Less than 20 races to be called as control of Congress hangs in the balance
Control over the U.S. House of Representatives still hangs in the balance, teetering between a Republican or Democratic majority with less than 20 races left to be called.
Here’s the latest:
Faced with two choices she didn’t like, Suehaila Amen chose neither.
Instead, the longtime Democrat from the Arab American stronghold of Dearborn, Mich., backed a third-party candidate for president, adding her voice to a remarkable turnaround that helped Donald Trump reclaim Michigan and the presidency.
In Dearborn, where nearly half of the 110,000 residents are of Arab descent, Vice President Kamala Harris received over 2,500 fewer votes than Trump, who became the first Republican presidential candidate since former President George W. Bush in 2000 to win the city. Harris also lost neighboring Dearborn Heights to Trump.
Harris lost the presidential vote in two Detroit-area cities with large Arab American populations after months of warnings from local Democrats about the Biden-Harris administration’s unwavering support for Israel in the war in Gaza. Some said they backed Trump after he visited a few days before the election, mingling with customers and staff at a Lebanese-owned restaurant and reassuring people he would find a way to end the violence in the Middle East.
▶ Read more about the election and Arab Americans
“I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations,” President-elect Donald Trump said in a statement. “Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter.”
Stefanik, 40, serves as House Republican Conference leader and has long been one of Trump’s most loyal allies in the House.
Nikki Haley, who challenged Trump for the GOP nomination, was among those who previously held the role in his first term.
The election of Republican Kelly Ayotte as New Hampshire’s governor means 13 women will serve as a state’s chief executive next year, breaking the record of 12 set after the 2022 elections.
Governors hold powerful sway in American politics, shaping state policy and often using the experience and profile gained to launch campaigns for higher offices.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was floated as a potential Democratic nominee for president after President Biden exited the race. Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was thought to be in the running for President-elect Donald Trump’s vice presidential post.
Ayotte, a former U.S. senator, defeated the Democratic nominee Joyce Craig, a former mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire’s largest city.
▶ Read more about this historic record
Trump gained a larger share of Black and Latino voters than he did in 2020, when he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, and most notably among men under age 45, according to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of more than 120,000 voters.
Even as Democrat Kamala Harris won majorities of Black and Latino voters, it wasn’t enough to give the vice president the White House, because of the gains Trump made.
The vice president’s losses with these groups largely became Trump’s gains as he locked down his traditionally older, white base and slightly expanded into a winning coalition.
A combination of the economy and jobs was pinpointed as the issue voters felt was the most important problem the country faced. That was the case, too, for Black and Hispanic voters.
▶ Read more about Trump’s victory with these groups
