Transcripts For WUSA CBS News Election Coverage 20141105

Runoff which wont happen until december. Reporter in kentucky, Mitch Mcconnell survivedded a challenge from Alison Lundergan grimes. If the g. O. P. Wins back the senate, its a safe bet he will become the next majority leader. We have a long way to go tonight in the most expensive Congressional Election in u. S. History and were just getting started. Pelley its application night on cbs. Make no mistake, these policies are the ballot. Im back every square inch of the Republican Party knows whats at stake. We cant run this country one crisis to another. I think the 10 seats that you said are close, yould cou see 10all go republican. Theere hs. I we got it. Thank you. We were going to win this time. Gore toing win who is going to fight for you . This election is about making the country better. Campaign 2014, Election Night. Analysis from Bob Schieffer and charlie rose. Gayle king and Anthony Mason with our cbs news exit polls. Nancy cordes is following congressional races. John dickerson at the decision desk. Bill whittaker on the the governors and report reports frm correspondentcorrespondents in y battleground states. Now, from cbs news election headquarters in studio 57, here are scott pele and norah odonnell. Pelley good evening, we came into this night with all 435 seats in the house and 36 seats in the senate up for grabs. The republicans will control the house for two more years. The senate still to be decided. Pelley Bob Schieffer the mood of the country tonight seems to be the deciding factor in a lot of these races. The mood is nasty. The mood is exactly what weve been talking about all week. Its now being reflected in the exit polls. People dont like the way things are going. They are despair about the government. They dont like republicans and they dont like democrats. This is not just a referendum on obama. Its a referendum on want whole political system. Charlie, the democrats wanted to keep these as local races. The republicans wanted to nationalize it, make these races about president obama and his low Approval Ratings. Has it worked for them . Indeed it has. I mean, republicans are driving this election, and those that are driving elections are most upset about the president. A pickup on what bob just said. There is a kind of sullen, sour attitude there, and theyre taking it out on the president. Its a question of leadership. Its a question of washington. And theyre blame him. And those democrats didnt want to mention him, and all the republicans wanted to talk about was barack obama. Many of these democrats you couldnt even find the word democrat under their name in many of these contests. Pelley lets have a look at a couple of the races that are still too close to project tonight. Were going to have a look, first of all, at the state of georgia, where david purdue, the republican, is inching ahead with 54 of the vote in at this point. It is likely, according to our cbs news estimates, likely to go republican, brut it is still too soon to estimate that race. Now, lets have a look at the state of iowa. We are our cbs news estimate is this is leaning in the direction of joni ernst, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Iowa National guard, the republican candidate, joni ernst, cbs news is estimating that it is leaning in her direction, but still, too close to make a projection. And lets take a look at the closely contested state of colorado. Cbs news says this is a likely republican win for them. But still too soon to call there. And lets take a look at the state of North Carolina. It is too early to call this race. Look how close this is. The most expensive race in the country. Nancy, i know youve been to many of thees raises, and you were also in North Carolina. I was and heres some good news were finding in the exit polls for kay hagan the democratic incumbent. We looked at how moderates are voting tonight. This is one of the few states where the moderates are swinging her way, the democrats way, two to one. You talked about localizing races. Kay hagan was probably better than any other democrat when it comes a caim to localizing this race. She hammered her opponent about education cuts in North Carolina. Hes the state house speaker. This is something that all north carolinians can israel to northa very personal level. Pelley this race cost 100 million for a single senate seat in the state of North Carolina. You know, it looks like that mary landieu is headed for a runoff in louisiana. They spent 50 million on that, and they think theyll spend another 50 million just on the runoff. Theyre talking about 100 million race in, governors race in florida. This thing is just the floodgates are open. There are no longer any more campaign laws. You know whats kind of interesting about our whole campaign law system . I think there were Something Like 41 members of the Nixon Administration who were indicted for one kind of financial maneuvering or another. All of the thing that those people went to jail for are now legal. And the point is, theyre spending all this money and its all about negative campaigning. It is not a great debate and discussion about where to take this countrye countryed for. Pelley all you can tell from the campaign ads is everyone running for congress is an evil, terrible person who hates women and children, apparently,. Thats sort of to sum it up. Pelley a pox on all of their houses, the democrats and republicans thats what people are saying tonight, scott. Theyre mad at all of them. Theyre not satisfied with