votes were cast nationwide. on capitol hill, democrats changing the balance of power in the house. the senate remains red, resulting in a congress divided, and within the last half hour, we learned president trump will hold a news conference at 8:30 this morning. we'll, of course, bring that to you live. >> and moments ago, president trump tweeted "those that worked with me in this incredible midterm election, embracing certain policies and principles, did very well. those that did not, say good-bye! yesterday was such a very big win, and all under the pressure of a nasty and hostile media." >> this morning, there are many national races still up in the air, including georgia's governor's race which is cloo to close for be in tock call. democrat stacey adams bidding to become the nation's first african-american female governor isn't giving up just yet. >> we are going to make sure every vote is counted. >> we are waiting on the final results but i'm confident that victory is near. >> in wisconsin, democrat tony evers claiming victory. he beat out republican scott walker. walk her promised if he won the third term, it would have been his last, but voters decided that two was enough. in texas, republicans held onto the senate with ted cruz's victory over o'rourke. it crushed democratic hopes that the party could capture senate seats in texas for the first time since 1988. our top local story, gavin newsom will be the next governor of california, decisively beating republican john cox last night. >> newsom is waking up as governor-elect and outlining his vision for the state's future. sam brock has more. >> reporter: good morning. the crowds are long gone here, although we are hearing members of the newsom camp. what a night, the former los angeles stock exchange, there they are again, what is now a nightcl nightclub. 8:08 last night gavin newsom had won, polls closed at 8:00, almost immediate. he took the stage a couple hours later and told roughly 1,500 people here, this is a new day and age for california, that the politics of cruelty are over, a clear jab at the federal government. >> we don't regulate a woman's body more than we regulate assault weapons on our streets. [ cheers and applause ] we don't demean, we don't discriminate, and we don't demoralize. we don't separate families, and we don't lock kids in cages. >> reporter: there's some nice moments at the beginning and the end of his speech. he thanked john cox and said he had a great conversation with him, how generous he was and the fact that this was a hard-fought battle. on the back end, he hugged his family and said he's overcome some things himself in his life, dyslexia for one, and said a bad haircut when he was younger, but the jury is still out. in los angeles, sam brock, "nbc bay area news." and in san diego, many people showed up to support john cox, even though they knew his chances of winning were slim. many became upset in the room when nancy pelosi took over the big screen talking about democrats taking back the house. just 90 minutes after the polls closed, john cox conceded to news newsom. >> we gave it a run. we got the message out. we got the issues out. thank you all. thank you all. [ cheers and applause ] well, i called the lieutenant governor, and i wished him well. i wished him well, and i offered my assistance, because he's going to need a lot of. . this state needs a lot of help. >> cox went on to tell the crowd he wanted to see a return to honor and civility in politics. now to some of the major propositions, it looks like california's gas tax, lawmakers approved last year, will not be going anywhere. proposition 6 headed to defeat. no winning by a big margin. this would have repealed the new tax covering the cost for road and bridge repairs, along with public transit. >> and proposition 8, the bid to cap fees for kidney dialysis is going down in flames, a record amount of money was spent to defeat the measure. >> proposition 1, that's the housing program and veterans loans bonds is passing. the measure would authorize $4 billion in general bonds for housing programs. if you voted, you may have experienced some extremely long lines at some bay area polling places >> this morning our "today in the bay" team is breaking down the voter turnout for you. >> kris sanchez live at the santa clara county registrar of voters. kris, we know more than 100 million people voted across the country. how are bay area numbers looking? >> reporter: they're looking pretty good. i'll show you what's happening right here at the registrar of voters office. the sorting machines are cranking. the workers have been working through the night, these are mail-in ballots still yet to be counted. as busy as it is right here right now, it was busier out in the lobby last night. this is the line here at the santa clara county registrar's office last night. the line of voters was out the front door, all across the front floor, the first floor. our bay area counties had significantly higher voter registration numbers and we'll show you how that translated into voter turnout. look at this map. it was around 29% for all of santa clara county, alameda, san mateo and napa counties, about the same there. san mateo was the lowest. that county went to an all mail ballot. voters were not only focused on choosing their next governor. we also had senate and house races, which were pretty heated. 