Early starts special election coverage begins right now. Good morning, everyone. A very Early Morning. Welcome to early start special election edition. And i am john berman. It is 3 00 a. M. In the east. As we said, there is major breaking news this morning. Republicans have taken control of the United States senate, and they did it in a tidal wave fashion. It was a night many had forecast would be filled with close contests. Instead, it was near to a blowout for republicans, who picked up more than the six seats they needed to take control of the senate. Now races still remain unsettled in alaska and louisiana. But as things stand now, right at this moment, republicans will hold at least 52 seats in the senate, picking up seven over the current congress. Democrats will hold 45 seats. Lets begin with those republican pickups. West virginia has its first female u. S. Senator, republican Shelley Moore capito defeating natalie tenet. She will take the seat of jay rockefeller. Capitos victory marks the first time in 56 years West Virginia has elected a republican senator. Another key pickup for republicans is south dakota, where mike rounds easily defeated ri defeat defeated weiland. Turning to montana, steve daines defeated Amanda Curtis surrendered by max baucus. Democrats all but conceded after their original candidate john walsh withdrew over reflations he plagiarized parts of his masters these success. Another seat in arkansas with republican tom cotton defeating senator mark pryor. Pryor had tried running away from president obama, whose Approval Rating among arkansas voters was just 34 . A historymaking night tonight. Joni ernst picking up the seat vacated by retired Democrat John harkin. This was quite a battle. Ernst becoming the states first female senator in an easier than expected win over bruce braley. This was a bruising big money battle with the candidates spending nearly 80 million on campaign ads between them. Easier than expected is a theme this morning. In colorado, a surprisingly easy win for republican cory gardner, unseating the incumbent democrat mark udall. This was supposed to be neck and neck. Colorado is a purple state. And udall is the first Colorado Senate incumbent to be voted out of office in 36 years. North carolina. A state that president obama won once. That was the state that clinched it for republicans. Thom tillis defeated the incumbent democrat kay hagan. That was the race that finally gave control of the senate to the Republican Party. Now kansas, that was icing on the cake. One of the most hotly contested races in the country. In the end, republican senator pat roberts, he won reelection, defeating an independent challenger greg ormond. Republicans had been nervous. A surprise. A nail bite theyre is too close for us to project still this morning in virginia. Democrat senator mark warner is declaring victory. He is enjoying a lead right now of 12,000 votes over the republican challenger ed gillespie. Gillespie has not conceded this race. There really is no one in the political world who saw this one being this close. In new hampshire, cnn has projected that democrat Jeanne Shaheen will hold on to her senate seat. The republican challenger there scott brown has also refused to concede at this point. Mitch mcconnell, the Senate Minority leader, at least for a few more days, cruising to reelection. He defeated democrat Alison Lundergan grimes to win a sixth term. And with republicans taking control of the senate, Mitch Mcconnell will become the next majority leader. Christine . There. Are two more races where the outcome is not known. In louisiana, neither Mary Landrieu or any of her opponents got over the 50 threshold required to win the seat. That throws the race to a primary on december 6. And in alaska where the polls didnt even close until midnight eastern time, theyre still counting votes at this hour. I want to start in ankle a raj where cnns drew griffin is standing by life for us. Governor, drew. How is the vote count going up there . 68 in is an sullivan the republican challenger to the democratic mark begich is leading 50 44 . Given the tone of the evening, christine, the history of alaska politics and the results so far, it looks like the republicans will pick up this seat, and mark begich, the democrat, will be a onetermer. But nobody is conceding anything here here. In fact, i just talked to the alaska senator, the senior senator from alaska, lisa murkowski. And she says look, we dont count anybody until all those votes are counted. And she said even with all this percentage of the vote in, its still, you cant call an Alaska Senate race because things can get so quirky here so fast. It looks good for dan sullivan. It is only 11 00 at night here. The party is still on here. And dan sullivan is just down the street. Should he win, he is going to come back to this vote tally center and make the rounds. But right now we are just waiting on all those votes, farflung regions of alaska to be counted. Christine . Quirky. I think thats a really good way to state it. Still counting the votes in alaska. The winner of louisiana senate. Neither Mary Landrieu or bill cassidy got the vote to win outright. It will be decided in a two candidate Runoff Election. Suzanne malveaux is there live for us in new orleans this morning. This is what many people would forecast, that we wouldnt know the outcome of this vote for some time. You know, christine, they called it a jungle primary. But we expect kind of a wild ride to happen in the next 32 days or so before that runoff. Yes, it was not unexpected here. But certainly it is a lot of anticipation around this. Youre talking about senator landrieu, who came out late in the evening, really very aggressive against her opponent, bill cassidy, challenging him to six debates before the runoff. Also launching a new website, a poster, saying look, where was bill. Com, challenging him on his record. And then finally saying, christine, that this race is not going to be about the president , who he was, who he is, or who