US midterm elections results: How the parties are doing in maps and charts

The Republicans have made progress in the House of Representatives while the vote for the Senate is on a knife-edge.

Here is what we know so far about the results.

The Democrats are projected to win in Arizona, meaning that control of the Senate now hinges on the outcome of two states: Nevada and Georgia, where a run-off election will be held on 6 December.

Before Tuesday’s election the Senate was split 50-50 but the Democrats had control through the casting vote of the vice-president Kamala Harris.

The situation in Georgia, where a run-off will be held in December.

Alaska will be won by a Republican but we will not know who until 23 November when second and third choice preference votes are counted. The candidates in the final two are incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski and Kelly Tshibaka who is also a Republican.

The House of Representatives is leaning towards the Republicans, according to projections from CBS News, the BBC’s partner in the US.

The party is inching closer to a 218-seat majority but the races are close.

If the Democrats lose the House, this will make it difficult for President Joe Biden to pass laws during the next two years of his term of office.

Florida has been a tight race in the past, but the Republicans held onto seats there without much problem and managed to flip three.

Ron De Santis won the governorship in Florida – he is tipped as a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2024. His party colleague Marco Rubio held onto his Senate seat.

While, in turn, the Democrats took control of the governor’s mansion from the Republicans in both Massachusetts and Maryland.

Rising prices and abortion were the two issues top of voters’ minds as they cast their ballots, according to the national exit poll.

Almost a third of people surveyed said inflation was the issue that mattered most in deciding how they voted. A large majority of voters also said it had caused them hardship in the past year.

But abortion was another top issue, with 27% of people saying it was their deciding factor, after the Supreme Court overturned a ruling which had given nationwide protection for abortion rights.

That said, voters were sharply divided along party lines – inflation was by far the biggest issue for Republicans, while for Democrats, abortion was top.

The exit poll is conducted as people leave polling places across the country. Voters are asked to fill in a confidential questionnaire with demographic information and their views on candidates, parties and a range of topics.

Those topics include the election process itself. More than two-thirds of voters said they thought that democracy in the US was somewhat or very threatened. Only 9% said it was very secure.

Five states voted on changes to abortion rules.

Vermont, California and Michigan all voted in favour of including the right to reproductive freedom in the state constitution.

In Kentucky, however, the question is the opposite – whether or not to specifically exclude the right to abortion in the state constitution. The measure was rejected by a narrow margin.

In Montana, voters were not asked about abortion directly but rejected a so-called “born alive” measure by 52.6% to 47.4%.

If passed it would have legally guaranteed any newborn infant, even those born as a result of abortion, the right to medical care that would preserve life.

Midterm elections usually have a relatively low turnout, but over 112 million people went out to vote this year, according to early figures from the US Elections Project.

This is one of the highest turnout figures in decades.

By Wesley Stephenson, Christine Jeavans, Alison Benjamin, Becky Dale, John Walton, Jana Tauschinski and William Dahlgreen.