11 statewide propositions along with our local measures and i'm going to talk about that rent control issue prop 10 that went before voters last night, that's coming up in the next half hour, so we will be back here with you at 5:30. in san jose, kris sanchez, "today in the bay." >> shows how busy they are back there. the results are still coming in. scrolling across the top of our website, nbcbayarea.com, is really a great resource for all your election results. oir team our team updating that site minute by minute. want to get out the door, grab a jacket this morning. >> it's another cool one, and we have all clear skies. here say live lois a live look francisco, golden gate bridge looks good. tonight a red flag warning will go up for the east bay and north bay hills, all of these areas shaded in red and elevations above 1,000 feet will have a high fire danger as the winds pick up. gusts up to 60 miles per hour. our winds are calm throughout the day, very low humidity, and then look at what happens as we go into tonight, for spots like napa and antioch, the see the winds increasing to 25 miles per hour sustained and it stays like that throughout the day tomorrow. the fire threat continues through friday morning. so i'll have more on that, and mike, you're taking us to that crash in the tri valley. >> that's right. first look over here the bulk of your commute, the freeways on either side, all sides of the bay looking great, in the green, and where we typically see a little slowing, westbound 580 coming in to the tri valley, over here, clears up by north flynn road. getting out of the tri valley headed back toward tracy, we have one crash, i'm not going to mark t near grant line but on the shoulder and not presenting any issue. it's been there for a while. crew is on the scene helping wait for a tow truck, i believe. looking over here action an easy dri -- over here, an easy drive toward the bay bridge. 580, 880 through oakland you're at speed and moving nicely through the north bay. there's san rafael, guys. back to you. coming up next, it was a battle for the state superintendent's race and this morning, it's still too close to call. votes are still being counted. the very latest numbers coming up next. wall street reacting the day after as well. we'll show you what's ahead for your money. and we're following non-election news this morning as well. still ahead, children who took off from a central valley foster home have been found. where they were hiding out, that's coming up for you at 5:25. it's 5:09 right now. you're watching "today in the bay." there comes a point when you realize the bathroom you used to love needs a makeover. let a professional rebath design consultant help craft the look you want. call 925-233-6471 and save $1000 off your complete bathroom remodel mike traffic te good morning. we're coming up on 5:12. let's head over to palo alto with a live look outside right now. everything is looking good. skies are clear, and it's another cool start. we'll go from 53 degrees at 9:00 to the upper 60s later today, even some low 70s by early afternoon. look at all of our microclimates with more warm weather that's coming up in less than five minutes. and a look across the san mateo bridge, crystal clear view, easy drive right now. we'll talk about the rest of your commute and what else we see coming up. and good morning to you. happy wednesday. stock market moved actually quite a bit on tuesday, considering at the time we didn't know for sure how those lecks were going to turn out. we thought we'd turn over our stock board to the house of representatives here. the democrats picked up enough seats to flip the house, adding 26. as we were saying yesterday, the stock market tends to do pretty well under split rule. things to watch, a future democratic house once it takes its seat may push back against president trump's trade war with china, and the current house may hurry up and try to pass u.s. mca, the second version of nafta, before they lose the majority. we'll talk more about u.s. mca in a minute. what we're not going to see, though, middle class tax cut, and not just cause the democrats won't pass it, because it never existed at all. during his campaign rallies in the past few weeks, president trump promised a middle class tax cut no later than november 1st, despite the fact congress wasn't in session. what's curious is how little the other tax cut, the big tax cut was discussed during the campaign. the republicans did not run on what is arguably their own large success outside of those critical supreme court appointments. as for the u.s. mca, the trade agreement with the u.s. and canada and mexico has to go through both houses because it's more than a treaty. it changes specific trade law. if the republicans hurry, they could pass it before they leave. if they don't, the democrats will still no doubt pass it, but they'll be able to add details friendly to their side, say union protections environmental protections, that kind of thing. >> good deal. >> scott, you were talking about property taxes. right here locally, you can forget about the idea of property tax transfers there. california voters shut down proposition 5 that would have been given seniors and the disabled the right to move and preserve property tax rates from prior homes, meaning windfall for long time homeowners already benefiting from proposition 13. >> voters in oakland approved measure y, an eviction loophole allows landlords to evict tenants without just cause. it received 56% of the vote in favor of it. now to the race for superintendent of public instruction. one of the most hotly contested in the state. >> political newcomer marshall tuck is in the lead over east bay assemblyman tony thurmond, but the race is tight with 92% of precincts reporting this morning. taking