What the midterm elections mean for US democracy

Voters often rejected election-denying candidates

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a Democrat rally in Washington, as President Joe Biden and their spouses Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff listen. Bloomberg

Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, speaks at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Centre in Phoenix, Arizona. Former astronaut and Democratic candidate Mark Kelly defeated his Republican rival in Arizona's senate race. Reuters

Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer, left, opens mail-in ballots at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Centre in Phoenix, Arizona. Ballots were being counted in Maricopa County three days after voters went to the polls for the midterm election in Arizona. AFP

Election workers open mail-in ballots at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Centre in Phoenix, Arizona. AFP

Staff scan ballots for the US midterm elections at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Centre in Phoenix, Arizona. Reuters

Election workers open mail-in ballots at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Centre in Phoenix, Arizona. AFP

In a divided America, a political campaign sign sits abandoned at the roadside in Phoenix, Arizona, two days after the midterms. AFP

Ballots are processed in Las Vegas. Getty Images

Election officials give a press conference in Maricopa County, Arizona, where ballots were still being counted two days after the midterms. AFP

Ballots are carried to be scanned in Philadelphia. Reuters

Mr Biden was all smiles during a news conference in the White House. Bloomberg

An election worker sorts ballots in Las Vegas. AFP

Election workers sort ballots at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Centre. AFP

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger holds a news conference in Atlanta. AP

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso gets a hug on stage at his election night headquarters in Los Angeles. AP

Paul Riley, father of Josh Riley, bows his head as election results come in at his son's election party in Binghamton, New York. Josh Riley, the Democratic candidate, ran against Republican Marc Molinaro. AP

Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer speaks during election night in Detroit. AP

Supporters cheer during an election night event for Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mr Fetterman defeated Republican Senate candidate Dr Mehmet Oz. AFP

Supporters watch news of a projected victory for Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Reuters

Republican J D Vance arrives with his wife Usha to declare victory in the Senatorial race in Columbus, Ohio. Reuters

New York Governor Kathy Hochul attends an event to celebrate her victory in the US midterm elections. Reuters

Representative Abigail Spanberger, of the Democratic party, speaks to supporters after her re-election, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. AP

Democrat Wes Moore, second from left, hugs his daughter, Mia, centre, as his mother, Joy Thomas Moore, left, son, Jamie, second from right, and wife, Dawn, look on, after he was declared the winner of the Maryland race for governor. AP

A supporter of Republican candidate Lee Zeldin reacts as media outlets predict results, in the race for governor, in favour of Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul. AP

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt celebrates his re-election, at a Republican Party watch party in Oklahoma City. AP

Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia Stacey Abrams speaks during her 2022 US midterm elections night party in Atlanta, Georgia. Her rival Brian Kemp won. Reuters

A woman arrives before Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to supporters during an election night party in Tampa. AP

Voters wait in line at a polling station at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs in Austin, Texas. AP

A voter goes to cast their vote after filling out their ballot at a polling station inside The Shed arts centre in Manhattan. AP

A jogger runs past the Capitol Building in Washington. The US midterm elections are held every four years at the midpoint of each presidential term. EPA

Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis waves from the stage next to his wife Casey and children during his midterm elections party in Tampa. Reuters

A man in costume arrives for a Republican party 'Save America' rally before the US midterm elections, in Miami, Florida. AFP

US President Joe Biden, centre, poses for a selfie with supporters during a rally for Democratic candidates, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul, at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. AFP

A man marks his ballot during early voting in Lansing, Michigan. Reuters

A child attends a rally held by US President Joe Biden with Democratic nominee for Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Senator Chris Van Hollen and other Maryland Democrats, at Bowie State University. Reuters

Supporters cheer during a rally for Democratic candidates at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. AFP

State Representative Leslie Rossi poses by a giant cutout of former US President Donald Trump in front of the "Trump House", which she owns and created in 2016, in Youngstown, Pennsylvania. AFP

Republican candidate for US Senate for Arizona Blake Masters speaks at a rally in Queen Creek, Arizona. EPA

