2022 midterm election results

Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul who controls some of the most powerful organs in conservative media, appeared to make clear Wednesday that he would prefer to cast aside former President Donald Trump in favor of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the leader of the Republican party.​

The New York Post, a tabloid Murdoch controls, hailed DeSantis' election night victory on its front page Wednesday morning. 

"DeFUTURE," the headline on the Post blared, alongside a photo of DeSantis and his family celebrating their major win in the Sunshine State.

On Fox News, the dominant television voice Murdoch controls, significant attention was given on Wednesday to DeSantis' victory. 

"I think Gov. DeSantis is the single biggest winner of the night," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said on "Fox & Friends," adding that he will "almost certainly become the rallying point for everybody in the Republican Party who wants to move beyond President Trump."

The homepage of Fox News also prominently featured a column by conservative commentator Liz Peek that declared DeSantis "the new leader of the Republican Party." Fox News dubbed it "A NEW ERA."

And at The Wall Street Journal, the broadsheet owned by Murdoch, the newspaper's conservative editorial board published a piece proclaiming the "DeSantis Florida tsunami."

Coverage from Murdoch's media outlets is notable, given that they have significant sway over the Republican Party base and its power brokers.

"It is not an accident," a person familiar with how Murdoch runs the companies told CNN Wednesday morning when asked about the fact that the billionaire's media outlets were focusing attention on DeSantis as the future of the Republican Party.

The coverage from Murdoch's media outlets does not mean that they will completely turn on Trump. Rather, it suggests that Murdoch might use his influence to tilt the scales and push Republicans toward DeSantis if the two squared off in a 2024 Republican primary.

A spokesperson for Murdoch did not immediately return a request for comment. But Murdoch has in the past made clear his frustrations with Trump. 

Maggie Haberman, a reporter at The New York Times and CNN political analyst, reported recently in her bestselling book that after the 2020 election Murdoch remarked of Trump, "We should throw this guy over."

President Biden is set to continue the tradition of holding a formal press conference the day after the midterm elections and will take questions from reporters at 4 p.m. ET in the State Dining Room, the White House announced. 

The event will be open to press.

CNN’s MJ Lee reported Biden is expected to take a victory lap and argue that his party was able to avoid a bloodbath because at the end of the day, candidates were running on his agenda that proved to be popular. Biden will also continue to stand by the decision – which the White House was widely criticized for in the final weeks – to spend time and energy discussing issues like abortion rights, protecting democracy and election integrity, in addition to the economy and inflation. 

Biden advisers point to exit polls and ballot initiatives as clear proof that those other issues needed up being hugely motivating for voters.

Past presidents have traditionally held press conferences the day after midterm elections. They have produced noteworthy moments, like when then-President Barack Obama acknowledged a "shellacking" for Democrats in 2010. 

Obama held press conferences following midterm elections in 2010 and 2014. Former President Donald Trump held a press conference after midterms in 2018. And former President George W. Bush held press conferences after the midterm elections in 2002 and 2006.

“You're going to hear from the President. He always enjoys taking your questions,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters earlier this week. 

New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the leader of the House Democratic campaign arm, publicly conceded his race to Republican Mike Lawler in a Wednesday morning press conference, saying Lawler “won fair and square” and pledging his support to man who will replace him in Congress.

CNN has not yet projected a winner in this race.

Maloney was in the awkward position of touting House Democrats’ exceeding of pre-election expectations while also trying to make sense of his own defeat, which was part of Republican near-sweep of the New York City suburbs.

Maloney said he spoke to President Biden earlier and “expressed our appreciation for his leadership on the issues that matter to the American people.”

In recounting his conversation with Biden, Maloney said the president was “interested in where we end up.” Republicans appear likely to win a House majority, but the margin remains very much in doubt. 

“Last night should encourage him,” Maloney said of Biden. “Despite the opposition, despite the anger and the hatred and the lies that he has faced, the implacable obstruction that he has encountered, that he's making progress and that we're going to get through this together.”

Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee will win in Michigan’s 8th District, CNN projects.  

Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan will win in Indiana’s 1st Congressional District, CNN projects, defeating Republican Jennifer-Ruth Green. 

House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, staring at a smaller potential majority than he had hoped, is calling fellow Republicans Wednesday to discuss his party's strategy and as he moves behind the scenes to ensure he has the votes to become speaker in January, according to several GOP sources.

McCarthy and his team are still confident that he will get the support to win the speakership, especially since there's no challenger emerging against him. But they are trying to limit protest votes that would make it harder to get the votes he needs for the gavel since the margins in the House could be narrow. 

GOP leadership races in the House are scheduled for next week, and McCarthy will need to secure a majority of his conference's support to be his party's nominee for the speakership. The full House votes in January and that will be a more complicated prospect for him if more than a handful of Republicans lodge protest votes, since he needs 218 votes of the full House to be elected speaker.

McCarthy had hoped to pick up at least 20 seats to give him a cushion in both the speaker's race and to help push through his agenda. It's unclear if they can get there as many races remain too early for CNN to call.

McCarthy allies are touting his Tuesday endorsement from former President Donald Trump for the speaker's gavel, something that could help with staunch Trump backers in the House GOP Conference.

Plus, they believe Republicans will credit him for the hundreds of millions of dollars that Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell's outside groups raised and spent in key races. McCarthy has been calling victorious GOP candidates and members since last night.

Read more here.

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson will win reelection in Wisconsin, CNN projects, defeating Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes in one of the nation’s most important Senate races.  

The victory was another demonstration of the remarkable political durability of Johnson, 67, who has now won three consecutive hard-fought elections, despite polls that long showed him among the least popular senators up for re-election this year.  

In holding off Barnes — who Democrats had viewed at the outset of this year’s election cycle as a potential rising star — Johnson has also bolstered the GOP��s hopes of winning control of the Senate. 

The 2022 election is now in the books, although vote counting continues in a lot of places with so many races still uncalled. Democrats, who were expected to suffer considerable losses in the House, appear to have held their own, but they still look likely to wind up in the minority.

The Senate is a nip-and-tuck affair, with Democrats currently netting a single seat in Pennsylvania. Now, all eyes are on Arizona, Georgia and Nevada, all of which are too early to call. 

However, it's clear that 2020 election deniers were the losers in the midterm election results so far.

Several high-profile election deniers running for governor across the country came out on the losing end. In Wisconsin, Tim Michels lost. In Michigan, Dixon fell short. Mastriano got blown out in Pennsylvania. Ditto Dan Cox in Maryland. And Darren Bailey in Illinois.

While CNN hasn't called the Arizona governor's race, Republican Kari Lake is trailing. 

Watch:

Republican Mehmet Oz called Democrat John Fetterman to concede the Pennsylvania Senate race at 9:30 a.m. ET this morning, according to Fetterman campaign spokesperson Joe Calvello. 

Oz campaign manager Casey Contres confirmed the call to CNN.

Later on Wednesday morning, Oz released a statement of concession.

"This morning I called John Fetterman and congratulated him. I wish him and his family all the best, both personally and as our next United States Senator," the statement reads.

Oz also thanked his supporters and campaign workers, saying the campaign "was the honor of a lifetime."

"Pennsylvanians showed up with passion and a vision for a bright future that I found inspiring every day. I want to thank my supporters, so many of whom worked tirelessly to spread our message and support me and my family," he said. "We are facing big problems as a country and we need everyone to put down their partisan swords and focus on getting the job done. With bold leadership that brings people together, we can create real change."