Why the red wave didn’t come

Democrats outperformed history and expectations with a surprisingly strong midterm elections performance Tuesday, with the promised red wave nowhere to be found.

The best news for the GOP is that they appear to be the favorites to narrowly retake the House of Representatives, though the outcomes of key races have not yet been called. Apart from that, the results so far are a litany of disappointments for Republicans.

In the Senate, the contests that will determine control — Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona — have not yet been called. But Democrats have a path to hold on, helped by John Fetterman’s victory in a GOP-held open seat contest in Pennsylvania. If Democratic incumbent Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Mark Kelly triumph in Nevada and Arizona, the party would keep its majority (Cortez Masto is currently trailing, but the outstanding mail vote will likely benefit her, while Kelly is ahead in Arizona). If one of them loses, and Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock (currently leading in Georgia) falls short of 50 percent, his race will head to a runoff next month that will determine the majority.