anything. Thats in addition to obama. It really is against washington and against the way the country is going and working. I mean, the president s Approval Ratings are at 44 . In the exit polls, we get the same kind of sense 44 of the people dont approve of washington and the leadership in washington. Pelley now, lets talk about some of more of these races. John dickerson, our political director, is back there at the decision desk oh, im sorry. Hes over here. Pelley john, youve been back there all night because thats where we crunch the numbers and where the business end of all of this is. I get a lot of my information from him. I want him as close to me as i can get. Pelley absolutely, me, too. Im glass gladyoure here. Tell us about some of the races are a little too tight to make a prediction on. Who knows where ill be at the end of the night. Pelley asleep. No matter what im looking at no matter where i am, the four states we talk about as president ial battleground states. North carolina is one of them. Its so close. I was talking to them at the decision desk, and i said why dont we know whats happening in North Carolina . Is there no conclusion . They said just because its too close. What seems to be happening in North Carolina, kay hagan, the democrat, appears to have done what democrats are trying to do across the board which is make the electorate this year look like the electorate in the obama years. We talked about all this money that was spent superpower thats where a lot of the money has been spent, which is trying to get the electorate to turn out for the democratic voters. In colorado, the democrats are having a tougher time of it. Theyre trying to turn out Younger Voters to match the older voters who voted for the republican in colorado. Its not happening, and the exit polls in 2012, 20 of the young vote turned out for barack obama or 20 was the share of the total vote. Its only 15 for mark udall in colorado, and that may be the problem. I want to talk about gender politics, but at the same time, barack obama was on African American radio stations in North Carolina being interviewed trying to reach out in the last several days. Pelley and the North Carolina African American vote and the georgia African American vote very high, which would suggest good news for the democrats there. Thats right. High. It looks like that vote looked for barack obama, and thats the goal for democrats, why theyre doing well in that state but not in others. And as we talk about the effect of president obama in some of these campaigns, we should talk about our exit polls, too, because cbs news talked to voters as they left the polls today and we telephoned some who voted early to find out what was on their minds as they cast their ballots. Gayle king and Anthony Mason are in studio 47 tonight to tell us what we all learned. What did you find . It may not surprise you, norawhen you hear the numbers. The president didnt Even Campaign for fellow democrats in any of the nine Senate Battleground states that were covering tonight. And eye number of democrats have been trying to distance themselveses from the president and his policies. And its easy to see why when you look at these numbers. 54 of the people we talked to today disapprove of the job that president obama is doing. Nearly 60 of republicans in our exit poll told us their vote for the house today was a vote against the president and his policies. And the president s support among democrats was also weak. Only 40 said their vote was in support of the president and his policies. As charlie pointes. As charlie pointed out earlier, the president has really been a drag on his own party today, scott. What did you both find about congress . Norah, congress isnt doing so well, either. One recent poll said people preferred brussel sprowts and root canals to congress. Congress is even more unpopular than the president. 78 disapprove of the job that congress is doing. Thats among the highest weve actual lean seen in our cbs news exit polling. The late democratic senator robert byrde once said, is it any wonder why the Approval Rating of Congress Goes up every time we go into recess. Pelley i think weve maligned brussels sprowts unfairly here tonight. We want to talk about some of the governors races. There are more than 30 governors races happening tonight. Those are the races that are really going to be affecting peoples lives in a significant way. Lets have a look at one of those races, one of the most interesting and important races tonight. Its the race for governor of wisconsin. And, well, actually what we have up right now is governor for florida, 97 of the vote in, rick scott, look at that, squeaking ahead of Charlie Crist. Rick scott, the republican. And Charlie Crist, of course, a former republican who was running for governor in florida this time as a democrat. Rick scott slightly ahead. But cbs news has not projected a winner there. Now lets have a look at the state of wisconsin. Governor scott walker well ahead at this point of the democrat mary burke, 17 of that vote has been tabulated so far. Bill whittaker is following the governors races for us tonight. Bill. As you were saying, in florida, with 97 of the vote counted, its still really too close to project. Now, that has been one of the nastiest and certainly the costliest. As bob said, these guys spent about 100 million bashing each other. And what did they get for it . Well, they come in to this evening neck and neck, and our exit polls are saying that most people have an unfaiferl view of both men. It also could