[EARLIER UPDATES IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

11:59PM ET: Republicans win control of the U.S. Senate & appear on track to increase their majority in the House to near historic levels.

11:50PM ET: Businessman Larry Hogan (R) Pulls Major Upset and beats Anthony Brown (D) to become Governor of Maryland.

11:45PM ET: Republican Bruce Rauner ousts Dem Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, CNN projects.

11:11PM ET: Fox News projects incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts will win re-election in Kansas.

11:08PM ET: ABC News projects Republican Roberts will win Senate race in Kansas.

10:53PM ET: Mike Grimm, GOP, elected U.S. House, District 11, New York. –@AP

10:31PM ET: Republicans are now one seat shy of taking the majority in a huge win for the GOP.

10:25PM ET: Republican Steve Daines will win Senate seat in Montana, giving the GOP its fifth pickup of six seats needed to take control of the Senate.

10:20PM ET: GOP Cory Gardner wins election to the U.S. Senate in Colorado.

10:17PM ET: Fox News projects Republicans not only retain control of the House but will also gain about 10 seats.

10:04PM ET: NBC News projects Steve Daines (R) will win Montana SEN. Race

9:58PM ET: Republicans now need two more seats to gain control of the U.S. Senate.

9:55PM ET: Fox News projects that Republican congressman Cory Gardner will oust first-term Democratic Senator Mark Udall in CO.

9:44PM ET: Louisiana Senate race will go to run-off between Mary Landrieu & Bill Cassidy Dec. 6

9:40PM ET: GOP Mike Enzi wins election to the U.S. Senate in Wyoming.

9:27PM ET: Carolyn Maloney, Dem, elected U.S. House, District 12, New York.

9:26PM ET: Jerrold Nadler, Dem, elected U.S. House, District 10, New York.

9:23PM ET: NBC News projects John Cornyn (R) wins Texas Senate.

9:18PM ET: With more than half the vote in from Virginia, Republican Ed Gillespie is making a strong showing against Democratic Sen. Mark Warner. But the vote is still coming in from the Democratic-leaning counties in the Washington suburbs, where Warner is pinning his hopes for a win.

9:17PM ET: The 10 p.m. EST closings are in Nevada, Utah, Montana and Iowa, the state Democrat Harry Reid is calling the key to holding on to his title of Senate Majority Leader. Reid said over the weekend that a Republican takeover could depend on the outcome of the race between Republican Joni Ernst and Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley. “Iowa is critical. There’s no other way to say it,” Reid said.

9:07PM ET: GOP is halfway to the six seats they need for Senate control.

9:05PM ET: Republican Mike Rounds has won the South Dakota Senate race. He’ll succeed retiring Democrat Tim Johnson.

9:00PM ET: New York governor Andrew Cuomo wins re-election.

9:01PM ET: Republican former Gov. Mike Rounds has won South Dakota’s U.S. Senate seat left vacant by retiring Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson, according to a CNN projection. Rounds staved off a challenge from independent former Sen. Larry Pressler and Democratic hopeful Rick Weiland.

9:00PM ET: Chris Smith, GOP, elected U.S. House, District 4, New Jersey.

8:58PM ET: Dem Dick Durbin wins re-election to the U.S. Senate in Illinois.

8:54PM ET: NBC News projects Jack Reed (D) wins Rhode Island Senate.

8:53PM ET: NBC News projects Susan Collins (R) wins Maine Senate.

8:49PM ET: GOP odds of capturing the Senate dip to 74% after Shaheen upset in New Hampshire.

8:45PM ET: 15 minutes ’til polls close in New York!

8:42PM ET: Democrat Chris Coons wins Senate race in Delaware.

8:40PM ET: ABC News projects Democrat Shaheen will win Senate race in New Hampshire.

8:39PM ET: NBC News projects Maggie Hassan (D) wins New Hampshire Governor.

8:36PM ET: NBC News projects Tom Wolf (D) wins Pennsylvania Governor.

8:34PM ET: Republican Rep. Tom Cotton, a Harvard-educated Iraq War vet first elected to Congress in 2012, has defeated Arkansas Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor, according to a CNN projection. With Cotton’s win, Arkansas will have two Republicans in the U.S. Senate for the first time since the 1870s. Pryor, a two-term senator and son of a former Arkansas governor, had been a top GOP target.

8:30PM ET: Republican Tom Cotton unseats Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor in Arkansas.

8:22PM ET: Democrat Jack Reed wins Senate race in Rhode Island.

8:16PM ET: Cory Booker wins U.S. Senate seat in New Jersey, NBC projects

8:12PM ET: NBC News projects Susan Collins (R) wins Maine Senate race.

8:07PM ET: Democratic businessman Tom Wolf has won the Pennsylvania governor’s race, defeating incumbent Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, according to a CNN projection.

8:04PM ET: CBS projects the Republicans will retain control of the House.

8:03PM ET: Republicans win Senate races in ME, TN, MS, both Senate seats in OK.

8:02PM ET: ABC News projects Democrat Booker wins Senate race in New Jersey.

8:01PM ET: Republican incumbent Jeff Sessions wins the Alabama Senate race — Sessions ran unopposed

7:35PM ET: NBC projects John Kasich (R) wins Ohio governor’s race.

7:34PM ET: Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito has defeated Democratic challenger Natalie Tennant, according to a CNN projection. Capito, who won the seat left open by retiring Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller, will be the first woman to represent West Virginia in the U.S. Senate. The victory is the first Republican pickup of the night and strengthens the party’s chances to retake Senate control.

7:30PM ET: Virginia is still too close to call: Sen. Mark R. Warner (D) with 35%, and challenger Ed Gillespie (R) with 62 % -FoxNews.

7:27PM ET: Tim Scott (R) in South Carolina, is the first African American ever voted to both the House & Senate.

7:24PM ET: Polls close at 7:30 p.m. EST in Ohio, West Virginia and North Carolina — home of the most expensive contest in the country this year. More than $100 million was spent to influence votes in the race between Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan and her Republican challenger, state House Speaker Thom Tillis. Obama won North Carolina once and lost it during his re-election, so both parties will also be watching this race for hints of where a moderating southern state might trend in the next presidential race.

7:20PM ET: South Carolina’s two Republican senators have retained their seats. Lindsey Graham won a third term over Democrat Brad Hutto. And Tim Scott will finish the final two years of the Senate term of Jim DeMint.

Republican Nikki Haley has won re-election as South Carolina governor, in a race that helps increase her national visibility. She defeated Democrat Vincent Sheheen after an acrimonious campaign.

7:02PM ET: Fox News is projecting that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell will win reelection to his Kentucky seat, defeating Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes. This is a big win for Republicans because Kentucky was one of the few states where Democrats thought they had a chance of flipping a Senate seat from red to blue. It’s also significant because if Republicans take control of the Senate, McConnell will likely seek to replace Democrat Harry Reid as the next Senate majority leader.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)