How Election Week 2022 Went Down

One-third of the expected vote is already reporting in North Carolina’s Senate race, and Beasley leads Budd 59 percent to 39 percent. But North Carolina is a state that reports a ton of early/absentee votes right after polls close — and of course, these voters skew Democratic. Look for Budd to close that gap significantly as the night progresses.

As we wait for more votes to come in from Kentucky, where we’re watching to see what happens with Amendment 2, here’s a video with more context on the ballot measure that would clarify that the state constitution doesn’t protect a right to abortion. We produced this piece in collaboration with ABC News, exploring the data on growing abortion access restrictions and speaking with abortion-rights advocates in Kentucky about how Amendment 2 would set back their cause.

If this proves a GOP-leaning night, there’s one thing that might cap their Senate gains: This Senate class was previously elected in 2016 and, before that, in 2010. Neither was a great year for Democrats, and so a number of the seats that might otherwise be competitive — I’m thinking of Wisconsin or North Carolina, or maybe Iowa, Ohio or Indiana — are already in GOP hands.