South Dakotans elected Republican Kristi Noem as their governor over Democrat Billie Sutton and Libertarian Kurt Evans.

With all precincts reporting, Noem won with 51 percent of the vote to Sutton’s 47 percent and Evan’s 1 percent.

Kristi Noem has been a member of South Dakota’s House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011, and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2011.

A native South Dakotan, she has helped run her family’s ranch in Hamlin County.

Incumbent Gov. Gina Raimondo has easily won reelection, despite a crowded field vying for her office.

Gov. Raimondo faced Republican Allan Fung, three independents, and one minor candidate who was arrested in October for possession of 48 pounds of marijuana.

Despite the crowd, Raimondo still garnered almost 53 percent of the vote, with Fung a distant second at 37 percent.

Raimondo made job creation a priority in her first term. Unemployment has dropped from the highest in the nation to being in step with the national average in her first four years.

Republican Henry McMaster defeated Democrat James Smith to become governor of South Carolina.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, McMaster beat Smith 54 percent to 45 percent.

McMaster is the former Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina.

He became governor of South Carolina in 2017 when Nikki Haley was appointed Ambassador to the United Nations.

Incumbent Democrat Sen. Joe Donnelly has lost his senate seat after an aggressive election contest brought by Indiana State Rep. Mike Braun.

Braun, a Republican state politician and businessman, unseated Donnelly in a state heavily supportive of President Trump.

As part of an effort to keep Republican control of the U.S. Senate, the president held four political rallies in Indiana in support of Braun.

Trump appeared in Indiana in May, two days after Braun won the Republican primary, in August, on Friday, November 2, and again on Monday in Fort Wayne, a day before yesterday’s election.

Braun’s election victory yesterday in Indiana helped the Republicans keep control of the U.S. Senate.

Democratic Congresswoman and former state health secretary Michelle Lujan Grisham won last night’s New Mexico gubernatorial election with 56.91 percent of the vote. Lujan Grisham became the first Democratic Latina governor, taking over a seat held by Republicans for two terms.

Lujan Grisham’s win will mark the first time a Democratic candidate has won the gubernatorial seat since 2002, according to Vox.

She focused her platform on an expansion of preschool education, lowering crime rates, economic expansion, and investments in solar and wind energy.

Lujan Grisham has an extensive political tenure—she is a three-term U.S. congresswoman currently serving New Mexico’s first district. Prior to her federal service, she served as cabinet secretary for three different New Mexico governors.

Upon taking office, her current U.S. seat will be filled by Debra Haaland.

Jared Polis blew a victorious horn on November 6, 2018, as he claimed an historic win as Colorado’s governor over his opponent Walker Stapleton.

Polis became Colorado’s first Jewish governor and the first openly gay man elected to lead any U.S. State.

Colorado Governor-elect Polis emerged on stage alongside his running mate Dianne Primavera during a Democratic watch party in downtown Denver.

Polis succeeds the outgoing Democrat John Hickenlooper.

In Kentucky, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis lost her bid for reelection Tuesday. Davis, who became nationally known when she refused to sign marriage licenses for gay couples, lost to her Democratic challenger by roughly 700 votes.

Davis was initially thrust into the spotlight in 2015, when she was ultimately jailed for five days by U.S. District Judge David Bunning for contempt of court for her continued refusal to grant marriage licenses to gay couples.

She was ultimately released when she promised not to interfere with licenses granted by deputy clerks.

Elwood Caudill Jr., her victorious opponent, is currently the chief deputy property valuation administrator for the county.

Larry Hogan, a moderate Republican who has emphasized bipartisanship, was re-elected as Maryland’s governor.

He is the first Republican to win re-election in Maryland since 1954, although Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state 2-1.

Hogan has the same priorities for his second term as his first: making improvements in education, job creation, transportation infrastructure and working for tax relief.

Hogan defeated Ben Jealous, who would have been Maryland’s first black governor and is a former national president of the NAACP.

Jealous had a progressive agenda that included tuition-free college and expanding Medicare to all. He supported funding full-day, universal kindergarten with the tax revenue from his proposal to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

In an election upset, Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Dave Brat lost his House seat to Abigail Spanberger.

Spanberger, who has never held public office, is a former CIA officer and Federal Postal Inspector.

A Democrat, Spanberger won the election in a newly court-drawn congressional district now including areas considered stronger for the Democrats, such as Richmond, Virginia.

Brat has held the House seat for two terms, having beaten House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in 2014.

Spanberger’s election victory yesterday in Virginia helped the Democrats gain control of the U.S. House.

Incumbent Republican Governor Chris Sununu won last night’s election in New Hampshire. New Hampshire is only one of two states where governors are elected to two-year terms.

Sununu, son of former governor John H. Sununu, was first elected in 2016.  At 42 years old, he was the youngest governor in the United States when he initially took office.

Sununu’s centrist platform focused on the strong economy, low unemployment rate, success with fighting the state’s opioid crisis, and reforming mental health and child welfare systems, according to US News.

Molly Kelly, a former state senator from Harrisville, was the 2018 democratic challenger. Kelly presented a strong challenge to Sununu, despite early polling indications giving him a double digit projected win.

Despite the strong challenge, this was an uphill battle—state voters very rarely unseat an incumbent governor after their first term, with only two governors in the last 100 years losing after one term.

Despite the governor’s office being a democratic stronghold from 1997 to 2017, New Hampshire has elected 13 Republican governors since World War 2.

Governor Tom Wolf was re-elected in Pennsylvania with a resounding 57.6 percent of the vote.  Republican challenger Scott Wagner did not pose a challenge, winning only 40.8 percent of the vote.

The win does not come as a surprise, as Governor Wolf led by double digits in every independent poll preceding the election.

Governor Wolf indicated he would continue working on his first-term priorities, including school funding.

He has advocated for many liberal causes, including ending the death penalty and expanding Medicaid.

Democratic candidates won at least seven gubernatorial races in Republican-held states on Tuesday.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker narrowly lost to Tony Evers in his bid for a third term, and Gov. Bruce Rauner lost big to billionaire J.B. Pritzker in deep-blue Illinois.

In addition to these victories, Democrats also picked up open seats in Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, and New Mexico.

Races yet to be called include Alaska, Connecticut, and Georgia.

Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has kept his senate seat after a fierce election contest brought by U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke.

O’Rourke, a three-term Democratic Congressman from El Paso, Texas, garnered national attention for creating a competitive race against Cruz, who had been assumed to have a seat safe from any real election challenge.

The challenge by O’Rourke motivated president Trump, a sometimes-critic of Cruz, to hold a political rally for the Republican senate candidate in October in Houston.

Cruz’s election victory yesterday in Texas helped the Republicans keep control of the U.S. Senate.

The battle to be Georgia’s next governor continues as Democrat Stacey Abrams refuses to concede to Republican Brian Kemp. Kemp holds a small margin of less than 70,000 votes with 99 percent of precincts reporting. Democrats believe there are enough votes submitted by mail still left uncounted to close the gap.

Abrams, a former state legislator, is the first female African-American to be a major party’s nominee for governor. Brian Kemp, Georgia’s Secretary of State, is attempting to break a 20-year slump for Republicans running for governor.

The race took an ugly turn this past weekend as Kemp’s office opened an investigation into the state’s Democratic Party for an alleged attempt to hack the state’s voter registration system. No evidence was cited and the Democrats denied the allegations.