East Coast midterm election results coming in; CA polls closing soon

It is election night in America. Voters turning out to decide the future of California and the country, including a pivotal fight for the next mayor of Los Angeles. And who will lead the Golden State? Javier Becerra looks to succeed fellow Democrat Gavin Newsom, while Steve Hilton hopes to return Republicans to the governor's office for the first time in two decades. The battle for Congress, control of Congress, the fight for the House and Senate could mean A shift in the balance of power in Washington and reshaped the president's agenda. We're tracking the results and bringing you the latest updates in California and nationwide. Welcome to the Fox 11 News at 5 simulcast on Fox LA+. I'm Christine Devine. And I'm Glenn Walker. Less than three hours remain until polls across the state will close. The official cutoff is 8 p.m. As long as you are in line, though, you can still cast a ballot. But we are seeing some long wait times, up to one hour. Our team is tracking the candidates in two of the biggest races tonight. We begin with Matthew Seedorf, live from campaign headquarters for Nithya Raman for mayor. Matthew. Yeah, anticipation is building for what really has been a contentious L.A. mayor's race. Now, this is where the Rahman campaign is going to be holding a party tonight. They're hoping that it is a party tonight as polls close at 8 o'clock. Now, if you go and take a look at this, this is really a race that is considered a dead heat. According to the most recent polls, Mayor Bass erasing what was an 11-point Rahman lead in polls a month ago to what is now essentially a tie. That with still about 20% of voters undecided. Rahman has made affordability, housing, and homelessness key issues in this campaign, arguing unsheltered homelessness dropped almost 50% in her district, even while it increased citywide. With so many people undecided in the final hours tonight, we're hearing from voters on what issues matter most. Mayor, governor, Homeland Security. Taxes, homeowners insurance that's going through the roof, homelessness. I lost my job and then my family's immigration issues. The gas is too high. You know, I mean, it's hard to get back and forth to work. You know, I might think about riding a bike. This election is, I can't explain how important it really is that our voices are heard. And here's Rahman this morning joined by her husband and children at Silver Lake Church, the same place she voted in June's primary. She spent the final hours today phone banking, crisscrossing the city, trying to reach those undecided voters. On every metric, Things have gotten worse under this mayor's leadership. And throughout it all, even during some of the starkest emergencies that we've faced, this mayor feels like she has been missing in action to so many Angelenos. What I am bringing is an urgency for change that I know Angelenos are feeling. Now, in the June primary on election night, Raman trailed Spencer Pratt by about eight percentage points. So her camp feels pretty good that if they're within five percentage points tonight of Mayor Bass, that they could run away with that mail-in vote. Reporting live tonight, Matthew Seedorf, Fox 11 News. Thank you very much. All right, Matthew, thank you. We're going to keep a watch on that. But we also have team coverage at both headquarters in tonight's tight race for L.A. Mayor. Let's check in with Fox 11's Phil Schumann. He is live at Mayor Karen Bass's headquarters in Hollywood. Phil. We're in one of the ballrooms at the Lowe's Hotel at Hollywood and Highland, the California Democratic Party hosting Mayor Karen Bass on the Election Watch festivities tonight. Mayor Bass, of course, has cast this as the voice of experience, someone with a plan that is working against someone who is not ready for prime time. It's the way she's criticized her challenger, Nithya Raman. Mayor Bass, one of the key endorsements, organized labor. She was at an event with them this morning when she made her sort of last closing argument, if you will, to voters. We have had an impact on affordability, we have much more to do, but I am confident in the foundation that we've laid in the first four years that Los Angeles is going to be much more affordable. By the end of my second term, we will have had 100,000 units of housing underway being fast tracked. We already have 10,000 units that are ready for occupancy right now. We will have expanded childcare and we will have expanded free transit, three ways to impact affordability. Affordability, the city will be safer because we will have a stable Los Angeles Police Department with expanded numbers. And then most important that we will be able to take advantage of the opportunity that the Olympic brings. So back live here in Hollywood. Interesting to note that Mayor Bass did not mention homelessness, which of course has been her number one priority since taking office four years ago. And that is really the number one priority of most voters, if you ask them. So Glenn and Christine, we won't really know the outcome tonight. It's expected to be too close to call. It was six days before we knew that Nithya Raman had come in second in the June primary. So it's going to be a long night. Watching the results come in and the key number 218,000, those are the numbers of Los Angeles voters who voted for Spencer Pratt in the primary. So the thinking is whoever can do a better job of convincing Spencer Pratt voters to vote for them is going to be the next mayor of Los Angeles. Glenn, Christine. Yeah, so we should note that you did a debate type thing with