Know? reporter: lester, when i have spoken to voters those issues came up and more. so much depends on the state. tonight, lester, many of those key governors races are very tight. tonight it s not just control of congress that s at stake. also up for grabs, 36 critical governor seats, including here in georgia. republican governor brian kemp s rematch against stacey abrams. a win would make her the first black woman governor in u.s. history. a big focus for kemp, his early decision to reopen georgia during covid. she was criticizing me for simply giving you the opportunity to go back to work or to open your business. reporter: abrams like many democrats emphasizing abortion action. this is a reporter: in arizona a marquee matchup between katie hobbs and lakers lakers, a trump-backed republican who denied the 2020 election results and is already casting doubt on this election.
In congress, republicans go into the evening within what appears to be striking distance of retaking the majority. they need to net just five seats to take control of the house of representatives. in the senate republicans just one seat away from taking the reigns from democrats. president biden predicting dems will hold the senate majority. tonight the final push in the places we may get our first clues as to which way the night may be heading for both parties. we have a substantial team of nbc news correspondents fanned out across the states and the races in play. peter alexander leads us off from pennsylvania. peter, this will be a critical state to watch tonight. reporter: lester, good evening. we are at the election night headquarters of republican senate candidate dr. mehmet oz and so much of the country s attention is going to be focused on what happens here. control of the senate likely leads through pennsylvania. punctuating a long and chaotic campaign.
The governor s race in georgia, too early to call between brian kemp and stacey abrams. we ll be back with more closings in a half hour here on nbc. sold and the mystery, who is now $2 billion richer. this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. decision 2022. good evening from our election headquarters in new york. the stakes have rarely been higher in a midterm election shamed by everything from inflation and reproductive freedoms to threats from violence crime and threats to our democracy. the candidates have made their pitches. tonight american voters make the call. who will control congress and much of the american agenda. all 435 house seats are up for grabs. 35 senate seats are in play along with 36 governor ships.
Tonight americans finally have their say. tens of millions casting ballots in what both sides agree is one of the most consequential midterms in recent memory. candidates overnight rallying to get out every vote. some of the biggest names making last-minute appeals. president biden acknowledging democrats face an uphill battle. former president trump today voting in florida. a critical night for democrats staring down the possibility of losing control of congress and the house, republicans need to flip five steets to take over. in the senate republicans need to gain one. with nine senate seats that are competitive. the gateway to success for both parties likely goes through pennsylvania where today democrat john fetterman and republican dr. mehmet oz cast their votes. pennsylvania said in a clear message to washington we, want
Mic. same thing with coffee. no slurping. expect we will be ba ed by cbs o donnell: tonight, america decides. the biggest night in politics. who will control congress and the governor s mansions across the nation? tonight, the future of our cou the ballot. voters head to the polls, the long lines. this will go down in the history books. o donnell: the new information about the issues that drove voters to the polls. buying food, putting gas in the car, finding medicine. abortion is a big issue to me. democracy s on the line. o donnell: our te the states that will decide the balance of power. the trump factor: tonight, the newest reporting as the former president plans to claim victory tonight and teases a future run for the white house. hurricane warning. tropical storm nicole to make
Elections will say this. this is why not legally but from an fbi or investigative standpoint, it would be better maybe during the trial to have the video and audio out. i would want to corner people, including especially members of congress who want to put out disinformation and say this is what happened, it s not just words. do you want to see somebody being hit on the head with a hammer for you to say this can t happen, and maybe god forbid, congress should do something like censure members who put out disinformation about this. can i make one other point about the audio of that 911 call? his phone line may have been open for a considerable period of time. so we may hear and learn quite a bit from that 911 call audio that would, again, you know, i think we need to stop calling them conspiracy theories. these are lies, these are just things that people have made up and are spreading. but that 911 audio may be
Week of telling people how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need! (limu squawks) he s a natural. only pay for what you need. liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. topping our politics lead, seven days remain until the votes are counted on election day, giving us a better idea of who will control congress. more than 24.3 million ballots have already been cast in early voting across the country. the campaign trail sprint features a star-studded lineup today. you have president biden in florida, former vice president
Additional layers of physical security for members of congress. this plan would include an emphasis on adding redundancies to the measures that are already in place for congressional leadership. can you take us inside some o. discussions that are happening right now, maybe that you are having is with some of your colleagues, these discussions between lawmakers concerned about their safety and the safety of their families. i ll just say, we re not going to get safer until we call out what is the cause of this political violence. i noted that both speaker of the head of the rnc, ra na mcdaniels, and kevin mccarthy, the minority leader expressed sadness for paul pelosi but then went on to say it s really a product of, you know, crime that s the democrats fall. that s like saying lee harvey oswald was connected with crime
And you had a charismatic president who was basically guiding them on what to do and sending them in one direction. the idea this wasn t a potential threat or wasn t identified as big of a threat as it ultimately ended up being is really troubling and i think it s something the january 6th committee should look into closely because that s not something as these criminal cases go on, that the justice department is prosecuting, that s not a question that s going to be answered. the fbi isn t going to say hey, here s where where we screwed up. that s something that really falls to the legislative branch to answer those questions. a lot to discover because i think there are so many questions that remain around the commission and what exactly did happen and what the president did or did not know at the time on january 6th. ryan, malcolm, barbara, thank you so much for joining me. next the plan by texas republicans to stay in power by rigging the game. what can congress do about it? i ll ask leon castro and brian fallen next. and later the administration s plan to enforce trump s remain in mexico policy.
Same time. you know, oftentimes you get older folks who are already running, you know, essentially telling you to wait in line. there s tons of issues that are specific to gen z that are also really specific to women and people of color as well. when you think about running for office and that is what we re trying to do, run for something, and trying to do with the snapchat partnership. amanda and ross, thank you so much. young people tuning in and those parents, tell them to run for something. more on american voices next but first a preview ahead tonight on msnbc. hey there. tonight at 9:00 eastern on ayman who will control congress for the next ten years? it could come down to the supreme court. i ll discuss the impact scotus could have on redistricting with my sunday night panel. catch ayman tonight at 9:00 eastern right here on msnbc. n t eastern right here on msnbc. knowing you understand your glucose levels.