be confusion, because the democratic candidate, Charlie Crist, was once republican governor of florida. And we talked to our folks at the exit polls, and theyre telling us that 60 of the voters thought that he had changed parties just so he could win the election. But we also found from our exit polls that hes managed to hold on to the democratic base. Most democrats are voting for Charlie Crist tonight. And also tonight, Charlie Crist petitioned to have the polls in pobulous Broward County held open for a couple of hours because he said the Voting Machines were broken but he said the petition was denied. Are the races for governor different for the races for senate . Are the issues different . The governors are closer to the people. You know, theyve got to bring home they really have to bring home the bacon. And show executive leadership. And show executive leadership. An idea of just how important these races are to both the parties and to the candidates running the races for governor, the candidates for governor have spent 50 million more on these races than the candidates for senate. And the same number are running the same number of seats are up, 36. Bob, i know, as weve been looking tonight, too, is whether the republicans will take the senate. I know you have been talking to a number of republicans. How do they feel at this hour, that theyre going to pull it off . Theyre feeling pretty good about it, quite frankly. But heres the thing. You know, weve been saying they need to pick up six seats to take the majority. But if they do that, theyve also got to hold all of their seats. And the one that the republicans are most worries about tonight right now as of 10 minutes ago is kansas where youve got pat roberts, the longtime senator down there, republican. I mean, i dont think kansas has elected a democratic senator in since what, about 1942, Something Like that 32, 1932. I mean its a now, this is an independent down there thats challenging pat roberts. But most of the republicans dont there think he really is a democrat. And that he will vote with the democrats. Pat roberts, this is the one theyre most worried about right now. Pelley throughout the evening, we will be posting the very latest returns online, of course, on our web site, the address is cbsnews. Com. And on twitter. Our twitter handle is cbspolitics. Congressman paul ryan, the 2012 republican Vice President ial candidate, easily won reelection tonight in wisconsin. Hes being talked about as a president ial candidate in 2016. In fact, well talk to him about just that in just a moment. Hard it can be. How. To breathe with copd . It can feel like this. Copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Spiriva is a oncedaily inhaled. Copd maintenance treatment. That helps open my airways for a full 24 hours. You know, spiriva helps me breathe easier. Spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms. Tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. These may worsen with spiriva. Discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. Stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells,. You can get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. Other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. Nothing can reverse copd. Spiriva helps me breathe better. Sfx blowing sound. Does breathing with copd. Weigh you down . Dont wait ask your doctor about spiriva handihaler. Special coverage of Election Night 2014. As we mentioned, the republicans have easily won control of the house for two more years. Charlie rose has a guest who will be a key player there. Charlie. Thank you. Congressman paul ryan of wisconsin was elected tonight to a ninth termed as chair of the budget committee. He is one of the most members of the republican majority in the house but does he have his eye on the house at the other end of pennsylvania avenue . He joins us tonight from milwaukee. Congressman ryan, thank you for joining us. To be with you charlie. Do you have a message for the president of the United States tonight . Yeah, his policies are arent workinworking and he should worh the republicans. It looks like were going to get the senate and well give him the opportunity to make some decisions because we intend to put legislation on his desk. That raises questions. What is it you want to do and prepared to do to steped for and meet the president halfway . Look, weve passed 380plus bills in the house dealing with job creation, Foreign Policy, securing the border, opening up our energy to create more jobs and energy independence. A whole range of issues. All of which have gone nowhere in the United States senate. You get the senate. Then we can have votes on these issues. We can have these bills contemplated. Maybe they wont all pass. I bet a lot of them will. Then we can put these bills on the president s desk. We can retain the power to put back with congress, and we can give the president a chance to actually make a decision. Harry reid has denied the president the ability to even think about signing legislation because nothings been passing in the senate. I think actually, by getting the senate tonight, which it looks like we are, it in many ways freeze up the gridlock. It breaks a lot of gridlock, and we will give the president an opportunity to work with us on a lot of issues dealing with jobs and the economy, Foreign Policy and many other issues. Well, congressman, i understand the president is invited the leaders of congress to come and meet with him on fridays of this week. When you go to that meeting, what will you say to