US midterm elections: Governor races to watch

As polls closed across the country, Democrats had largely conceded they were going to lose control of the U.S. House of Representatives to Republicans but hoped to retain a razor-thin majority in the Senate.

Early exit polls from Edison Research, however, showed reason for concern as Democrats appeared to be losing support from crucial voting blocs.

The exit polls showed 54% of voters with college degrees picking Democrats while 45% voted for Republicans. That nine-percentage point advantage was slightly lower than the 12-point spread that Democrat Joe Biden had over Republican Donald Trump among college-educated voters in the 2020 presidential contest.

Of perhaps even greater concern for Democrats was the continued movement of Latinos toward the Republican Party. Exit polls showed Republicans were winning 40% of the Hispanic vote, compared to 32% won by Trump in 2020.

But Democrats could take heart that their share of support from white college-educated women seemed to be holding steady. In 2020, Biden beat Trump among that cohort by about 9 points, according to Edison, and Democrats were leading on Tuesday by a similar margin in the exit polls.

Democrats made protecting abortion rights a central tenet of their midterm election pitch in the closing months – an issue likely to resonate most with college-educated women.

Overall, 52% of all suburban women nationwide were voting for Democrats compared to 47% picking Republicans. That five-percentage point spread was slightly less than the seven-point advantage Biden had over Trump in 2020.