a look at the numbers there, you see at 51% for marshall tuck. nbc bay area's kira klapper breaks down what this could mean for students and teachers across our state. good morning, kira. >> good morning, laura and marcus. this is a costly and contentious race with record campaign spending that ex-sealeded $50 million. marshall tuck campaigned as an outsider calling for change in the state education system. you may remember he lost this same race back in 2014 to incumbent tom torlickson. tony thurmond has the endorsement of the california teachers association which typically all but garn teas victory but perhaps not this year. tuck and thurmond favor more funding for k through 12 schools and universal preschool but here is where they differ. tuck wants to rescind a 2015 guidance under torlick which allowed low income students and english learners to be used for teacher pay raises. here is tuck and thurmond at their respective parties last night. >> until this election is over i'm concerned until the end. i'm optimistic anda anxious. we feel good about the direction. >> it's too earl wiy to say how this is going to go. we want to see how this continues to go. >> here's the thing. the winner will actually have minimal authority to affect policies. the governor, legislature and state board of education make education policy as it is. the state superintendent implements it. back to you. >> thanks, i can rkira. let's take a break from the election results. here's a good way to shake off the election. lace up your skates and hit the ice. if you're like me, you'll be wobbling all over the place. the holiday ice rink in san francisco's union square is opening there. it will stay open until january 21st. skaters can get their tickets online or right there at the rink. nbc bay area and telemundo 48 are proud sponsors. >> didn't you just tell me you got a new pillow? you could put it somewhere else. >> i'm going to need it if i get out there on the rink. although i will be at walnut creek, they're opening theirs saturday. >> i'll do one on the 20th. >> in san jose? >> yes. >> yes, so ice skating rinks all over the place. i'll be wobbling somewhere in one of them, holding onto the side. >> they're made to withstand warm temperatures and it's going to be 70 degrees. you can go ice skating in some very comfortable weather, although it starts out cool. here is a live look in dublin as you get ready to head out the door. no fog. we have some very dry air, very low humidity, so you're on your way out to the dublin b.a.r.t. station, it is going to be one where you have to bundle up. only some upper 40s starting out this day, and then reaching into the low 70s by noon. it will feel nice, as we go into the afternoon. so we're just having to struggle through the morning with these chilly temperatures heading out the door in gilroy. it's only going to be in the low 40s, and then reaching into the upper 60s by 11:00, and 70 degrees at noon. we can see how fast the warmup happens for all of our microclimates including martinez, starting out at 47 at 6:00 and 7:00. at accou9:00 we're at 59. we're at 69 at 11:00 and then seeing low 70s. as you are getting ready, low humidity means another good hair day. going to be dry with a light wind that increases as we go into this afternoon, as our high temperatures reach into the low 80s. concord back up to 82 degrees, just like yesterday. we'll also see some upper 70s for much of the north bay, and palo alto san jose reaching 78 degrees and 79 in livermore. it's been really dry, no chances of rain in this forecast, as we stay in the stagnant weather pattern, with high pressure blocking our chance of getting any storm systems that continue to roll into the pacific northwest. there's another one on the way but we will not see it reaching into the bay area. and meantime, our winds are going to pick up tonight, so our inland valleys and also the hills will have to deal with the high fire danger starting tonight, then continues through friday, and of course, we'll have any alerts, and we have to be really careful when it's this dry and the humidity is very low. we'll have well above normal temperatures heading through the rest of the week. mike, you're seeing a couple of slower spots on the road. >> and just a couple. overall, everything looks green on our maps for our speed sensors. green means you are at speed for that roadway, the freeway is what we're looking at right here. east chore freeway is great coming off of the carquinez bridge. little slowing around the shield around the berkeley curve. volume starts to build at the toll plaza, and we should see those metering lights right on schedule. i'm also tracking the earlier car fire north 680 at highway 4, but we haven't seen any slowing. the fire crews still reportedly there, watch the right lane, stay over to the left traveling up toward the benicia bridge. over here looking at westbound 580. we saw a little slowing out of the altamont but by the time you get toward dublin out of livermore looking fine. it's a good volume of traffic. take you out to the waze system and looking at a traffic flow looking good. over here off of antioch is a little slowing for highway 4. the purple route over there takes but 33 minutes. we're looking at a smoother drive. kirker pass road is the best drive through the slower drive that's developing out of pittsburg. there's also another route that will zigzag you through the streets, but you don't need to do that to stay on to the main freeways and you'll be just fine. join our team, nbc bay area wazers, and we can share that information