real, you voted against Republicans. And the second message, I believe, had to do with the fact that people don't like the establishment. They don't like the corruption that they've seen in Washington. And the Democrats were so enthusiastic that even in places where they traditionally didn't turn out or traditionally didn't have a chance, their enthusiasm ushered in a blue wave.

11:36 Terry, the Democrats have pretty decisive majorities now, particularly in the House, not a super majority in the Senate that would be filibuster proof. What could this mean for policymaking in Washington when we've heard from the president before this vote saying that if Democrats did win, he'd be Mr.

11:56 Veto? As a practical matter, Democrats aren't close to being able to accomplish anything with these majorities. Overriding any veto takes two-thirds of both chambers. That's 291 in the House, 67 in the Senate. So, you know, assuming Democrats might get as much as 250 in the House and 54 in the Senate, you see actually just how far away they are. So that's a practical problem. Democrats can certainly block Trump's legislation, block nominees, provide investigations, all the rest.

12:28 They can't impose a new economic program or change the existing one. And they're even less likely to, I think, precisely because they know they can't legislate. So the temptation to showboat will prove irresistible.

12:40 Professor Lawless, where do you see the Democrats going after this election? There had been a push-pull between the progressive wing that we saw in Democrat Abdul El-Sayed being victorious in Michigan against a more moderate wing that could be represented by some of the other candidates who won last night.

12:59 Where does the Democratic Party go in terms of their themes, their direction over the next two years?

13:05 Well, I think that what we saw was that in both the primaries and last night, the Democrats who did well were Democrats who were focused on affordability, who were focused on broad conceptions of rights, and who were focused on pushing back against government corruption and an unequal set.

13:22 Of economic rules.

13:25 On those issues, generally speaking, moderates and progressives agree. So my bet is that Hakeem Jeffries in the House is going to do what Nancy Pelosi did when the Democrats won back the House in the mid 2000s.

13:37 And that's make.

13:38 Sure that Democrats aren't casting difficult votes. He's gonna focus on the consensus building votes so that they can go on the record and differentiate themselves from Republicans. And I think their Democratic base and a lot of independents.

13:50 Will appreciate that.

13:51 Terry, what's the soul-searching, what's the post-mortem for Republicans this morning?

13:55 Post-mortem really will be, you know, as Patrick McHenry said on your air last night, that there will be a kind of generational change here. But they'll need to refocus around positive economic message, frankly. Whether they do, I kind of doubt it. I think Democrats and Republicans will both take the wrong lessons from this election. Democrats, more hubris. Republicans, thinking the economic problems are transitory.

14:22 Thank you so much to both of you for being with us this morning after Terry Haynes, the founder of Pangea Policy, and Jennifer Wallace, politics professor at the University of Virginia.

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