he will be. She made that very close. Then you had bill cassidy coming out, the congressman saying exactly that, that he again compared her, linked her to the president , saying she voted with him 97 of the time. He also boasted that 60 of louisiana voters voted for change. And that is a big challenge for senator landrieu. Now what her people told me last night and early in the morning, they said look, anticipate and expect that she is going to fight and fight hard, because she has done this before. Back in 96, she won the runoff. Back this 2002, won the runoff. Back in 2008, didnt have to actually do the runoff and won then. So this would be her fourth goaround. Not her first rodeo. So they are getting prepared. Theyre getting excited about this. But clearly, they have huge challenges ahead. Because those who supported the Tea Party Candidate, a big portion, 14 of the voters, theyre going to likely go towards cassidy, if she cannot actually take some of those votes away. Still 32 days, christine, to see how this all turns out. All right. Suzanne malveaux for us in new orleans this morning. And john, big story in the senate, of course. But this was a night that belonged to the republicans in the house as well. Everywhere, christine. The how many timuse of represen republicans were able to strengthen their hand. At the moment republicans will have the less, at least 239 seats in the house of representatives when the congress sits in january that is a minimum of five more than the 234 they hold at the moment. It will probably be much more than maybe not much more. Somewhere between 10 and 12 perhaps. Democrats have at least 172 seats. This will almost definitely strengthen John Boehners hand when dealing with the president. The question remains will it change the partisan gridlock situation in washington. Were going to have to wait and see what the leaders say over the next few days. I want to bring in our political analysts right now. Joining us, john avlon, editor and chief of the daily beast. Republican political strategist margaret hoover, and sally kohn for aggressive columnist for the daily beast. Margaret hoover, you were a card carrying member of the Republican Party. Well let you start tonight there is no other way to put it. This was a tidal wave. Everything that we thought was close wasnt nearly as close. Things we didnt think were going to be close, like virginia, way close. What happened . The map was laid out and very favorably from the beginning for republicans. There was some sixyear itch. The electorate is disenchanted with the president who has very low Approval Ratings. And republicans ran incredibly strong candidates. I think between all of those things, the option on the table was to change the status quo in washington by moving one element, making the senate republican, give some chance of changing from the status quo. By the way, it wasnt an entire tidal wave. Scott brown lost. If scott brown in massachusetts then we could legitimately say yep, we swept the country. Really, really large kahuna. It wasnt a super storm surge. Too soon. It had to be a long, long night for you and for activists around the country. I mean yes is the right answer to that question. I dont want to sugarcoat it. Margaret just gave me a nice warm fuzzy feeling that it wasnt as bad as it could have been. Look, the reality is there is sort of this emotional roller coaster if you will for democrats this cycle. From the beginning, margaret is right. It doesnt look like a race democrats were going to do well in. The change was if anything that suddenly it looked like things are closer than they might be. This is the sixth term of a democrat president. Sixth year of a democratic president , and sixyear elections, the party in power almost always loses seats. This was expected to happen. If anything the news is it wasnt as close, it wasnt as bad as it could have been. You got to find a Silver Lining somewhere. Youre in the white house tonight. Youre president obama. What are you thinking . Are you thinking gosh, look at what i did to all these guys in my party . Are you thinking gosh, im going to go out there and be aggressive tomorrow and change things. Gosh, im going to find ways to c compromise with the republicans. He has campaigned on it. He has talked about it. He is accused of being an entrenched partisan. Well put that to the test now. I think he is going to want to see some things get done. I think he is probably going to dig in his heels on appointments and other issues if they want to try to repeal or dismember any part of obamacare, i think he is probably going to pull out the veto peck. But other than that, there is plenty that needs to be done there is a huge backlog of very routine work that has not done over the last two kongs. The New York Times has a quote they dont see this as a repudiation. How can you see this as anything but a repudiation . Look, among other things, one of the things you mentioned tonight is simply turnout. If turnout is high, you get different results. Thats something that the parties need to deal with. Republicans should feel good tonight, partly about their pickups. There were a lot of countervailing forces going this election. Republicans seem to have won almost them all. It is a fundamentally different slice of the electorate. Mitch mcconnells Closing Argument is all about gridlock. The president has to rise up and say ill find areas of Common Ground and they both have to follow through. Stick around. We have a lot more to talk to there are a lot of other races we need to get to. Were going go to christine now. A lot of governors mansions that changed hands last night. The gop sweeping most of the competitive contests for governor across the country. Were Still Holding off in projecting winners of a few of the races. Republican candidates taking over the Governors Office in arkansas, illinois, massachusetts, and maryland. While the democrats only pick up this morning is in pennsylvania. In illinois, wow, republican bruce rauner defeating the incumbent