At this point, the election results are very nearly confirmed. The red wave that pundits anticipated and conservatives had hoped for failed to materialize. Georgia will face another runoff for the Senate and the Arizona schools superintendent race is likely to go to a recount. 

At the federal level, the Democrats will hold the Senate, and the Republicans will have a narrow majority in the House. 

  • House Education and Labor Chairman is still favored to be Rep. Virginia Foxx, but this will require a waiver from Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Foxx’s priorities include opposition to President Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness plan and support for CTE and apprenticeship programs. 
  • Senate HELP Committee will likely be Chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders. We can expect a focus on higher education and expanding early childhood education. Senator Rand Paul has opted to leave HELP for Homeland Security and Senator Bill Cassidy is expected to be Ranking Member. 

How did this translate in the state elections? 

  • Gubernatorial elections largely favored incumbents, including in close races in Michigan and Wisconsin. Nevada bucked the trend, with Republican candidate Joe Lombardo unseating incumbent Gov. Steve Sisolak.
  • Eyes are on Arizona as Katie Hobbs (D) is the first Democratic governor in the state since 2009. The state superintendent race is still in the balance. Even with 95%+ votes in, it is still too close to call. There is a less than 10,000 vote difference and will likely trigger the .5% recount. 
  • Oklahoma did see a red wave of its own with Ryan Walters (R) winning a competitive race for state superintendent on a strongly conservative platform.
  • The other state superintendent races landed where we expected and potential for downstream policy impacts will continue to unfold. 

An updated list of winners is available below. To see the platforms and priorities the state winners campaigned on, refer to our pre-election post, here.

2022 Governor Races

  • Alaska: Not yet called
  • Arizona: Katie Hobbs (D)
  • Georgia: Incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp (R)
  • Kansas: Incumbent Gov. Laura Kelly (D)
  • Maine: Incumbent Gov. Janet Mills (D)
  • Michigan: Incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D)
  • Minnesota: Incumbent Gov. Tim Walz (D)
  • Nevada: Joe Lombardo (R)
  • New Mexico: Incumbent Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D)
  • Oklahoma: Incumbent Gov. Kevin Stitt (R)
  • Oregon: Tina Kotek (D)
  • Wisconsin: Incumbent Gov. Tony Evers (D)

2022 State Superintendent Races

  • Arizona: Not yet called; likely result in recount
  • California: Incumbent Tony Thurmond (D)
  • Georgia: Incumbent Richard Woods (R)
  • Idaho: Debbie Critchfield (R)
  • Oklahoma: Ryan Walters (R)
  • South Carolina: Ellen Weaver (R)
  • Wyoming: Megan Degenfelder (R)

Federal Races: House Committee on Education & Labor and Senate HELP Committee Outlook

House Committee on Education and Labor

Except for Alaska, all races have been called and all members who ran in the general election successfully defended their seats. 

Yet to be called:

  • Mary Sattler Peltola (D, AK-AL)

Senate HELP Committee 

All members of the Senate HELP Committee who ran for reelection successfully defended their seats.

Updated: November 17, 2022