Midterm elections live updates: Democrats increasingly optimistic about holding the Senate

Democrats celebrated a better-than-expected performance in the midterm elections this week, blunting Republican efforts to gain ground in Congress and across the country. But their relief masked a continued problem: The party still has work to do to shore up its diverse voter base.

The red wave that pundits predicted did not materialize, but support for Democrats slipped across the board, including among voters of color integral to the party’s political future. While more than 8 in 10 Black voters supported Democrats for Congress, their level of support fell between four and seven percentage points during the midterms compared with 2018, according to network exit polling and the AP VoteCast poll, respectively. Among Latinos, support for Democrats declined between nine and 10 percentage points, with between 56 percent and 60 percent backing Democrats.