governor pat quinn. Thats according to a cnn projection and a big upset there. Another stunning upset in heavily democratic maryland. Republican businessman larry hogan winning the governors race. He defeated the democrat anthony brown, the states Lieutenant Governor. And another deep blue blow for democrats in massachusetts. Republican charlie bake erwining the governors race over the democrat martha coakley. It comes after eight years of democratic rule in massachusetts under governor Deval Patrick there is a new republican governor in arkansas. Former Homeland Security official Asa Hutchinson defeating the democrat mike ross, giving the gop control of the top office after eight years in the hands of democrats. The gop also taking other tight races where democrats were given decent odds to win. Florida voters reelect rick scott to a second term as governor, delivering a stinging rebuke to democrat charlie crist. Scott pumped nearly 13 million of his own money into his campaign in its final days. He becomes just the second gop governor in florida history to win reelection. In wisconsin, the republican scott walker easily won reelection to his second term by doubledigit others the democrat mary burke. That victory keeps walker in the mix for a possible president ial run in 2016. Walker angered many voters and had a recall election in 2012 after he ended collective bargaining rights for the states employees. Republicans hold on to the state house in georgia. Voters dave nathan deal four more years. He defeated jason carter, the grandson of former president jimmy carter. The republicans remain in control beating fred duval in the governors race. Hell replace jan brewer who decided to retire rather than challenge the states term limit law. He is best known for building the Cold Stone Creamery before selling that company in 2007 and entering politics. Democrats only one pickup on their call this morning, tom wolf is the new governor of pennsylvania, the democrat defeating the republican incumbent tom corbett in his bid for reelection. I want to check in on the panel for the expansion of the Governors Offices across the country. I want to start in illinois. What happened in illinois . I want to listen to something that bruce rauner said. He is a republican who defeated pat quinn. Lets listen. This is an historic time in illinois. The voters have spoken. The voters have asked for divided government for the first time in many years. Well have a republican governor and a democratic legislature. And the voters have chosen to have a divided government not so we can fight, not so we can bicker, not so we can get angry with each other, but its to find solutions. Deep sighs from sally kohn. Ive heard a lot of deep sighs from you this morning. This is a big loss for the democrats. You know, illinois was a big surprise. Then again, i really have nothing positive to offer here on the case of illinois. Im sorry. Its not pretty. Something positive. Look, this is something that seemed possible a few months ago, and then quinn seemed to have an improbable surge. In illinois and massachusetts, two of the most democratic states you can get have republican governors today. But what is just as significant is the message they gave. They both said elect a republican executive as a check on an entirely democratic state. And people responded to that message. Charlie baker returning that legacy of bill weld. Deval patrick is an aberration in recent years. And so thats a really interesting sign. Its not just a republican wave in this case. Its an interesting sign of some voters in blue states wanting divided government as a check on legislation. You have to point out in illinois the handwriting wasnt always really on the wall. Pat quinn won that seat with a 500,000 vote margin, all out of cook county, all out of the chicago area. He was in some ways sort of the governor of chicago. And if you dont turn out the cook county organization doesnt turn out the vote out there, this is what happens. Can we talk about maryland . Maryland a big deal in maryland. But what were seeing in the dna of these republicans that are winning in blue states is actually a different kind of republican. And i think that thats thats some Silver Lining for my progressive friends on my left. Even though they dont want to like republicans, if they had to pick one, they would like this kind of republican do. You like larry hogan . As opposed to a Sam Brownback kind of republican. Youre getting a more moderate version on social issues, certainly more temperate. Fiscal issues are conservative. This is a new breed of republican that frankly i think the National Republican party has been thirsting for some time. Margaret is pointing to the broader Silver Lining here for democrats. And frankly, for the majority of the American People who support marriage equality, who support raising the minimum wage, who support access to reproductive choice and abortion, which overwhelmingly the majority of americans support. And in not only in electing these moderate governors, but in the ballot measures and all these instances, they supported that even in cases where they put republicans in the senator in the electoral elections. What kinds of republicans are going to be Running Congress . What kind of tone are the Republican Party going to have in washington . So glad. What were starting to see in a lot of these house races is actually because weve grown our margin so much, its a lot of suburban districts who have elected again socially moderate republicans to the house of representatives, which means john boehner is going to have a caucus that will help buttress his crazy caucus, as hi husband calls it. A lot to talk about this morning. Deep sighs from sally and a lot to talk about this morning. John . So much breaking news going on. All morning long. Republicans taking control of the u. S. Senate. They have swept the midterm elections across the country. But will the Republican Party and Mitch Mcconnell, will they be able to get their agenda through . President obama of course has the veto pen. And as you just heard, some members of party already looking ahead to 2016. So much ahead as early start special election coverage is ahead, next. Let me get tyes . Straight. Lactaid® is 100 real milk . Right. Real milk. But it wont cause me discomfort. Exactly, no discomfort, because its milk without the lactose. And it tastes . Its real milk come on, would i lie about this . Lactaid®. 