People in the crowd cheer during a campaign rally at Bowie State University in Maryland, which was attended President Joe Biden, the first lady, Jill Biden, Maryland Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore and Senator Chris Van Hollen. AP

Republican candidate for Arizona governor Kari Lake arrives for a campaign stop, in Phoenix. Reuters

Morgan Koetje and Nickolas Lentz from Reproductive Freedom for All, canvass a neighborhood in support of Proposal 3, a ballot measure that would codify the right to an abortion, one day before the midterm election in Dewitt, Michigan. Reuters

Republican candidate for US Senate Herschel Walker takes a picture with supporters in Kennesaw, Georgia during a "Unite Georgia Bus Stop" campaign rally on the eve of the midterm elections. AFP

Republican Senate candidate Val Demings speaks to supporters in Wilton Manors, Florida. AP

Senate hopeful Mehmet Oz addresses campaign rally in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania. AP

Former president Donald Trump speaks at a rally in support of the campaign of Ohio Senate candidate JD Vance, at Dayton International Airport. AP

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive for the rally at Bowie State University, in Maryland. AP

Voters pass by a sign outside a polling site in Warwick, Rhode Island after casting their ballots on the last day of early voting before the midterm election. AP

Democratic candidate for Georgia governor Stacey Abrams speaks to volunteers during an election eve phone and text bank party in Atlanta. AP

US Vice President Kamala Harris, left, points to Los Angeles mayoral candidate Representative Karen Bass, after speaking at a rally in Los Angeles. AP

As the results of the US midterm elections come into focus, one thing is already clear: many of the candidates who parroted Donald Trump’s unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him fared poorly.

Mr Trump’s false narrative that Joe Biden only beat him in 2020 through a shadowy nationwide voting conspiracy has been embraced by many Republicans, even though no evidence has surfaced to support the claims.

The former president endorsed hundreds of election-denying loyalists in the midterms, including some who were running for secretary of state, a position responsible for the administration of elections.

Republicans had predicted a “red wave” of support at Tuesday’s polls, leading Democratic observers including Mr Biden to be fearful that the very fabric of American democracy was about to come undone.

But the “red wave” was smaller than expected and, while some election deniers won or are ahead as counts continue, many failed.

Pollsters have credited this in large part to the high turnout among voters aged 30 or under, who are less likely to embrace Mr Trump's claims than older voters, particularly baby boomers.

“One could go down the ballots in each state and actually find candidates that Trump endorsed and then you could look at how those candidates fared vis-a-vis, say, other candidates in the state or the region,” said Thomas Balcerski, a presidential historian and visiting professor at Occidental College.

“The pattern is already clear that those candidates fared worse relatively.”

Historically, the midterms serve as a referendum on the presidency and the party in power. But this year, it felt to many observers like democracy itself was on the ballot.

The midterms have “abated, but not extinguished, concerns about ongoing democratic stability”, said Aziz Huq, a professor of law at the University of Chicago.

For two years, Mr Trump crisscrossed the country telling his followers that he won the 2020 election and this has been blamed for fuelling the anger that led to the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

But in the critical battleground states Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, election deniers lost.

The former president has already suggested there were issues in these midterms, questioning how his desired Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, Mehmet Oz, could have lost.

"How does Oz (smart guy!) lose to a guy who can’t string together two sentences?" Mr Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, referring to victor John Fetterman, who this year suffered a stroke.

"They don’t want to check, because they don’t want to make me right."

In Georgia and Michigan, incumbent candidates who strongly defended the integrity of their states’ voting system in 2020 won handily.

Arizona and Nevada are still too close to call, though election-denying gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is almost neck and neck with Democrat Katie Hobbs.

Most of the election-denying candidates, “when they ran in a competitive venue, they were rejected”, said Thom Reilly, a professor at Arizona State University, describing the prospects for the US democratic process as “a bit encouraging”.

The fact that people who actively campaigned on the 2020 election being stolen did not get their hands on some of the levers that help hold up the US democratic system came as a relief for some.

“That reduces the risk of the 2024 election going off the rails the way that the 2020 election almost did,” Dr Huq told The National.