him . Well, i would encourage him not to take union lateral actions with executive orders that circumvent congress and the constitution. I would encourage him to work with congress, work with us on all the big issues of the country, and lets see if we can put together agreements. I put together a budget agreement with patty murray showing republicans and democrats can Work Together to get things done four constituents, for the country. And i would say dont do the executive order route. Dont try to go unilateral and around the constitution. Work with congress and were here to work with you. Pelley paul ryan, chairman of the house budget committee. Thank you very much, congressman. Congratulations on your reelection tonight. Thank you, scott, bob, thanks, charlie, norah. Pelley stay with us now for more cbs news Election Night coverage including analysis from peggy noonan from the wall street journal, and former white house chief of staff bill daly. This is a map of the pressure points on my feet. I have flat feet. I learned where the stress was at the dr. Scholls foot mapping center. Then i got my number, which matched the custom fit orthotic inserts with the right support. Go to drscholls. Com for locations and save 10 im a believer. Pelley welcome back to cbs news Election Night coverage. We have two very special guests this evening. Peggy noonan is a columnist for the wall street journal, a former speechwriter for president reagan and cbs news contributor. And bill daley was commerce secretary for president clinton, and chairman of al gores 2000 president ial campaign. Peggy, let me start with you. What sort of night are republicans having, and why do you think that is . I think republicans are having a very good night. I think they are probably going to carry the senate by the time the night, which may go a little long, is over. What has been startling to me is the places where the republicans have won the victories have been so big. Mitch mcconnell was expected to win, but not by 15 points. Thats a blowout. Tom cotton was expected to win in arkansas, not by 10 point. Ed gillespie in virginia, the last i looked a few minutes ago, was still leading. He was supposed to be 20 points back. So it seems to me a big story tomorrow is what the heck happened in those races . Pelley they stopped spending money on Ed Gillespies race in fact because they didnt expect him to do well and now its too tight to call. Nobody did. To me, its the amazing story of the evening. Bill daley you said to me earlier the president has one last chance to try to bring the country together. What should he do now . I think its obviously a good step in calling the leadership in on fridays. I would continue that. Obviously, he goes away for a week on an international trip, but i think there are a lot of things he can do, like reinstate the weekly Leadership Meeting with the leaders of both partys. May sound simple to some people, bet getting the six of them, including the Vice President , in a room, every week to sit down and say, okay, where are we go . Theyre the leaders. Listen to Mitch Mcconnell tonight. He wants to work with the president in a different way, obviously, if hes majority leader. And i think this is a great opportunity. I believe it is for the country to moveed for if everyone is willing to compromise. But what if the president , one of his first actions is an executive action on immigration . Wouldnt that send the wrong signal to republicans . That would make them angry up there on the hill. It may make some people angry but its been obvious the getting comprehensive Immigration Reform, which everyone knows must happen, has been impossible lately. Hes in my opinion eye dont know this for a fact he will take action. I think what he can say easily is ill reverse all of those actions if you just pass a bill that solves the immigration problem for our country. And we all admit, and the republicans admit, it is a big problem. That wouldnt show a pliant and lovely nature towards lets ac s. Good evening the. Closely watched u. S. Senate race too close to call. Gillespie does continue to lead mark warner 49 to 48 . And we are live with the warner camp in arlington. Reporter and i can tell that you the party is still going on here. The music is playing. And we have heard dont stop a couple of times but theres concerned looking faces in the crowd. And now the congressman came out a little while ago. He has won reelection and he gave his speech. Theres momentum but we have been refreshing the phones and refreshing the screen and looking at the numbers coming in. Most of the night though, warner has been behind gillespie. Its probably a little bit different there at the headquarters right now. Lets go to my colleague. Reporter hi, good evening at home. This race is one of the biggest shockers this year. Think about this, only one poll had ed gillespie within seven points within this entire race since january. Most of the polls had him losing by 20 points. And there is talk that the comstock for Congress Operation in Northern Virginia may have helped gillespie get out his voters but the rest is hard to figure out. We are still still waiting for gillespie to come out and talk. And we just got word with 99 of the vote in virginia now counted, looks as though warner has taken a slight lead. We are showing you the brown and hogan race in maryland in the race for governor with 36 reporting there. And the republican hogan now leads the Democrat Brown 53 to 45 . We are at the university of maryland college. And again, got to be some concern. Reporter