2022 US election live updates, results, maps: Balance of power in Senate, House up in the air

WASHINGTON -- The 2022 midterm elections are shaping up to be some of the most consequential in the nation's history, with control of Congress at stake.

All 435 seats in the House and 35 of 100 seats in the Senate are on the ballot, as well as several influential gubernatorial elections in battleground states like Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

In the Georgia Senate race, ABC News reports no candidate will receive more than 50% of the vote, meaning there will be a runoff election between Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker on Dec. 6. This race is one of the most competitive in the country and will likely determine which party will control the Senate.

There are two other Senate races -- Alaska and Nevada -- as well as a number of House races that have yet to be called. Most are separated by razor-thin margins and all will come down to counting the vote.

Democrats are defending their narrow majorities in both chambers. Republican control of either the House or Senate would be enough to curtail most of President Joe Biden's legislative agenda and would likely result in investigations against his administration and even his family.

U.S. Senate

Top headlines and key races

• Georgia runoff: On Wednesday morning, ABC News reports no candidate will receive more than 50% of the vote in the Georgia Senate race. There will be a runoff election between Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker on Dec. 6.
• Flipped seats: ABC News projects John Fetterman has defeated Dr. Mehmet Oz to win Pennsylvania's Senate race, the first flipped seat in the chamber.
• Balance of power: Republicans are slightly favored to take control of the Senate, FiveThirtyEight is projecting.
• Seats held: Republicans are projected to retain control of 19 of 21 GOP seats on the ballot, and Democrats are projected to retain 12 of the 14 seats on the ballot. Democrats held down a close race in New Hampshire with U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan's projected win, while Republican JD Vance held onto control for the GOP in Ohio.

Democrats' overperformance in the 2022 midterm elections is best understood by the wins Republicans haven't seen across the board, as of early Wednesday, despite past midterm wave years.

Where outstanding Senate races stand

• Alaska: No candidate received 50% of the vote, meaning that rank-choice voting will decide the winner of the race. With 71% of the expected vote reporting, Republican candidate Kelly Tshibaka has 44%, Republican incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski has 43%, Democratic candidate Patricia Chesbro has 10% and Republican candidate Buzz Kelley has 3%.
• Arizona: Democrat Mark Kelly projected to win Arizona Senate race, ABC News has confirmed
• Georgia: With 99% of the expected vote reporting, Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock has 49% and Republican challenger Herschel Walker has 49%.
• Nevada: With 84% of the expected vote reporting, Republican challenger Adam Laxalt has 49% and Democratic incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto has 48%.

SEE ALSO: Here are the candidates who will make history with projected midterm election wins

As vote counting wraps up across the country, ABC News projects that residents in several states will elect their first female, minority, LGTBQ and Gen Z candidates to state and federal offices.

U.S. House

Top headlines and key races

• Balance of power: Republicans are favored to flip the House, FiveThirtyEight projects. Republicans need to pick up just five seats to win back the chamber.
• Where things stand: Republicans had boasted that they could enjoy a majority of at least 20 seats, overtaking Democrats' current five-seat majority. Yet the GOP has only gained a half-dozen seats, according to ABC News' projections. And while several competitive races -- for each party -- are yet to be called, Republicans had anticipated having the chamber locked up early.

Gubernatorial races

Top headlines and key races

• Wednesday morning, ABC News projected that Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly won a second term in Republican-leaning Kansas against three-term GOP state Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
• Democrats flipped two governors' seats in Maryland and Massachusetts.
• Democrats also were successful in governors' races in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania -- battlegrounds critical to Biden's 2020 win over former President Donald Trump.
• Republicans held on to governors' mansions in Florida, Texas and Georgia, another battleground state Biden narrowly won two years ago.

President Joe Biden addressed election results for the first time Wednesday, saying it was a "strong night" for Democrats as the party defied expectations and avoided a Republican blowout.

Ballot measures

Voters in battleground Michigan enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution, joining reliably Democratic California and Vermont in taking that step.

An anti-abortion measure in Kentucky was too early to call.

Voters in battleground Michigan have enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution, joining reliably Democratic California and Vermont on election night.

The Tuesday ballot measures came months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion it guaranteed to women nationwide. The decision in June has led to near-total bans in a dozen states.

Voters have approved recreational marijuana in Maryland and Missouri and rejected it in Arkansas and North Dakota. The measure also is on the ballot in South Dakota.

The elections are seen as a test of legalization's support in even the most conservative parts of the country.

The state voting follows moves by President Joe Biden toward decriminalizing marijuana.

Heading into the election, recreational marijuana was legal in 19 states, and polls have shown opposition to legalization softening.

The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.