WASHINGTON - Incumbent Democrats are trailing in two of three competitive House races in Virginia billed as early bellwethers of how the 2022 midterm elections might turn out.

Incumbent Rep. Elaine Luria, a member of the committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots, was about 12 points back of Republican challenger Jen Kiggans with just over half of polls reporting.

Another incumbent, former federal agent and CIA officer Rep. Abigail Spanberger, trailed GOP rival Yesli Vega by about five points with 70 per cent of the vote in.

Rep. Jennifer Wexton was nursing a 5,000-vote lead over Republican challenger Hung Cao with about two-thirds of the votes counted.

The races in Virginia, a state that supported Joe Biden in 2020, were seen as a potential early warning for Democrats fearing a voter backlash.

Key Senate races in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina and New Hampshire remained too close to call early in what promised to be a long night.

In purple Ohio, congressman Tim Ryan was eight points ahead of venture capitalist and “Hillbilly Elegy” author J.D. Vance with about one-third of polls reporting.

In Georgia, former NFL running back Herschel Walker was swapping the early lead with Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock, both of them tantalizingly close to the 50 per cent threshold necessary to avoid a run-off election next month.

Pennsylvania Lt.-Gov. John Fetterman also jumped out early to lead Trump acolyte Dr. Mehmet Oz, likely reflecting early counts from Democrat-friendly urban centres.

However it turns out, Canada and the United States will remain important economic partners who will work together for the mutual benefit of people on both sides of the border, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier in the day.

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“We have worked through very different configurations of administrations in the past,” Trudeau said when asked about the potential fallout.

“The friendship and the solidity of the relationship between Canada and the United States will continue, regardless of whatever happens in the midterms.”

Polling has suggested the Democrats would be in for a rough night as voters express persistent concerns about the U.S. economy, stubborn inflation and crime.

Republicans are expected to win control of the House of Representatives, while the balance of power in the Senate comes down to a handful of key races, including Pennsylvania and Georgia.

It may also take a while for the dust to settle: officials in Pennsylvania warn it could take several days to count all the mail-in votes, while Georgia could need a run-off election next month to settle its Senate battle.

Midterm elections are rarely a cakewalk for the party that controls the White House, but stubborn inflation, economic anxiety and President Joe Biden's dismal approval ratings have been rocket fuel for Republicans.

Democrats have seized on fears over abortion rights and the failing health of the country's democracy to portray the GOP as a fundamental threat to basic American freedoms.

In Arizona, where polls were still to close, Trump-adjacent Republican Kari Lake's bid to become governor has consumed a lot of political oxygen and vaulted her onto the national stage, fuelling speculation she could end up on a presidential ticket before long.

Polls suggest Lake is nursing a narrow lead over her Democratic rival, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, while on the Senate side, Sen. Mark Kelly is trying to fend off a challenge from GOP hopeful Blake Masters.

Next door in Nevada, Republicans remained hopeful that Adam Laxalt would be able to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto.

In the least surprising result of the night, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, widely expected to challenge Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for president in 2024, handily fended off Democratic rival Charlie Crist.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2022.