concern but we still are waiting on big numbers where they just have about 30 of the votes counted. That of course is a gold mine of democratic votes. But the votes are rolling in and it looks like it could be a late night before we know the next maryland governor. As you say, i just checked the board of elections and my numbers and their numbers same as yours. Hogan up by eight points. And my colleague is over at hogan headquarters. What does it look like over there . Reporter well, theres a huge amount of excitement as you might imagine here because hogan is leading as you just reported with about half the votes reported and volkswagens are predicting a long night and predicting a victory because theyre ahead. But in maryland, history shows that Prince Georges County and baltimore city, the big democratic strong holds typically are counted late in the evening. And that has proven in the past to be a gop buzz kill. We are going to see tonight but im telling you, its a horse race right now. Back to you. All right. A lot of dancing and happy faces there anyway. And in the dc mayors race, currently 29 of the precincts reporting, bowser currently has 56 of the vote to 35 of the vote. Of course, we are live at the Howard Theater and we will get to him later. And now with 99 of the precincts reporting, looks like mark warner has taken pelley good evening, again, and back back to cbs on Election Night. And for those of you just joining us, the headline of the hour is that the republicans will keep control of the house and they are now within striking distance of taking the senate. The republicans came into this night needing to pick up six seats now held by democrats. Well, they have picked up at least five. The fifth just in. Cbs news projects that they have won the state of colorado. Corey gardner there. Cbs news projecting that he will defeat the incumbent democratic senator mark udall. Lets take a look now at the senate map. And there you see the red states are the ones republicans have won. The flashing red states are republican pickups. And then and you can see georgia as well went republican. And lets take a look here. A gain of five seats for the republicans. And now the state of georgia, too, cbs news projects that david purdue has won the state of georgia. And, bob, two significant calls tonight there. Yeah, very much so. I mean, that was, of course, a republican seat. That was not one, but the republicans had to hold that seat, so it looks like they have now done that. Theyre down to one now. If they can get one more. Iowa. Iowa. And thats where its going to come. Colorado is extremely significant i think, norabecause, you know, when you think about this, you have a large hispanic population out there. The democrat put all this emphasis on winning the womens vote, and it looks like the republican has won out there. They do not have a large black population out there. But pelley nancy cordes, corey gardner, who we have just projected the winner in the colorado race, as a member of congress, which he currently is, one of the most conservative members in the entire house of representatives. Particularly when it comes to reproductive rights, and thats the democrat, mart udall, mounted the campaign he did, highlighting that in a moderate state like colorado. But gardner walked back some of his positions. He came out and said, i was wrong, and thats something you dont hear from a politician very often. He got some points for that. And he did end up cutting into udalls support among women. Six years ago, udall won among women by 15 points. This year, he only won by nine point, where gardner picked up men by a whopping 16 points. Again, you know, the democrat put all this emphasis eye mean, so much emphasis on the womens vote, they were calling him senator uterus out there for a time. He lost. 65 of the people i think that thats something the democrats have to look into and think about because that could if the republicans were able to withstand that in colorado, can they do it elsewhere . And thats that will be very important. With 65 of the people in the exit polls said the economy was the most important reason for their vote. That may well be why gardner won in that contest. Ben tracy is at gardner headquarters in the state of colorado. Ben. Reporter norah, a lot of happy people here at core gardners, what is now a victory party, and i think this happened a lot sooner than a lot of them expected. The udall campaign has been tell us it will be a long night because late election returns in coltypically favor the democrats. That has not turned out. You have a lot of republicans in this room tonight who are on a roak Mountain High because for them this is all about 2016. This is about winning a president ial race, and to do that they had to figure out how to win colorado, and, norah and scott, it appears they have done that tonight. One of the busiest republicans on the campaign trail is not on the ballot this year, senator rand paul of kentucky has campaigned on behalf of g. O. P. Candidates in 30 states, collecting ious as he considers a run for president in 2016. Senator paul, it look likes if iowa comes around you may have republican control of the senate. What will change . What will republicans do to bring about the kind of america they want to see . I think youll see an toned gridlock. I think youll see bill after bill after bill presented to the president , and welle dcide does the president want to work with us or is he going to obstruct the process . But i would say there are dozens of bills that are