Democrats flipped a U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina for the first time in nearly two decades Tuesday night, as the Associated Press projected former Gov. Roy Cooper the winner over Republican Michael Whatley shortly after 8:30 p.m. ET. It is the first Democratic Senate win in the state since 2008, and one of several early results reshaping the battle for Congress on a night both parties had braced for since spring.

Cooper, a popular two-term governor who left office earlier this year, had led most late polling in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Thom Tillis. Whatley, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, had leaned heavily on President Trump's endorsement in the campaign's closing weeks. CBS News's live results desk called the North Carolina race within minutes of the AP, describing it as the first Democratic flip of the night.

North Carolina wasn't the only Senate race to break Tuesday night. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff won reelection in Georgia over Republican Mike Collins, a result the AP called about 7:55 p.m. ET after rating the contest "likely Democratic" just twenty minutes earlier. In New Hampshire, Democrat Chris Pappas defeated former Sen. John Sununu for the open seat left by Jeanne Shaheen's retirement, keeping it in Democratic hands. Republicans notched a win of their own in Florida, where Sen. Ashley Moody held off Democrat Angie Nixon in a special election that had briefly been rated too close to call.

A Referendum Night

The results landed against a backdrop of economic anxiety that both parties spent the fall campaign trying to exploit. Gas prices averaged $4.15 a gallon nationally on Election Day, the highest ever recorded for a U.S. election day, according to AAA data cited by CBS News. Early exit polling put President Trump's approval rating at roughly 38 percent — on pace, network analysts said, to be the lowest midterm approval rating for a sitting president on record.

Collins, who had trailed Ossoff for much of the race, conceded shortly after the call. "The results may not be what we wanted tonight," he told supporters, "but y'all, that's OK."

"THE RESULTS MAY NOT BE WHAT WE WANTED TONIGHT, BUT Y'ALL, THAT'S OK."

Control of the House remained unsettled as of 9 p.m. ET. CNBC's Election Desk projected Democrats would win at least 200 of the chamber's 435 seats to the GOP's at least 160, rating the chamber as "leaning Democratic" without calling it outright. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters his party was "on the verge" of retaking the majority, though that remained his own assessment rather than a network projection. Democrats also flipped two redrawn Florida House seats, with Reps. Kathy Castor and Jared Moskowitz both projected as winners.

Several marquee Senate races remained too early to call as of this writing, including Alaska, Iowa, Maine — where ranked-choice tabulation could delay a final call for days — Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas. Governors' races in Florida and Georgia were also still undecided, with NBC News's live tracker showing both as too close to call hours after polls closed. Democrat Josh Shapiro won reelection as Pennsylvania's governor, and Maryland's Wes Moore and Rhode Island's Helena Foulkes were also projected winners.

Counting continued into the night across the map, with officials in several swing states warning that full results — especially in close House and governor's races — might not be finalized until Wednesday morning or later.