with you, and of course we'll be happy to take your reports as well. back to you. >> thanks, mike. coming up, who will lead oakland? we just found out moments ago another early morning decision, this one on the fate of mayor libby schaaf. plus the fire that started early yesterday morning as a recycling center in san francisco is still smoldering. the smoke canceling class for one school. we're learn being how that fire started, next. and our digital team was up all night posting new content. jennifer gonzalez talked to students at san jose state attending an election night watch party. follow her is the@jennygonzmedia on twitter. official word coming: welcome back, everyone. it is 5:24 right now. within the last ten minutes or so, an official word coming down, incumbent libby schaaf has won a second term as oakland's mayor, because this was ranked choice vote there was a chance the race would not be decided for days but schaaf winning the majority of first ranked votes with 100% of the precincts reporting. even when the first results came in last night, schaaf's camp was already pretty optimistic. here's what she says about her priorities. >> clearly the most pressing problem right now is homelessness, and i will be focusing my first hours in a new term with our unsheltered residents, listening to them, hearing their needs. >> this marks a cry from schaaf's first win in 2014 when she was declared the winner after the 14th round of that year's ranked choice vote. we've already heard from a lot of the winners. if you want to hear their victory speeches, head to our website nbcbayarea.com and also we have a youtube page where we posted dianne feinstein and governor-elect gavin newsom's speeches as well. check it out to see what their vision of california is. 5:25 for you right now. some local news we're watching this morning. five children who ran away from their stockton foster home have been found in the east bay. those children all related, ages ranging from 4 to 16 years old. police say that they packed up their belongings saturday and then left. stockton police late last night posted an update. richmond officers located those children in an el cerrito hotel. in a few hours the father of a 3-year-old oakland boy who accidentally shot himself is due in court. he is facing charges including felony child abuse and being a felon in possession of a gun. last week his son was able to get his hands on a gun, and accidentally shot himself in the groin. court documents say that gun was sitting in a cabinet. the boy remains in the the hospital at least check in critical condition. an update on a fire in brisbane, we've been covering it since it broke out at a recycling center at 2:00 yesterday morning, the fire sending smoke into the air forcing a middle school to close. firefighters say it started accidentally. coming up next at 5:26, coverage of the mid terms. "today in the bay" is your home for the latest results on key races from the bay area, and across the nation. up next, we'll take a closer look at proposition c in san francisco, a tax on businesses to help with the homeless crisis. how the passing of that measure could have a ripple effect throughout the region. and a live look at the bay bridge this morning. up next, another check of your morning forecast and your commute. it is 5:26. you're watching "today in the bay." it was time to update the bathroom but we didn't want to break the bank rebath made it effortless. a rebath design consultant came to our home and presented us ideas and products in a way that made our decisions simple. they took away the old installed the new and gave us the bathroom we've always wanted. call 925-233-6471 and save $1000 off your complete bathroom remodel thousands of votes still being counted here in the bay area -- thousands of votes still being counted here in the bay area -- change is coming, from our golden state to capitol hill. >> thank you, tomorrow will be a new day in america. >> voters swapping polling places to make their voices heard. housing, homeless, your roads, your leaders. special edition of "today in the bay" continues right now live team coverage. >> here we are at 5:30. thousands of votes being counted in the bay area. it was a busy night, a huge turnout at all of the polls kept workers very busy. we have the latest results on key races. "today in the bay" starts right now. good morning to you. thanks for starting your morning here with us. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. we'll have the latest on the races in a moment. all the results coming in. want to get you ready for your work day as well. cool start to our morning. let's check that forecast with kari >> you need to bundle up as you get ready to head out the door. live look in fremont on 880 with cars heading on the roads and getting out the door this morning as you step out the door, only going to be 47 degrees. we will have clear skies and warming up fast as we go throughout the day with low 70s during the afternoon and pleasant hill more of the same, mid-40s for the start of the day, and then warming up to some nice and comfortable weather. as we go throughout the forecast, the red flag warning will be the main concern, a high fire danger for our inland hills. i'll have more on this and also a look ahead to the weekend forecast, and mike, you reported a crash at the bay bridge. >> a report of a crash at the bay bridge toll plaza. the only thing that's been changing is not the flow of traffic, just the backup for the cash lanes. about 10 to 15 minutes later than we often see on a wednesday. lot of folks might