bipartisan. I have bills with harry reid and i couldnt even get a vote on them. I have bills with corey booker and couldnt get a vote on them. I think Mitch Mcconnell will get these thingsed for because he understands the only way to pass legislation in the senate is to allow the Minority Party and if thats the democrats we will allow them to have amendments and allow them to have a say in passage of the legislation. What do you say to those who say this was a vote against president obama. It was not a mandate for the republicans . A little bit of both, but i wouldnt disagree. I would say this election was a repudiation not only of the president , but of hillary clinton. In my state, the democrat candate wouldnt even admit she vote for president obama, but she proudly said she was a clinton democrat. And she got washed out. Same way in arkansas. The clintons, both of them were there in arkansas. I think the clinton cachet has worn off a bit, and fing you analyze the election, youll find out the clintons didnt have any great deal effect pelley senator paul, im sorry to interrupt but we have breaking news that youre going to find very interesting, cbs news is making a projection now on the state of kansas. Cbs news is projected that the incumbent senator republican pat roberts will be the winner in the state of kansas. So this is a hold for the republicans. Roberts is a threeterm senator. He was fighting for his life on this race. There is only 48 of the vote in, but based on our exit polling information, we are projecting with confidence that senator roberts, the republican, will hold on to his seat in kansas. Senator paul, how does that news strike you . You know, i think thats good news. I was just out there visiting and campaigning with senator roberts, and its a tough race. He went through, but i think in the end, people decide they didnt want an independent that couldnt decide whether he was going to caucus with the republicans or democrats. I think a lot of people thought that he wasnt being completely honest with the public about his intentions. Senator paul, among republicans, you seem to have been the one who is calling for a change in the republican brand, that its got to reach out to hispanics, African Americans, and young people. So what will you do to do that . You know, i think that for a long time, African Americans evaporate said, oh, republicans, i want to be a republican. They just are turned off by theres something about republicans. And so i think we need to change that. Because i dont think theres anything wrong with our policies. In fact, if you look at detroit, i think democrat policies have made things worse. Or if you look at the Median Household Income right now for households led by African Americans, its much worse under president obamas policies. So i think we have something to offer, but theres this wall that separates us from African Americans, and from some hispanics, from some young people, some asian americans, so we do need to change our attitude and our the way we present ourselves to attract new people to our party. All right, senator rand paul, congratulations, and thank you for joining us tonight. And the senator from minnesota has been campaigning hard for fellow democrats and she joins us now from minneapolis. Senator, good to see you. Thank you so much for joining us. Ed any to see you, norathank you. Youre going from govern naig democratic majority to likely going to have to live under a republican majority. We havent called that yet, but how does that factor in to how things will get done . Well, we dont know yet. And i think thats important to note. But i talked to five of my republican republicans colleagues today, many of whom were up for election, including senator cornyn and senator graham, and i would say especially both of them talked at length about how they want to moveed for. And as you you know how the senate works, we need to get bipartisan support to really beat the filibuster. And i think we talked at length about tax reform, all the money thats stored overseas, ways to intent vise that to come back, as well as Immigration Reform and infrastructure. So im not going to concede yet until we see alaska is still out, and we have iowa still out. But i will say its going to be close no matter what, and we have to get back to the business of governing. Senator, let me ask you this question. I have heard people say thats, you know, harry reid didnt bring up a lot of things for a vote because he wanted to protect democrats who were having a hard time. He didnt want them to have to make a hard vote. And now some people are starting to say, you know, that may have backfired. He should have let some of those bills come to the senate floor because there were some democrats that really wanted to vote against the president on some issues, and they would have fared better had they been able to put in the record, i opposed president obama on this or that. What do you think of that . Well, i think there was stuff going on, on both sides. There was also a lot of really politically charged amendments that didnt really go with the bills that some people were trying to put up. I think in general, people want to go back to the business of governing. Theres a group of us try to work on allowing amendments in. And i think one of the things weve learned, and i appreciated your point, bob bfocussing on the economy. I think the candidates that did that this time, like senator franken who found out his results in six seconds instead of six months this year. Those candidates, i think, have