Who won the elections? Arizona, Nevada results still being counted - USA TODAY

• The contention successful Arizona’s intimately watched Senate conflict betwixt Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly and Republican Blake Masters remains excessively adjacent to call.
• Bill Gates, the Republican seat of the Maricopa County committee of supervisors, the state’s astir populous county, defended his elections team.
• In Nevada's 2nd astir populous and notorious plaything county, Washoe, location to Reno, astatine slightest 20,000 ballots were yet to beryllium counted Friday.

Four days aft Election Day, galore Americans stay anxious and anxious to cognize who their governmental leaders volition beryllium and wherever the equilibrium of powerfulness volition be successful the House and Senate.

In a cardinal U.S. Senate contest in Nevada, thousands of votes stay uncounted. And successful Arizona, a grounds fig of early-ballot dropoffs person slowed the number successful a neck-and-neck gubernatorial election. 

Some voters will have to hold weeks for answers, arsenic power of the Senate could be decided successful a runoff predetermination successful December in Georgia’s tightly-contested race betwixt incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock and GOP challenger Herschel Walker. 

The uncertainty comes arsenic Republicans look acceptable to instrumentality a triumph thigh if they triumph a bulk of the House and the Senate, portion Democrats are present faring better than galore expected based connected historical voting trends.  

While Republicans person done good successful immoderate states, specified as Florida and New York, they person “kind of flopped” successful areas including parts of the Midwest, New England and Colorado, said Kyle Kondik, a governmental expert astatine the University of Virginia’s Center of Politics. 

“There seems to beryllium thing antithetic oregon nefarious going connected if radical privation to kick astir the waiting,” Kondik said. “There has been immoderate conspiracy-mongering that’s wholly unjustified. 

“I don’t deliberation there’s immoderate comic concern going connected here,” Kondik concluded. “It’s a waiting crippled of sorts.”

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Elections results successful Arizona could instrumentality weeks

The contention successful Arizona’s closely watched contest betwixt gubernatorial candidates Democrat Katie Hobbs, Arizona’s existent caput of state, and Republican Kari Lake, a erstwhile TV broadcaster, remained too adjacent to call.

Lake has utilized the counting period, which is mean successful Arizona, to marque nationalist headlines by accusing authorities predetermination officials, including her ain GOP colleagues, of purposely “slow-rolling” the ballot count.

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Bill Gates, the Republican seat of the Maricopa County committee of supervisors, the state’s astir populous county, defended his elections team. 

"Quite frankly it is violative for Kari Lake to accidental these radical down maine are slow-rolling this erstwhile they are moving 14 to 18 hours," Gates said.   

Meanwhile, Hobbs urged patience and expressed assurance successful the system.

"Despite what my election-denying hostile is trying to spin, the signifier and cadence of incoming votes are precisely what we expected," Hobbs tweeted Thursday. "In fact, they reflector what our authorities has seen successful caller elections. We indispensable stay diligent and fto our predetermination officials bash their jobs."

In Maricopa County, with 4.5 cardinal residents, including Phoenix, and successful Tucson, Arizona, with astir 2.5 cardinal registered voters, about 300,000 votes were inactive being counted aft a grounds fig of ballots were dropped disconnected astatine sites, officials said. That includes a grounds fig of voters successful Maricopa County — astir 290,000 — who dropped disconnected their ballots connected Election Day, which has delayed the counting, region officials said.

An estimated 80,000 ballots were to be added to Maricopa Country predetermination results by precocious Friday, region officials said. More than 50% of those results volition see ballots dropped disconnected connected Election Day, officials added.

It’ll beryllium the archetypal driblet including those results, which could service arsenic a bellwether for campaigns eagerly waiting to spot if voting patterns clasp from 2020, which saw Republicans marque beardown gains arsenic ballots dropped disconnected connected Election Day were tabulated. 

Within those figures include provisional ballots, those incapable to beryllium work by tabulators astatine polling sites connected Election Day and aboriginal ballots dropped disconnected instantly earlier and connected Election Day. The aboriginal ballots volition request to beryllium signature verified, separated from their signed affidavit envelope by a bipartisan squad and past counted earlier they tin beryllium included successful the results. 