100 real milk. No discomfort. And try lactaid® supplements with your first bite to dig in to all your dairy favorites. Welcome back to early start in our special election coverage. This was a very tough night for democrats. A very big night for republicans. How big . Well, the state of georgia, this was a state where people thought it might go into overtime, where neither candidate might break the 50 threshold that didnt happen. Instead, republican david perdue, he beat the democrat Michelle Nunn and by some eight points over 50 . There will not be a runoff in the state of georgia. Live now from the heart of georgia and the cnn center in atlanta, nick valencia. Good morning, nick. We thought it might be a long morning. It hasnt turned out that way. Good morning, john. So many people had this going down the wire with the likely predict being this was going go to a runoff because it was going to be impossible that either candidate was going to get that 50 plus one vote necessary to avoid a runoff in georgia. Very early on, i poke to somebody within the Michelle Nunn campaign who said they were confident about an outright victory. But just a couple hours after polls closed at 7 00 p. M. Eastern in georgia, it became very clear that perdue was going to pull away with this. Check out the numbers right there. Perdue in an interview after his victory told cnn that this was about voting being dissatisfied or unsatisfied i should say with the presidency of barack obama, and none in her concession speech, she was upbeat and said she proved a lot of people wrong in this red state. She showed a democrat could be competitive. But this the end she came up short. A lot of people riding this morning, republicans recognized this as a possible race for them, and they sent in help and they got david perdue headed in the right direction in time to take this seat for the Republican Party. Nick valencia at the cnn center, thank you so much. Of course, the republican victory in the senate means that Mitch Mcconnell will become the majority leader. But its not going to be easy for him necessarily. He may have a hard time getting his agenda through with so many members of his caucus lanning to run for president. Of course, theyre going to have ideas of their own. Cnns tom foreman in the Virtual Senate with more. Tom . Hi, john. If you think about it, harry reid as majority leader for the democrats had a Real Advantage by having barack obama in the white house. Because when the same party has the white house and the senate, it has a way of tamping down that enthusiasm among other members to take that office. This will not be the case for Mitch Mcconnell, if all goes through as planned and he becomes the majority leader over here. Why . Well, he just has to look across the chamber. And you can see why there is rand paul this the corner, his fellow kentucky senator. Just last year it wasnt clear that rand paul would even endorse mcconnell for reelection. And back in the corner, there is ted cruz. Ted cruz has a way of getting headlines that make it very tough for republicans sometimes. Early this evening he was asked about backing mcconnell to be the majority leader. He wouldnt even say that at the time. Of course there is marco rubio back there. He has his own ambitions. What about the people outside here, paul ryan coming from the house of representatives, former Vice President ial candidate. He has ideas about the economy. And then you have all these governors and former governors. People out there like jeb bush and bobby jindal and chris christie. And even sarah palin and mike huckabee. The bottom line is what is going to happen for mcconnell is he is going to look out into a very Different Senate and a very different Political Landscape than what reid looked at. He is going to look at a lot of people with a lot of different ideas about what should be going on in this chamber this the name of the Republican Party. That might make it very tough for him. And frankly, it could make it tough for the Republican Party in 2016 if they cant come together with the clear message of what theyre going to do with all this newfound power. John . Tom foreman for news the virtual room. Looks like the hall of president s there. Thank you so much, tom. Christine . John, turning now to some of the big Ballot Initiatives across the country. An increase in the minimum wage, a big priority for the president. And more liberal marijuana laws. Those gained wide voter approval. In arkansas, another ringing endorsement for a higher minimum wage. Nearly 2 3 of the voters approving incremental increases to 8. 50 an hour. Supporters are hoping the outcome will add moment to a legislative proposal to officially raise the minimum wage there in illinois. The minimum wage in nebraska increases to 9 bucks an hour in 2016 after voters in the cornhusker state approved initiative 425. That is the states first minimum wage hike in five years. And there will be pay raises for minimum wage workers in south dakota too. Votersarily approving an increase to 8. 