fared better. And i think it will be a message to both sides that we need to work on delivering for the people of this country. Thank you very much, senator, great to see you again as always. Anthony mason is keeping up with the exit polling information that weve been pulling in from voters all across the country as they have left the polls. Anthony. Scott, of the three Senate Battleground states still in play, two, including North Carolina, are now leaning republican. The economy a big issue in all of those states as it has been across the country, gayle. That is certainly what we heard today, anthony. Our exit poll shows the economy was the number one issue for the rest of the country as well, 45 of the voters we talked to today called it the most important issue. As for the direction of the economy, you see there on your screen, 78 of the people we talked to today are very worried, 22 , anthony, not so worried. The reason for that concern, family finances. More than 70 of the voters in our exit poll told us their financing are either treading water or getting worse. So if its all about the economy, scott, people are not feeling good about their pocketbooks still. Pelley unemployment is down, but wages are not rising. All right, thanks to gayle and anthony. And in addition to the battle for congress, republicans and democrats are fighting over 36 governorships tonight. Well look at those races and well have the latest returns when we return. Its more than the driver. Its more than the car. For lotus f1 team, the Competitive Edge is the cloud. Powered by microsoft dynamics, azure, and office 365, the team can gain Real Time Insights and instantly share information around the globe. When every millisecond counts, staying competitive begins with the cloud. This is the microsoft cloud. To severe plaque psoriasis. The frustration. Covering up. So i talked with my doctor. He prescribed enbrel. Enbrel is clinically proven to provide clearer skin. Many people saw 75 clearance in 3 months. And enbrel helped keep skin clearer at 6 months. [ male announcer ] enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. Serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. Before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether youve been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. You should not start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. Tell your doctor if youre prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if you have symptoms such as persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ woman ] finally, clearer skin for more than a few days, weeks, or months. Enbrel works for me. Ask your dermatologist if you can have clearer skin with enbrel. But when we start worrying about tomorrow, we miss out on what matters today. At axa, we offer advice and help you break down your retirement goals into small, manageable steps. Because when you plan for tomorrow, it helps you live for today. Can we help you take a small step . For advice, retirement, and life insurance, connect with axa. Pelley welcome back to Election Night on cbs, and there is breaking news. Cbs news is projecting a winner in the tightly run governors race in wisconsin. Cbs news is projecting that scott walker, the republican, will win reelection in wiscons wisconsin. Bill whittaker has been covering the governors races for us tonight. And this is a big one, bill. This is a big one, scott. Scott walker followed a very conservative agenda when he was running as the governor of wisconsin. He cut taxes. He restricted access to abortion. And the big thing was he ended that collective bargaining with most of the state workers, and as you remember, that triggered those massive demonstrations at the state house back . 2011. He was turned into a hero on the right bit virtually vilified by his opponents on the left. But this race actually hinged on the economy. And if you look at our exit polls, nearly half of all voters said that the economy actually got better under scott walker. And that just was too much for mary burke to overcome. Now, with this win, we will definitely hear more about scott walker as a potential president ial contender in 2016. But, just this one little tidbit from our exit polls. 56 of the voters in wisconsin told us that he would not make a good president. Well, wisconsin, has been a traditionally progressive state, and now scott walker can make the case, look, my governing philosophy as a conservative in this state is a model for the country. He will be at the top of republicans list for 2016, no doubt, right . Absolutely. You even have the speaker of the house saying the next republican nominee for president is going to be a governor. He knows that this has been a spectacularly unproductive congress, that members of congress dont have much to run on, dont have much to tout when theyre running for president. He thinks whoever it is, who becomes the republican nominee, is going to be someone like scott walker, like kasich and jeb bush if he decides to run. Dean reynolds is in burlington, wisconsin, tonight. Dean. Reporter good evening, norah. Well, you know, scott walker is the guy the democrats just cant beat. This is the third time hes run in four years, and hes won them all. And now he has shown that he can win in a blue state. Remember, wisconsin is a state that the president won twice. Now, he has universal republican support, so there must be a considerable amount of independents who like what he is selling. He has manifestly Strong Fundraising skills. A lot of the money came from outside the