both of those candidates. I'm wondering your thoughts on that race being neck and neck now. Well, I'm not surprised. They're both very liberal, progressive Democrats. Not much distinguishes them in terms of policy, philosophies, outlook. And so it is a very difficult choice for Los Angeles voters, quite frankly, many of whom are not that enthused by either of them. So the fact that this is neck and neck is to be expected. Well, you mentioned the 218,000 Spencer Pratt voters. Is her staff confident she was able to turn some of those people around? Well, publicly they're saying that, yes, and she's also mentioned the importance of younger voters. A lot of those Spencer Pratt voters are presumably the younger generation. Mayor Bass had use for Bath and Nithya Raman has had a strong get-out-the-vote effort among the younger generation. So, you know, these are all the kinds of analytics that we're going to be able to do after the fact that it'll be really interesting. But right now, the focus was in just getting out those undecided voters to make a decision and get to the polls and not just, you know, sit it out. All right, Phil Schumann, live tonight in Hollywood at the headquarters for Mayor Karen Bass. We'll see you in just a bit. All right, moving on, Governor Gavin Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, cast their votes as Californians are voting today to choose their next governor. Democrat Javier Becerra could become the state's first Latino governor, while Republican Steve Hilton hopes to be the first GOP leader since 2006. Polls show Becerra leading Hilton 61 percent to 34 percent. Voters are focused on issues like housing, cost of living, and climate change. The candidates sharply differ on solutions from taxes to homelessness. Let's get a closer look at the race for California governor. Steve Hilton campaign headquarters is in Garden Grove. That's where Fox 11's Rachel Aragon is live. Rachel. Despite what these polls have been showing, as you said, week after week, we spoke to Hilton earlier today. He stressed he still feels pretty good about having a good shot at leading the state of California over the next four years. Now, if you've been following his campaign, he's really stressed about reinstating the California dream. He's been telling voters who are undecided he believes under Democratic leadership over the last 20 or so years, he believes affordability has become unattainable. He's been pointing to day after day things like the gas prices as well as Insurance being high, and he goes out day after day, as we've seen before, saying he has a chance of lowering that for everyday Californians. Now, to be realistic, we know history is not on his side. It will be an uphill battle if he can win tonight or the next few weeks when those results come in. We know it's been 16 years since a Republican has led the state, and 20 years since the Since the Californians have elected a Republican, in fact, well, here is Steve Hilton earlier when we asked him about the polling favorite, Becerra, and why he still feels he has a shot tonight. Take a listen. But against that, you've got the people and the people that we're seeing, the crowds we're seeing at our events is something we haven't seen in California for at least 20 years. The energy, the enthusiasm, our final rally last night, finishing strong in Huntington Beach. Thousands of people, just an absolutely massive crowd. Same all last week in San Diego, Orange County, L.A., Fresno, Sacramento. There's something happening. Now, his big message to undecided voters, he says, if you're not happy with how things are going right now, why not try something new? And his campaign, as we've seen before, really centering on affordability and especially gas prices. We've been seeing him out there, of course, touting his pledge to lower gas prices to about $3 a gallon. We'll see how that could turn out if he does get elected. But again, the message he's been saying to voters here is that, yes, it's been a while since a Republican has been governor. But he says it can't be done. And he believes, and he wants the voters to believe too, that Kelly California is not a blue state or a red state, but like he says, a golden state, and he's hoping voters will give him a chance. But again, it'll be an uphill battle given history as we've seen. It's been a long time since Californians have voted in a Republican. Yeah, quite a gap in the polls, and you mentioned that Steve Hilda spent a lot of time at gas stations pointing out the high gas prices. His opponent, within the last week in an interview with Ashley Zavala, said that he... It may be in favor of a mileage tax, he said it's not off the table. Has Hilton jumped on that in the last couple of days? Oh, absolutely. We've talked to him about that personally. In fact, he's really jumped on the fact that Becerra, in the interview you referenced, said he's open to this idea of a mileage tax. And really, Hilton, throughout his whole campaign, trying to make that difference to voters, saying if you go with Becerra, he believes there'll be tax even more. If you go with Hilton, things will become more affordable. And he's really pushed this idea of lowering taxes and costs for business owners, but that mileage tax has definitely been a point of conversation over the last week or so. Yeah, even in that t-shirt in that interview, he has the wording that says $3 gas. So he's been wearing it like a billboard. He really has. And something else he's also been asked, of course, many, many times is even if he is elected governor of California, the obvious thing is he'll be facing a very blue