50 an hour starting january 1 along with incremental hikes in the years to come that could be tied to inflation. Oregon now the third state to legalize recreational marijuana. Starting next summer, residents will be allowed to carry up to one ounce. They could possess up to eight ounces at home. Households can also grow up to four plants per household. In florida, voters narrowly rejected a proposal to legalize medical marijuana. That received more than 50 of the vote. But 60 wneeded to pass. And washington approved 594, mandating background checks on all gun sales and transfers, including at gun shows and online. In washington state, voters tightened gun control with two ballot measures, initiative 591 rejected by voters. It would have loosened gun control laws. The minimum wage raises in those states, those are red states. Four or five of the states were red states and they went with what president obamas priority was. Couldnt do it federally. The states are doing it. The big part of the story, the breaking news, the republicans winning big in these midterm elections. Congress will be drastically changed. Early start continues right now. All right. The breaking news this morning. Republicans will be in control of the u. S. Senate, pulling off major victories, including some upsets, extending their lead in the house of representatives, adding to their tally of governorships across the country. This morning we will show you the new makeup of congress, and how it will dramatically affect president obamas last two years in office. Early starts special election coverage starts right now. Welcome back to early start. Im john berman. Good morning. Im christine romance. Major breaking news. Republicans have taken control of the United States senate in a tidal wave. It was a night that many people had forecast would be filled with close contests. A lot of them really not as close as we thought it was going to be. Really a wave for republicans, in some cases a big wave. They picked up more than the six seats they needed to take control of the senate. Now races remain unsettled in alaska and louisiana, which will go to a runoff. But as things stand now, republicans will hold at least 52 seats in is the senate, picking up seven over the current congress. Democrats will hold 45 seats. I want to begin with the republican pickups. West virginia has its first female u. S. Senator. Republican Shelley Moore capito, defeating natalie ten the first time in 56 years that West Virginia has legitimated a republican senator. Mike rounds easily defeated rick weiland and Larry Pressler to win the seat. Montana, republican steve daines easily defeating democrat Amanda Curtis to win the senate seat surrendered by max baucus, who is now the u. S. Ambassador to china. Democrats all but conceded this race after their original candidate john walsh withdrew over allegations he plagiarized part of his masters thesis. Republicans picking up a seat in arkansas. The margin here was big. Tom cotton, a young, young man in his late 30s defeating mark pryor. Pryor had tried running away from president obama, whose Approval Rating among arkansas voters was just 34 . History made in iowa. The republican jodi ernst picking up the seat being vacated by retiring democrat tom harkin. Ernst is the states first female senator, the first representative sent to washington at all. They have never elected a woman as governor either. This an easier than expected win over democrat bruce braley. After a long battle, candidates spending nearly 80 million between them on campaign ads. A very crowded primary. And she came out as a clear winner and won. In colorado, surprisingly easy win for republican cory gardner, unseating mark udall. This one was supposed to be neck and neck. Udall the first Colorado Senate incumbent to be voted out of office in years. North carolina clenched it for republicans. Thom tillis defeated kay hagan, finally giving the gop control of the senate. In cast, one of the most hotly contested senate races in the country. But in the end, republican senator pat roberts won reelection, defeating selffunded independent challenger greg orman. Mark warner is claiming victory. Ed gillespie has not conceded that race yet. In new hampshire, cnn is projecting that Jeanne Shaheen will hold on to her seat. And Mitch Mcconnell cruising to reelection in kentucky. Mcconnell defeated democrat Alison Lundergan grimes to win a sixth term in the u. S. Senate. With the republicans taking control of the senate, mcconnell expected to become the next majority leader. John . So there are two senate races where the outcome is still not known this morning. In louisiana, neither senator larry la Mary Landrieu or her opponents got above the threshold there will be a runoff in november 6th. In alaska, the polls didnt really close until 1 00 a. M. Eastern time. They are still counting at this hour. So we want to start in anchorage where cnns drew griffin is standing by live. Good morning, drew. What is the latest up there . 70 in that senate race, and the republican challenger to Democrat Mark Begich is leeing, dan sullivan over mark begich, 54 to 40 . You may ask why this race hasnt been called. The politicians say here voting counting is quirky. You dont know where its coming in from. So they wait and wait and wait before they call this election. But john, you know, given the tone of the evening, whats happened nationally, the fact that alaska really is a red state, and quite frankly, the ground game ive seen here in alaska over the last couple of day, you really got to believe that this is going to be another win and another takeover for the Republican Party. But we wait. Theyre still counting the votes. Many of the votes have to be counted by hand. In fact, 137 precincts, they actually count by hand, and then phone it in. You hear the party behind me, john . [ cheering ] this is one of the fun things about governing elections in alaska. This is the Campaign Headquarters for nobody in particular. This is just where they all come to a convention center. And they parade in here one at a time, the candidates from all the way from the senate to the governor to even local state representative races and propositions. They just come in here. They have a little party and they party on out until the votes are counted. Right now we are just waiting and waiting for the final votes. It sounds like a blast to be there, drew. As you say it would be shocking given the wave around the country if that race does not go to the republicans. Drew griffin in alaska. Lets turn now to louisiana. The winner of the senate race there will