state. Now, he is sort of a nonthreatening, lowkey persona. But what he says certainly electrifies republicans. When we talked to him last week, i asked him, are you going to run for president . Is this it . He said i have a fouryear plan in wisconsin. Its not a twoyear plan or a year and a half plan. But he didnt say no, im not going to run. Pelley Dean Reynolds reporting for us tonight from wisconsin. Dean, thank you very much. We have a lot of returns pouring in, and we will have them for you when we come back. Helps you find a whole range of coverages. No one else gives you options like that. [voice echoing] no one at all no one at all no one. Wake up [gasp] oh you okay, buddy . I just had a dream that progressive had this thing called. The name your price tool. It isnt a dream, is it . Nope. Sorry you know that thing freaks me out. He can hear you. He didnt mean that, kevin. 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I cant believe that the white house is all that surprised at this. When you think about the president actually got out and campaigned for only one Senate Candidate in one of these Battle Ground states. They had to know that it was going to be pretty tough going in here tonight. But what i keep wondering about is what is the impact of what is happening tonight . What is the impact its going to have on both parties now as they move away from this . There are two years left in the president s term here. Do the republicans really want to help . Do the democrats really want to try to get something done. And do they think their brand is appeal. The republicans are two seats away from taking the majority tonight, jon. How do they do it . They have to get to six and not lose georgia or kansas. So thats how they would get to do it. It would be iowa they can get to six by iowa or North Carolina. You know, one thing as bob was saying about you know what gets done, weve talked a lot tonight about the structure, that it doesnt favor democrats, the structure of the races going on. Well, in 2016, the structure is going to favor democrats. There are a lot of battleground states that are up. There will be a National Race where the democrats tend to turn out in president ial races. So the structure for republicans will be to try to govern in a way that helps those republican candidates in those Battle Ground states. But, democrats could very well diswied in the senate, were not going to work with them at all. And in those Battle Ground states well just say the republicans were too conservative. They were they werent main stream, and then run on that, and that could be a recipe for gridlock from the democrats. Heres one small point in terms of what we know so far every Senate Republican incumbent in a competitive race won tonight and theres only one waiting, thats jim risch, in idaho. Part of that is because of the map john was talking about. You have far more democrats up for reelection and a lot in republicanleaning states than republicans. Two years from now, youve got 24 republicans running for reelection and only 10 democrats. Pelley it could be different. Never Midterm Election the difficulty every party has is getting their voters motivated and out to the polls. One of the things weve been doing all day is talking to voters as they left the polls and we have exit poll date doot from Anthony Mason and gayle king. Which party did the best job getting their voters out to the ballot box . You can see pretty clearly in the numbers, scott. Midterm elections are, as you said, getting up on the the base. Lets look at three constituencies young voters, African American, and hispanics. Altheyre making up a smaller percentage of the electorate this time around. The biggest decline in young voters from 19 down to 13 . But the republicans, on the other hand, they managed to energize their base. They got their people to the polls. In all of the categories we followed today the biggest increase is in the voters 65 and older, 23 compared to 16 two years ago. It appears that republicans were helped by an older, more conservative electorate. And that is why they are gaining ground in congress, scott, norah. Pelley bob, we went into this night not knowing if we were going to be able to project whether the senate will go to the republicans. Now its looking more like a sure i think. I think theyre very close. I think its all but certain that that idaho race is going to go to the republican out there. And the iowa race may go to the republicans. And the iowa race is leaning. That poll is not closed yet. Pelley were not going to have to wait on alaska which closed at 1 00 a. M. For eastern time and doesnt count for days. Tell grandma she can go on and go to bed. I think well know here. Pelley theres going to be a great deal more about this Election Night on your late local news and online, of course, as always, at cbsnews. Com. And charlie, gayle. And will have more coverage first thing tomorrow on cbs this morning. Pelley and we will do the same on the cbs evening news tomorrow night. For our entire Election Night team, im scott pelley with norah adonnell. Good night to you all. We are following three high stakes races tonight. Im jan jeffcoat. Im derek mcginty. We begin with a major upset in virginia, a race still not decided. Mark warner and ed gillespie in a neck and neck race for the senate seat. Mark warner has 49 of the vote. Ed gillespie with 49 . Just a few thousand votes separate the incumbent with ed gillespie. Warner and his team are headquartered in arlington. We begin with debra at the warner camp. Reporteo