be at home watching us as we update the election results from around the bay. the drive around the bay looks great. cocoa county, slowing through highway 4 and pay point, typical there. no problem car key kb kcarquine bridge and benicia bridge. here is the latest results at this hour, across the nation a blue ripple. democrats are set to take back the house majority but denied a majority in the senate. >> this morning nancy pelosi drawing criticism for promising bipartisanship after the democrats win big. plus a historic high, more than 100 women projected to be elected to the house. and we're just finding out president trump will hold a news conference at 8:30 this morning. we'll bring that to you live. we're covering all the key california and bay area races. >> following proposition 6, a hotly-contested debated issue that proposes taxing the city's largest districts to help fund programs for the homeless. pete, this proposition bitterly divided the city's business and political leaders. >> reporter: yes, good morning to you, marcus. this means you'll see more taxes for some of those large companies in san francisco, and it's going to kick in before you know it, starting january 1st. i'll talk about the basics of prop c which passed last night with a 60% majority in san francisco. it's going to tax large companies more than $50 million annually, so that's about one-half of 1%. company making more than $100 million is going to pay roughly about $500,000 more in taxes per year. as you mentioned t did divide some tech ceos. you can sales force ceo mark n benihoff donating millions to the campaign but twitter ceo jack dorsey said it will deter tech companies from coming to san francisco. supporters at last night's campaign rally are happy with the results >> it creates a strong foundation to back off of. homeless people have a lot of hope they haven't had before that were able to turn this around. >> reporter: that tax is going to generate roughly about $300 million per year for the city of san francisco and expected to provide housing for 6,000 people. reporting live, pete suratos for "today in the bay." >> pete, thanks for that update. the bay area of course home to some of the priceiest housing markets in the nation. proposition 10 a campaign to control rent statewide defeated. it would have allowed local communities to determine their own rent control authority. "today in the bay's" kris sanchez is in san jose with some of the reaction to that race. good morning, kris. >> reporter: hi there, laura. this was put on the ballot by folks trying to ease the burden of renters to say that the rent is just too high. that was the slogan for the advertising for prop 10. that it failed means that local governments will have to continue to try to figure out rent control on its own. more than 60% of voters said no to ending rent control restrictions in california. you might remember the bill we were talking about would have overturned that. on the no side, the california department association developers and property managers spent big money to get voters to say no, while propwn tents, folks who wanted this said they're proud of this campaign and that this conversation is going to continue for some time to come. this was a difficult proposition for folks because it was a no vote meant it was confusing as we were in the ballot booth ourselves. some folks said that prop 10 would make the housing crisis and rent even more difficult because it would actually apply these rent control measures to single family homes, that is, if you just have one rental property, you would be held to the same standard as high-rises and multiple housing units. so this went down in defeat 60%, but the conversation is going to continue as the affordability crisis continues to grow here in california. coming up at 6:00, we're going to talk once again about those voter turnout numbers that contributed not only to prop 10's defeat, but to all of the numbers across the board. in san jose, kris sanchez "today in the bay." >> thank you for the latest there, kris. and as many expected, senator dianne feinstein won re-election but her challenger kevin de leon made that interesting, losing by a half million votes. feinstein will serve her fifth u.s. senate term,at the age of 85, she'll be the oldest u.s. senator. last night she talked about her goals for the new congress. >> we need to do an immigration bill. we need to do a health care bill, particularly to provide a public option and to enable people to buy into medicare at age 55. >> in defeat, democratic state senator kevin de leon said he'll continue to work so all voices in california will be heard. in the race for lieutenant governor t appears eleni kounalakis is the declared winner, with a significant lead over ed hernandez, her 56% to hernandez's 44%. >> and republican catherine baker won over rebecca bauer-kahan in district 16 which covers central contra costa county and the tri valley. >> it looks like there will be change at the santa clara county sheriff's office, laurie smith will serve a sixth term as the county's top cop over john hirokawa. smith, the incumbent and her supporters celebrated when smith jumped out to a lead right away. >> i'm very optimistic now. i think the lead is insurmountable at this point. anything can happen, but i'm very confident. we had a great team in place and i'm really pleased the voters of santa clara county selected me. >> i think that i would still be an advocate for change, still be an advocate especially in regards to the use of force, racial profiling and the reforms >> hirokawa had a