Democratic legislature, right? So the question becomes, even if elected, how much can he get done? All these pledges he has, right, to lower gas prices, to lower fees and taxes for small businesses and whatnot. Can he get that done despite having a blue? So we'll see what happens tonight, but again, he's making that clear distinction between him and Becerra. And also, he has mentioned the infrequency he talks about, right, that Becerra has had in terms of campaign events and media interviews. All right, the night is young, as you can see with the room behind her still open and empty right now, but it'll sure to be full tonight. Thank you, Rachel. Who controls Congress? Voters are deciding whether Republicans maintain their grip on Capitol Hill or Democrats put the president's agenda in check. We'll be right back. A high-stakes showdown for Washington. Control of Congress is on the line tonight. Democrats must flip four seats in the Senate. And three seats in the House to wrestle control of each chamber from Republicans. And the polls are beginning to close in some closely watched races. Fox's Greg Lee joining us now from the Bay Area tracking the balance of power. And we are getting some results coming in. What do you have for us? Yeah, Christine Glenn, good to see both you. Happy Election Day. We're just hearing that Senator John Ossoff, the incumbent Democrat in Georgia, has been named the winner very quickly in that race. And that was just an hour ago that polls closed in Georgia that they were able to call that race for Ossoff. If you consider this a year ago, Ossoff was rated the most vulnerable senator in a swing state because Donald Trump won there In 2024, but Ossoff being able to overperform likely in cities. All right, taking a look at the big picture, what is at stake in tonight's fight for this balance of power in Congress? Yeah, Glenn, hugely important. I mean, this will dictate the final two years of President Trump's time in the White House. Right now, he's been able to move full steam ahead with his agenda, with everything he's wanted to do in terms of military spending, in addition to the big so-called Big Beautiful Bill that was passed and signed by President Trump. Because Republicans control all three. chambers of government. Now, moving forward, if Democrats are able to win the House, what they're expected to do, or if they're able to flip the Senate as well, that will create a bit of a firewall and will leave a lot of scrutiny for anything that President Trump wants to do in this final two years of his term. So the consequences of this midterm are massive. The Senate is a toss up. Can you talk about some of the Senate races that are most likely to determine who controls Washington? Yeah, there are really seven states here that we're looking at, that at this point are considered toss-ups. Michigan, Texas, Maine, Ohio, Kansas, Alaska, and Iowa. Those seven states will likely dictate the direction the Senate goes, and we have seen both sides pumping a huge amount of money. And resources into those states to try to preserve their seats in those places, Republicans hold six of those seven Democrats holding that one seat in Michigan, where obviously there's a very contentious Senate race there. Also a very contentious race for the Senate in Texas. Yeah, James Tallarico, the Democrat and And Ken Paxton, excuse me, the Republican in that race. More than half a billion dollars spent in that race. Democrats have not won a Senate race in Texas since 1988. So much of the national attention has been on Texas because Democrats believe they have a strong candidate. in Tallarico and Paxton by many accounts is a historically bad candidate for Republicans based on some of his time in the state legislature, as well as some morality concerns. But that could be a real nail biter and it could be days if until that race is called. Although if you ask Tallarico's camp, they're telling folks they believe they're gonna do what Ossoff did. Which is over perform and some of those democratic strongholds like Austin and Dallas and they believe they are confident that certainly this race will be able to be called tonight. But certainly we will see where the votes fall guys. I was gonna ask you about that. Some of these races are so close to call wondering when you think we'll actually have official results. Well, California is no stranger to this right voters know and this has been a large complaint amongst California's is that it takes so long to count so many votes and have many results in the Golden State 23 million. Plus, mail-in ballots sent out to registered voters across our state. And so that has been a concern, not only for voters in California, but obviously has gotten national attention. President Trump has questioned the integrity of our elections without any evidence here. But look, in terms of the balance of power, especially if these races are close in those swing states like Texas, that could be days before we have a really clear picture of what the balance of power looks like. And what the final two years of President Trump's term looks like. All right, Greg Lee, live tonight up in Oakland. He is watching closely the national picture and how it might, as he said, affect the last two years of the Trump administration. Thanks, Greg. Now, a live look at the L.A. County Registrar's Central Ballot Tally Operation. Election workers will scan and process ballots as they come in. And let's take a live look at a voting center in Paramount. Long lines there. Polls, again, are open until 8. And if you're in line at 8 o'clock, you can still vote. Stay with us. We'll be right back.