Anthony Zurcher: Democrats eye sweeping gains and reshaping of political map
Two Senate races that a year ago were thought to be battlegrounds turned out to be slam-dunks for the Democrats.
Anthony Zurcher: Democrats eye sweeping gains and reshaping of political map
This is already shaping up to be a very strong night for Democrats, with much of the vote counted in the eastern United States and polls closing in key Midwestern battleground states.
Two Senate races that a year ago were seen as battlegrounds have instead become easy wins for Democrats - Jon Ossoff's re-election race in Georgia and the open Republican-held seat in North Carolina.
That North Carolina race, where former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper defeated Republican Party insider Michael Whatley, was the first of the four pick-ups Democrats need to take control of the Senate.
Focus has now shifted to Republican-held Senate seats in Texas, Kansas and Ohio, where ballots are still being counted.
In South Carolina, the BBC's US partner CBS News is calling the Senate race leaning Democrat, which would be an earth-shaking outcome.
Looking at key House of Representatives races, there are more encouraging signs for Democrats.
In Florida, Republicans in the state legislature had redrawn the lines of three Democratic-held seats to make them much easier to win.
They lost all three.
Other House contests in the state, where Republicans had expected comfortable victories, have turned into close fights.
Democrats flipped an open seat in western North Carolina, for example, and seem positioned to gain ground in Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana.
In toss-up races across the east, Democrats are on course for the kind of wins that would help them secure a House majority for the first time since 2022.
They are doing so on the strength of high Democratic turnout, especially among black voters in the south, and by winning back Hispanic voters in Florida who backed the Republicans just two years ago.
In majority black South Carolina counties, Democratic Senate candidate Annie Andrews is performing far better than Kamala Harris's presidential numbers in 2024.
And in Miami-Dade County, which Trump carried that year, Democratic candidates are once again ahead.
If there is a bright spot for conservatives, Florida overall still seems to lean right.
Republican Senator Ashley Moody narrowly won re-election, as did Congressman Byron Donalds in his run for governor.
Although the mood of the electorate appears to have shifted against Donald Trump and Republicans across the board, the US is a vast country with distinct geographic and demographic traits.
A strong night for Democrats in the east does not automatically mean the same result nationwide.
Even electoral waves can break differently in different places.
It is still early, but for now Democrats appear to have plenty of reason to be optimistic.