thank you event for supporters in campbell. he said he plans to stay active on the issues he campaigned on. proposition 7 is winning by a big margin. during the winter hours we'd be two hours behind the east coast, in the summer three hours behind. the idea will need approval from st state lawmakers and congress, and eventually president trump would have to sign off on the change. >> do we permanently lose an hour? no need to worry about the timing except for the south bay. scattered incidents around the bay, nothing major except for a crash in san jose i'm concerned with. mountain view north 101 at moffitt, everything is off to the shoulder. north 101 at oakland road shy of 808 bev a crash which may be in lanes still. we've seen a backup forming. you see the traffic headlights starting to backup at 680. hopefully they'll clear that quickly. you see that purple sign, that's shen yun. you so ee that all over the bay. that's how we know it's wintertime. look at the weather for today, another cool start to the morning? >> yes, another cool start, but the weekend will not at all feel like it's headed into winter. we are going to see more of those warm temperatures. saturday is looking really nice. you may make your plans based on where you'll find the most comfortable weather. we'll be in the upper 70s for the inland valleys. the bay at 73, and the coast reaching 69 degrees. we'll see more of the same on sunday. more sunshine, and also these high temperatures reaching into the 70s inland. you want to check out marcus on the ice skates? it's going to be a sight to see, i'd imagine. walnut creek on ice on saturday, and that starts at 11:00, and that kicks off our winter season. it will be in the upper 60s there, and walnut creek perfect perfect. we'll get a lot of sunshine and highs in the mid-70s. veterans day the parade on sunday in san jose, that's going to start around the s.a.p. center at noon. it's going to be in the low 70s, and then reaching into the mid-70s going into the rest of the day. if you're planning to get somewhere a little bit more relaxing, maybe go to russian river valley, it's going to be in the low 70s and mostly sunny skies, and yosemite is looking really nice, a little bit cool there, with those highs in the low 50s for friday and saturday. 53 degrees, and on sunday 50 degrees. we'll talk about what's going on today. our temperature trend for the south bay is coming up in about three minutes. >> thanks, kari. 5:40. coming up, high fire danger as kro the bay ar -- across the bay area. the danger areas firefighters are keeping a close eye on and plus where pg&e is planning on turning the power off in response. president trump this morning reacting to last night's elections, with a surprising suggestion for republicans. we'll take a look when "today in the bay" continues. california phones offers free specialized phones... like cordless phones. - ( phone ringing ) - big button, and volume-enhanced phones. get details on this state program. visit right now or call during business hours. and accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. - ( phone ringing ) - get details on this state program visit right now or call during business hours. mike traffic tease donald trump is declaring good wednesday morning. it is 5:43. here is a live look outside at 101? san jos 101 in san jose. campbell we start out at 52 degrees at 9:00. normally we're reaching into the upper 60s but we're going above that today. another warm one, a look at the forecast in less than five minutes. you saw the backup behind kari there but the bay bridge moves smoothly. great drive across the span here. we'll talk about the updates for san jose and for mountain view. donald trump is declaring victory this morning, but one-party rule is over. >> democrats are taking over the house, scott mcgrew. >> they have but couldn't take the senate. as of january 3rd, we will have a new congress. two houses hopefully equail indignity, one led by democrats, other led by republicans. looking back, it is remarkable what republicans were not able to get done, even though they held power over both branches. they were unable to make changes to the obamacare they hoped for. i bring it up because that's the main thing the party ran on, remember, two years ago. the major accomplishments, the supreme court appointments and reforming and cutting taxes, particularly corporate tax. from here on out, republicans will need democrats to join in to get things done. president trump as you said declaring victory this morning, in a tweet he said those that worked with me in this incredible midterm election, embracing certain policies and principles, did very well." those that did not, say good-bye! yesterday was such a very big win, and all under the pressure of a nasty and hostile media." now it's true, some of his supporters like desantis in florida and cruz in texas won. others like heller in virginia virginia, david brat in virginia did not. nancy pelosi spoke last night about trying to bring americans and the american government together. >> a democratic congress will work with solutions that bring us together, because we have all had enough of division. >> we have a question mark on our board here, because she still has to be voted into office but even president trump says he would like pelosi to be speaker, suggesting in a tweet a couple minutes ago republicans vote for her as well. he no doubt sees her as a useful foil. the other thing to watch, we are coming down to the last details in the last votes in georgia. still no declared winner in the governor's race. no matter who