NBC News projects that Phil Scott, the Republican governor of Vermont, has been elected to a second term. Scott defeated Democrat Christine Hallquist, a former electricity executive.
Hallquist's bid attracted national attention because of her status as the first transgender woman to be nominated for governor by a major party.
Scott is popular in the Green Mountain State, where voters in this election split their ballots and re-elected independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Rep. Peter Welch, according to NBC News projections.
Veterans of America’s armed services have registered relatively strong support for Republican candidates in the 2018 midterm elections, according to the NBC News Exit Poll. More than half of all veterans voted for the GOP candidate in their House districts, compared to just four in 10 voters who are not veterans. Veterans made up 13 percent of those casting ballots in 2018.
Today’s results are consistent with the 2016 presidential race, when 60 percent of veterans voted for Republican Donald Trump. But there is a clear divide between white veterans and veterans of color. While about two-thirds of white veterans voted for the Republican ticket for House, nearly the exact opposite is true for veterans of color: About two-thirds of these veterans supported the Democratic candidate.
Mitt Romney has won the U.S. Senate race in Utah, NBC News projects.
Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012 and the former governor of Massachusetts, defeated Democrat Jenny Wilson in the race, NBC News projected.
He will replace GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch, who announced earlier this year that he will not seek election to an eighth term.
Romney, who grew up in Michigan, has a home in Utah and deep ties to the state, including through his Mormon faith. He was credited with rescuing the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and he has a network of well-placed political supporters in the state.
Romney's projected win marks a triumphant return to public office for the 71-year-old Republican dignitary.
The former presidential nominee, an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, could become a powerful foe of the White House in the Senate GOP caucus. However, a Romney confidante told NBC News earlier this year it was unlikely he would take that approach.
California spending for the 2018 election cycle, which includes congressional midterms, a gubernatorial race and a number of statewide initiatives, has exceeded $1 billion, campaign data publication California Target Book estimates.
The spending includes more than $287 million on congressional candidates and nearly $20 million alone on a U.S. Senate race between two Democrats, according to Target Book's estimates.
That figure was outdone by more than $366 million spent on statewide initiatives, which included a proposal to allow cities to expand rent control and another that would repeal a 12 cents per-gallon gas tax.
Spending on campaigning for top statewide offices, including governor, exceeded $222 million, the Target Book report found. Expenditures for state legislative seats surpassed $156 million.
Fred Smoller, associate professor of political science at Chapman University in Orange, California, said, "We’ve never seen anything like the money spent on these congressional races."
"The tremendous interest in the election is reflected in the money and in the turnout," he said.
NBC News projects that Democrat Jared Polis has been elected governor of Colorado.
Polis, who currently serves as representative from Colorado's 2nd Congressional District, will become the nation's first openly gay man elected governor.
The Colorado Democrat defeated Republican Walker Stapleton, the Colorado state treasurer.
Read NBC Out's profile of Jared Polis here.
Incumbent Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly issued a statement after conceding to GOP challenger Mike Braun in the Indiana Senate race.
"A few minutes ago, I called Mike Braun and congratulated him on winning a hard-fought race," Donnelly said in the statement. "I’d like to thank every single American who believed in this campaign and worked to make it successful, and every Hoosier whom I have come across over the last six years who helped me to better serve my state."
"It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to represent Indiana in the Senate," he added. "I wish Mike the best, and I hope he makes every single Hoosier proud as our senator."
The closely watched Texas Senate race between incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke is too early to call, according to NBC News.
With 73 percent of the vote in the Lone Star State tallied, Cruz was up over O'Rourke, a congressman representing an El Paso-area district, 49.8 percent to 49.6 percent.
O'Rourke, who had raised record-shattering amounts of cash during his race, and Cruz had been running neck and neck in recent polls.
Should the Democratic Party capture the House of Representatives in today’s midterm elections, they’ll have independent voters to thank, according to results from the NBC News Exit Poll. By more than a 10-point margin, voters who reject party labels and describe themselves as either independent or "something else" reported casting their votes for House Democrats over Republicans. Independent voters made up three in 10 voters casting ballots in today’s midterm elections.
The shift represents a substantial swing to the Democrats compared to the recent past: Exit polls from previous years show that independent voters have supported GOP presidential and Congressional candidates in every national election since 2010. The last time Democrats won the support of independents at the national level was when the party’s ticket was first headlined by Barack Obama, who captured a majority of the group’s vote in his successful first bid for the presidency in 2008.
Rashida Tlaib won Michigan's 13th Congressional District on Tuesday, NBC News projects, becoming the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress.
Tlaib was previously elected to the Michigan House of Representatives.
Read more about Tlaib on NBC News.