not be known for weeks why, because neither the incumbent democrat Mary Landrieu nor her main republican challenger big cassidy got the 50 of the vote they needed to win outright. So that race will now go to a twocandidate runoff. Cnns Suzanne Malveaux live in new orleans. Good Early Morning to you, suzanne. Good morning, john. They stopped partying a little while ago. Of course they call this the jungle primary. And its going to be a wild ride we think in the next 32 days leading to the runoff. There was no clear winner as you said before. We saw senator landrieu getting 42 . Congressman bill cassidy getting 41 . And the Tea Party Candidate 14 . There was a bit of a disappointment here for senator landrieu who earlier told me she was confident, there was energy and excitement around herb campaign. That she would get to the magic number of 51. It did not happen. It did not take long for her to come out with her family on stage and go after cassidy on a number of issues. She challenged him to no less than six debates before the Runoff Election and made it very clear. This is not going to be a race about the president , who he was, who he is, or who he will be. This is going. To be about cassidys record in louisiana. Now cassidy came out, and he was pretty confident himself, saying look, 60 of those who voted in louisiana voted for change. So he feels very strong going into this over if next 32 days. And he also did exactly what landrieu didnt want him to do, which was again link senator landrieu to the president , president obama, saying she has voted with him 97 of the time. Weve heard that before. We anticipate were going to hear a lot more of that again. But the people that i talk to on landrieus side she has been through this before. This is not her first rodeo. Back in 96, she survived a runoff and won. 2002 the same. 2008, didnt have to have a runoff to actually win. Now 2014, she is back in this position. They feel that they can somehow try to grab those, even some moderate republicans to try to help her out. Cassidy is pretty confident he has some of the tea party votes that are going to go to his side. 32 days away. A fascinating 32 days, to see how many 2016 president ial candidates from both sides find thei way in louisiana. Suzanne malveaux, great to see you this morning. Thank you so much. Christine . The house of representatives republicans were able to strengthen their hand once again. A few races do remain undecided this morning. But at the moment, republicans will have at least 239 seats in the house hen the new congress sits in january. Thats a minimum of five more than the 234 they hold at the moment. Democrats have at least 172. That will almost certainly strength their hand against president obama. But whether it will change partisan gridlock is hard to predict. I want to bring in john avlon, chief of the daily beast, margaret hoover, errol louis, political anchor at new york one and sally kohn, progressive columnist for the daily beast. Rand paul talking less about these races and more about Hillary Clinton and barack obama. Listen. Were all smiles. Big victory here in kentucky. And i think in kentucky its really a repudiation of the president s policies. But also Hillary Clinton. Hillary clinton was very active in kentucky. And the interesting thing is ms. Grimes decided she was going to run as a clinton democrat. She wouldnt admit who she voted for president , but she was a clinton democrat. I think we soundly rejected that in kentucky. Also in arkansas. Im seeing foreshadowing to 2016 here. Also they have a Facebook Page called hillarys losers with everyone she was campaigning for who lost last night. This 2016 . It took about two minutes after the results were in to 2016. Look, i didnt pivot. Everybody. Thats where we go next. Last night i want to talk about last night, decode last night. But already youre talking about we knew rand paul was running in 2016. So there is his perfect scenario. Hillarys losers. Thats one gauge. You go by and see how did the turnout go. The fact that rand paul is playing the card right now, its a bit of bear baiting, lets be real. Kentucky is about a lot of things. Rejection of obamacare was not a theme. A lot of the republicans who won big and governors expanded medicaid. I hate to say this, folks, but 16 begins today. It is fair to say. If all of these people had won, wed be talking about how hillary is building this team. And somebody else actually took a knock as well. Martin omalleys Lieutenant Governor in maryland, anthony brown, my college classmate. Oh, man. He lost. And that doesnt bode well for martin. Let me ask you about the risk here there is a risk for the republicans. Now they have this majority. They have to decide what kind of party theyre going to lead. How theyre going to lead, what theyre going to get done. If they cant compromise, lead, and get something done that appeals to the American People, 2016 could be risky for them. Thats why rand paul is saying were going to go from the party against obama to the party who is against hillary and skip over the part that has to be a party for something. Now that the republicans are in control of both houses of congress, they cant just be the party of no anymore. They have to do things or the American People are really going to see how they have no solutions to the problems that are facing us. But that requires working with the president. That requires not simply sending things to his desk you know he is going to veto. That requires a totally different shift. If the gop can show it can govern, we could have a break of the gridlock. Thats what Mitch Mcconnell promised. The last six years show very little reason to believe that. Mitch mcconnell said one of his Top Priorities will be a 20week ban on abortion. Historically, this is what republicans did. They ran like they were centrists. But every time on policy after policy, they said were still going to stick to the tea party issues, the extremist issues. And its not going the fly in 2016. Youre right. It isnt going to