Dem
50
Ties
1
GOP
49
Despite the intense partisanship in so much of politics, tickets were split up and down the line. Most obviously, the voters gave the Senate to the Democrats and the House to the Republicans. But ticket splitting also happened at the state level. There were several states that split their tickets on high-level races. In New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH) crushed his Democratic opponent at the same time Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) crushed her Republican opponent. In neighboring Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott (R-VT) triumphed in a landslide, as did senator-elect Peter Welch (D-VT). In Nevada, there was a similar split, only not as dramatic. Sheriff Joe Lombardo (R) was elected governor at the same time Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) was elected senator. If Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) wins the runoff, Georgia will also join this club, Sometimes (but not always) candidates and personalities do matter.
Two states went the other way (i.e., Democratic governor and Republican senator). In Kansas, Gov. Laura Kelly (D-KS) was reelected at the same time Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) was as well. Kelly's victory was largely due to her opponent, Derek Schmidt (R), who is strongly anti-abortion. He must have been taking a day off back on Aug. 2, when Kansas had a referendum on the matter, and missed the result. In Wisconsin, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) was reelected, but so was Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI). In all these cases, the voters were picky and didn't vote a straight ticket for one party up and down the ballot.
Lower down the ballot, there were also split tickets. In Arizona, Democrats won two key state offices, governor and secretary of state, and have a small lead in the attorney general's race. Yet the candidate with the biggest lead over her opponent is state treasurer Kimberly Yee (R), who beat Martin Quezada (D) by almost 300,000 votes. (V)