By authorities law, officials cannot statesman counting provisional ballots and aboriginal ballots that request further verification until 5 concern days aft Election Day.

Gates sought to propulsion backmost connected the thought that the counting process is taking longer than normal.

“For folks who person covered Arizona authorities for a while, this is very, precise common,” helium said. “I cognize radical are precise anxious to get the results, but there’s thing retired of the mean here.”

The process mostly takes 10 to 12 days, officials said.

“I’m going to basal up for my state,” Gates said. “We’re doing things the close way.”

Thousands of ballot counters are moving done the play with hopes of getting astir results reported by aboriginal adjacent week, Maricopa County Election Director Scott Jarrett said. State instrumentality requires them to decorativeness by Nov. 28. 

“It takes time,” Jarrett said earlier the election. 

As results trickled successful precocious Friday, the competitive Senate battle betwixt Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly and Republican Blake Masters ended with Kelly securing his win. 

Nevada still counting ballots 

With tens of thousands of ballots inactive successful the equilibrium successful working-class swing-state Nevada, which has been deed hard by ostentation arsenic good arsenic the pandemic, the results whitethorn not beryllium called until aboriginal adjacent week successful the crucial, razor-thin U.S. Senate race.

Incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto was narrowly trailing Republican Adam Laxalt Friday by conscionable 798 votes — and astatine slightest 23,000 message ballots were yet to beryllium counted successful Clark County, the state’s astir populous region and location to Las Vegas and its 1.3 cardinal progressive registered voters.

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In Nevada's 2nd astir populous and notorious plaything county, Washoe, location to Reno, astatine slightest 20,000 ballots were yet to beryllium counted Friday.

In Clark County, predetermination officials expected to person their mail-in ballot number updated by Saturday, the past time authorities instrumentality allows mail ballots to get and beryllium counted. Joe Gloria, the county's registrar of voters, said helium tin judge ballots postmarked by Election Day.

In summation to the pending message ballots, Gloria said his unit inactive needs to number much than 5,500 provisional ballots formed connected voting machines. 

But that number won't hap until adjacent week aft authorities predetermination officials nonstop a provisional report, which authorities instrumentality requires earlier specified ballots tin beryllium tabulated.

“I tin archer you with a large woody of assurance that everything that we're doing present successful Clark County is moving those ballots arsenic rapidly arsenic we can, but I person to caution you successful saying we don't privation to determination excessively fast,” Gloria said. “We privation to marque definite that we're being close and validating the signatures and the identity…That's a batch of enactment that's involved.”

The uncounted message ballots successful Clark County are predicted to heavy favour Democrats.

With the votes inactive being counted, incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak conceded precocious Friday to challenger Republican Joe Lombardo.

"Serving you arsenic politician for the past 4 years has been the grant of my lifetime," Sisolak tweeted. "Thank you to everyone who believed successful america and enactment your each retired there. It’s important that we present travel unneurotic to proceed moving the authorities forward."

Other midterm predetermination results stay unknown

In different must-watch midterm madness, dozens of House races stay unresolved, including incumbent Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert's razor-thin lead in her territory against Democratic challenger Adam Frisch, which could pb to a imaginable recount.

"I told you each year, the Left would bash everything that they perchance could to get escaped of me," Boebert tweeted Friday to her supporters to "pitch in" to her campaign. "As this contention comes down to each past vote, I request you to assistance america guarantee we person the resources to decorativeness what we started!"

In California, there was immoderate uncertainty successful astir a twelve of the state’s 52 House contests. The astir contested are successful Southern California and successful the state’s Central Valley workplace loop region.

In Southern California, Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Mike Levin were successful adjacent contests successful their races, contempt an 11th-hour sojourn by President Joe Biden. 

East of Los Angeles, GOP Rep. Ken Calvert was trying to stave disconnected a situation by Democratic campaigner Will Rollins, who was within 1,500 votes, but conscionable implicit fractional the ballots had been counted.

In the Central Valley region, GOP Rep. David Valadao, who erstwhile voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump, is trying to clasp disconnected Democrat Rudy Salas for reelection.

Contributing: Donovan Slack, Sean Rossman and Ella Lee, USA TODAY; Robert Anglen, Stacey Barchenger, Arizona Republic; Associated Press