fly in 2016. Dont you think they know that . Mitch mcconnell has been thinking about being majority leader for a very long time. And republicans know this is our opportunity to set the table for 2016. Whatever they do in the senate is going to set the table for the people who are going to end up challenging the president the next democratic nominee for president. Going back to rand paul, finish finishing up where we started. Rand paul is the one who said the gop has a pretty crappy brand. It lack like that brand resonated. I wouldnt go so far. Truly, as a republican who would like to see the brand regenerated, i dont think it was the brand that did so well. I think last night was truly a vote against a very unfop lar president. Cnn exit polls did show that as unpopular as the president was, republicans in congress were less popular. So thats a larger issue that congress is going to have to deal with. John . Its not just about congress or the senate. The Republican Party also sweeping most, most of the competitive contests for governor across the country. Were Still Holding off projecting winners in a few races. As of now, republicans taking over the Governors Office in four states while the democrats only pickup this morning is in pennsylvania. In illinois, bruce rounder defeating incumbent governor pat quinn that is according to a cnn projection. You also note that president obama is from illinois. A big upset in heavily democratic maryland with larry hogan winning the governors race there he defeated democrat anthony brown. This is one of the very few states that barack obama campaigned in. Another deep blue state for the democrats going down, massachusetts. Republican Charlie Baker won the governors race there over democrat martha coakley. You remember she lost to scott brown a few years ago ago. This comes after eight years of democratic rule in massachusetts. A new republican governor in arkansas. Asa hutchinson defeating mike ross, giving the republicans control of the top office after eight years in the hands of democrats there. The republicans also taking some other tight races where democrats were given decent odds to win. In florida, they reelected republican rick scott to a second term, delivering a setback to new democrat charlie crist. Scott pumped nearly 13 million of his own money into his cam feign in the final days. He becomes just the second republican governor in florida history to win reelection. In wisconsin, republican scott walker easily won reelection to a second term by doubledigits over mary burke. This is big for scott walker. Why . He is in the mix of possible president ial candidate in 2016. Walker angered a lot of more liberal voters and had to face a are recall election in 201256 he ended bargaining rights for the states public employs. In georgia, voters game incumbent governor nathan deal four more years. He defeated jason carter, the grandson of former president jimmy carter. In arizona, restaurants maintain control there with doug ducey defeating duval. He will replace jan brewer who decided to retire rather than challenge the states term limit law. Ducey best known for building Cold Stone Creamery before selling the company and getting into politics. Democrats have only one pickup in their column this morning as far as governorships go. Businessman tom wolf. The democrat defeated corbett. This is the first time a pennsylvania governor has ever lost in a race for reelection. Christine . Wow, what a night. John, thanks. We continue to follow this breaking news. Big night for republicans. A tidal wave, capturing a majority of the u. S. Senate races, predicting to be nailbiters, becoming landslides instead. What does this mean for democrats and the 2016 president ial election . Some voters already expressing who they want to run for the white house. Were breaking it all down, right after the break. Ring ring . Progresso you soup people have my kids loving vegetables. Well vegetables. Shh taste better in our savory broth. Vegetables . No. Soup oh soup loaded with vegetables. Packed with taste. Let me get tyes . Straight. Lactaid® is 100 real milk . Right. Real milk. But it wont cause me discomfort. Exactly, no discomfort, because its milk without the lactose. And it tastes . Its real milk come on, would i lie about this . Lactaid®. 100 real milk. No discomfort. And try lactaid® supplements with your first bite to dig in to all your dairy favorites. Thats a good thing, but it doesnt cover everything. Only about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. So consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Like all standardized Medicare Supplement insurance plans, they could save you in outofpocket medical costs. Call today to request a free decision guide. With these types of plans, youll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. Plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed. Join the millions who have already enrolled in the only Medicare Supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. And provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. With all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. Call now to request your free decision guide. All right. In georgia, many forecasters thought that senate race could very well go to a runoff. Instead, the republican dave perdue beat Michelle Nunn by some 8 points. Life cnns nick valencia. This is one of the races people thought could be really hard to determine, and it wasnt. Christine, this was supposed to be the race that helped democrats hold on to the senate, or at least gave them a chance. A likely scenario in this is that it with us going to go to a runoff, because it was going to be impossible for any candidate in this, especially with a libertarian running, taking away votes from david perdue, that anyone would get 50 plus one vote to avoid that january 6 runoff. In the end it didnt work out like that. A couple of hours after the polls closed at 7 00 p. M. Eastern in georgia, it became very clear from the trends in these votes starting