wins, expect the other side to claim cheating. the person in charge of that election is also the guy running for election, brian kemp was accused of mismanaging the election process. he ran into minor trouble while casting his ballot here. if there's a recount, he's also in charge of that recount. one last thing i want to stick in, florida voters saying yes to a proposition allowing felons to vote after their complete their sentences, similar to what happens here in california. florida, of course, a huge state in the presidential race. all of a sudden you have 1.5 million new voters who presumably lean blue who are suddenly a factor in this. we'll have to watch that. one in ten floridians is a felon. i know that sounds -- >> really? i was going to question the numbers. >> i have doubled checked it and double checked it. all the votes that are in this critical presidential race. >> will they get out to vote, though? >> that's the question. >> we'll see. thank you very much, scott. 5:47 right now. we're not out of the woods just yet when it comes to wildfire dangers. there is another red flag warning about to go into effect. it could lead to intentional power outages for parts of the bay area you need to know about. >> "today in the bay's" bob redell is live in contra costa county with why forecasters are concerned here. bob? >> reporter: marcus and laura, frankly, there's no rain, the brush is dry. humidity levels are low and tonight we're expecting gusts of 40 to 60 miles an hour, that's the reason why you have this red flag warning issued by the national weather service for cocoa, alameda, santa clara, san joaquin, stanislas county. the red flag warning extends to nine counties up north, including napa, sonoma and lake counties. cal fire says they have bolstered forces in the area. pg&e is warning customers who live in the nine counties up north that the utility might intentionally shut off their power any time starting today through tomorrow. we've seen pg&e do this before as a precaution in case the winds were to knock down power lines and spark a wildfire, like we saw last year in napa and sonoma counties. the wildfire danger is real. this is video from the past 24 hours. this is a wildfire burning right now here in the bay area. cal fire tells us that firefighters started so-called rincon fire burning in santa cruz county, stopped it from moving forward but eight still burning in that specific area. the fire located off highway 9 at rincon. 17 acres so far, 65% contained. the 210 firefighters involved are still trying to again as i said put it out. this fire started saturday night. cal fire is still trying to determine the cause. reporting live here in san ramon, bob redell "today in the bay." >> all right bob, thank you. lot of people wonder about the wind, are we going to have any strong wind gusts in the area? >> first the pickup during the overnight hours and mostly for the hills. lot of us in the wind sheltered valleys don't feel the wind as much, but that's going to be the threat as we go into the next 24 to 48 hours, and it starts out so cool and very dry this morning, with some upper 30s from some of our readings in the north bay as well as half moon bay. most of us step out the door to temperatures in the 40s. another chilly start. if you're on your way to the fremont warm springs b.a.r.t. station, it's going to be about 47 degrees through 6:00 and 59 degrees. we see temperatures again like the past few days going up fairly quickly, going into late morning and early afternoon. in the tri valley as you are walking the kids to school, some mid-40s and then reaching into the mid-70s as that last school bell rings, and then here is the areas we're concerned about for the east bay and the north bay. red flag warning goes in effect at 10:00 p.m., continues through friday morning as the winds pick up. the wind speed forecast shows that throughout most of the day, winds will be fairly light and tonight look at what starts to happen in napa, as well as parts of contra costa county, as our winds will be sustained at about 25 miles per hour. once again, there could be some much higher gusts, and it does stay breezy with the dry northerly wind headed into tomorrow. plus, we're starting out this morning getting dressed. you want to make sure you're prepared for that very cool weather, with the jacket, and maybe some sneakers for the very comfortable air we'll feel this afternoon. it's still very dry, no chance of rain in the forecast, and the seven-day reflects that, as we go into the weekend, still some well above normal temperatures, reaching into the upper 70s and low 80s for the valleys, and more cool mornings with the lows dropping back into the 40s. now, mike, you were tracking two crashes in the south bay? >> yes, kari, that's what's causing the lights to be jammed up for one of our san jose cameras, we've been showing folks northbound 101 north of the 680/280 interchange. this is headed toward alum rock, mckee, and oakland road is the first crash, blocks your two left lanes. it should be clearing any minute now, as crews have arrived. we see a build for 87, san jose, starting to see the commute building. toward mountain view we see a second crash up at moffitt for northbound 101. two left lanes blocked. two tough spots for the south bay. the rest of the bay, guys, moves smoothly. bay bridge toll plaza metering lights are on. back to you. >> stay smooth. thanks a lot. still ahead here on "today in the bay," "nbc bay area responds." >> generous folks like you gave millions of dollars to help north bay fire victims. so where did all that money go? i'm consumer investigator chris chmura, "nbc bay area responds" next. but first, happening now, giants looking to the future with a new president of baseball operations coming from the rivals the dodgers. farhan zaidi will be leading the team next season and one of his first jobs will be hiring a general manager. we have more news for you right after the break. it's 55:52. it was time to update the bathroom but we wanted to work with a company we could trust. rebath gave us the bathroom we always wanted. call 925-233-6471 and save $1000 off your complete bathroom remodel follow us at "nbc bay area" -- and check out got reactio our instagram page full of stories for voters. you can see jonathan bloom filing something, check out different reactions from folks throughout the bay on why they even voted. 