to come in as the ballots started to get tallied that perdue was going to pull away with this one. Thats exactly what he did. Nun about was upbeat in her concession speech. She said she showed the democrats could be competitive in a red state like georgia. For perdues part, though, he said this was a vote against president barack obama, that voters were simply unsatisfied with his presidency. And in the end, he won decisively. Christine . Nick valencia, thanks for that. Disgust and discontent two prevailing sentiments expressed by voters. The exit polls are very clear. The republican juggernaut a clear rebuke of the obama administration. When it comes to possible candidates for president in 2016, the exit polls suggest voters dont see any reason for optimism. Lets bring in tom foreman live from washington. Good morning, tom. Good morning, christine. How are you . Well, ill tell you, the democrats had no trouble at all plotting their course forward in terms of the presidency. They want to turn to the person they almost selected last time. In iowa, 66 voted said yeah, they want Hillary Clinton to be their candidate. Go over to new hampshire, 64 want her to be the candidate. If you move over to south carolina, 68 want her to be the candidate. Thats overwhelming. Nobody even close. Liz warren down here, 5 . Joe biden, 16 . Other 11 . Hillary clinton is the only game in town, christine, when it comes to the democrats. But look at the republicans over here. Thats a different ball of wax. Republicans, their preference in our exit polls in iowa, logistic at this. 15 for jeb bush. 12 for chris christie. Mike huckabee, 19 . Rand paul, 14 . Theyre all over the map here. Big number down here to Pay Attention to, though. Republicans for other, 23 . Move it over to new hampshire. Same thing. Look. Its all over the map. Republicans for jeb bush, 22 . Here is rand paul, with 21 . Republicans for other, 29 . And if you go over here to south carolina, same thing. Republicans for bush, 18 . These numbers dont make any sense, because theyre all over the map, except for that one. Other. 28 . So the republicans are not at all agreed yet on what they want to do with their candidate. The democrats are quite agreed on theirs. But this may be something that gives everyone pause out there. Take a look at the nation wide most likely. If people are going to vote based on exit polls, 34 say they would back Hillary Clinton. 40 would say they would back the republican. But here is something important to bear in mind about this number. This was an election where the republicans did very, very well. Right. One of the reasons they did very well is because Republican Voters and people who lean republican showed up in big numbers all over the place. So theyre going to skew that number a little bit. But still, you can bet that the people on both sides who are handicapping this president ial race will be looking carefully at this and saying if the democrats go with Hillary Clinton, will she really be a winner or just what the democrats want . And those can be two different things. Wow. So a lot a lot a lot of data coming out of this which will absolutely play in 2016, christine. Absolutely. Tom foreman in decoding that data. Its so, so interesting. You can tell us so much about who voted and what they thought about things. John has more on that. Tom touched on one of the big stories of this election, which is just who voted. I want to look at this right now. This socalled gender gap. This was the split. 51 of the people who voted were women, 49 were men. Remember this number. I want you to look back at 2012. It was 53 female, 47 male. So a bigger gender gap in a president ial year. But a more important number might be this one. Of the women who voted two years ago, it split 55 to 44 for president obama, an 11point margin for the democrats there remember that number. Lets look at what it was today. 52 to 47 . The democrats only enjoying a fivepoint boost right there. Another thing that is fascinating. Lets talk about race here, shall we . 75 of the vote this election day was white. 12 african american. Latino, 8 . Lets look at latino compared to two years ago. Two years ago, latino was 10 . So a greater proportion of the vote two years ago was latino. Not just that, though. Look at this. Two years ago, president obama won. The math is almost hard to do here. He won by 44 two years ago. Remember that. Lets look at how latinos voted last night. You look at this 8 of the vote right there. The margin much, much smaller. 28 . 28 this time compared to 44 last time. Finally, lets look at the age breakdown. I want to look at two areas right here. Look up top. People younger than 29. 13 of the vote. 22 older. Much older electorate than we saw two years ago. Two years ago, only 16 of the electorate was over 65. In 19 was younger than 30. The Younger Voters tend to vote much more democratic and went for barack obama last time. They did not show up in the numbers that we saw for democrats overnight. Christine . Youre absolutely right. John, thank you so much. Were continuing to follow this breaking election news this morning. A big night for republicans. A tidal wave that were breaking down with all the big upsets, all the exit polling when early start continues next. Good morning, welcome to early start. Im christine romans. And im john berman. The wednesday, the day after november 5th. The republicans have taken control over the United Senate in a tidal wave. It was a night filled with close contests, in fact, not many of them were that close. Republicans picked up more than the six seats they needed to take control of the senate. Now, there are still races that remain unsettled in alaska and louisiana which is headed to a runoff. As it stands right now, republicans will hold at least 52 seats in the senate picking up at least 7. Democrats will hold 45 seats. West virginia has its first female u. S. Senator. Shelli moore capito defeated natalie tenant. Another key pickup for republicans in south dakota before former governor mike un