5:55 right now. continuing our decision 2018 coverage this morning, there are a lot of history-making wins as the midterm results roll in. nbc bay area's kira klapper joins us with a look at many of those firsts. >> good morning to you. topping that list, colorado jared pollis spoke to supporters early this morning. >> we proved we are an inclusive state that values every contribution regardless of someone's sexual orientation or gender identity. >> he will succeed john hickenlooper who is term limited from seeking the office again. polis defeated walker stapleton, and more firsts in maine, iowa, and sldsouth dakota, voters eled their first female governors, the wins what some are calling a pink wave. new york's alexandria ocasio-cortez is the youngest representative, just 29 years old, a democrat and the daughter of puerto rican parents. also the first native american woman has been elected to congress in new mexico, and two muslim women also were elected to congress in minnesota and michigan. as you can see, a record number of women were elected to the house of representatives, around 100 so far at last count, like 96. 33 of them are brand new. the rest are incumbents. according to the "washington post," get this, women haven't held more than 84 posts in the house of representatives. there are 435 seats in the house of representatives. >> it's amazing to see a lot of thing. >> it's a good year to be a woman in politics. >> always good to be a woman, right? >> yes, i mean, i wanted to say that. thanks for saying it. >> in the house, in the workplace and everywhere. >> and in the oval office. >> and your home too. donations are pouring in from around the globe to support victims of the fires. one relief fund raised more than $30 million. we sent consumer investigator chris chmura back to the fire zone to see where all those donations went. >> the main fire relief fund collected more than $32 million, and organizers say they gave more than 6,000 fire victims grants that averaged right around $3,000 each. those recipients include jen and miles harrison, who lost their santa rosa home and everything inside. when they evacuated, they took next to nothing. the harrisons say they really needed that money in the immediate aftermath. >> just to buy, you know, a little bit more clothing, to be able to stop and eat somewhere and know that you're going to be fine, and, it's a little thing but it really is a big thing. >> organizers say 20 million of the $32 million fund went directly to survivors. tonight we'll explore where the remaining $10 million went, including an unexpected project involving hundreds of utility sheds. if you have a tip for our consumer team, let us know. 888-996-tips or nbcbayarea.com/responds. i'll see you again tonight at 6:00. >> thank you very much. it's almost 6:00 in the morning now. too close to call. the most expensive california superintendent race in history, still no clear winner this morning, with the future of our state schools at stake. hear what both candidates said overnight. plus -- >> we don't demean. we don't discriminate, and we don't demoralize. we don't separate families, and we don't lock kids in cages. >> governor-elect gavin newsom's vision for the future of california, the issue he says he'll tackle on day one. and voters across the state standing in long lines to make their voices heard. the new numbers on turnout we got overnight. "today in the bay" continues right now. good wednesday morning to you. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. mike will have a look at traffic in a bit but meteorologist kari hall is here, another cool start to the morning. >> a cool start and a warm afternoon. it is going to go from very chilly to hey, this is nice. here is a live look outside of 880 in fremont. as you get ready to head out, we have mostly clear skies. it will be in the upper 40s at 7:00 to 73 degrees at 1:00 this afternoon p the morning commute in gilroy will dip down to 40 degrees at 7:00. skies are clear, no fog, very dry air, and we'll be in the mid-70s as we go through late morning into early afternoon. the fire danger will be the main concern, starting tonight, and i'll have more in a few minutes. mike, you're tracking a new crash in berkeley. >> i am, on our live camera, a look at the east shore freeway. there's golden gate field. you see folks coming off the san rafael to richmond bridge merging in at university, that's the silhouette. reports of a crash over on the shoulder from what i'm told. i don't see any disturbance to the flow. westbound is showing that build. it's green on our sensors, so about 20 minutes highway 4 to the backup at the bay bridge. slowing approaching the carquinez bridge. typical for cocoa county there. smooth drive and typical for the tri valley and east bay.