Biden narrowly avoided a political rebuke. The next two years could be a governing gridlock

A Republican House could still upend the trajectory of the presidency, with a decision to re-run looming in the distance

With the next two years of his presidency on the line and Congress in the balance, Joe Biden picked up the phone on Tuesday night and began placing a series of congratulatory calls.

At first, the president offered well-wishes to candidates widely expected to win their races, like Wes Moore, who soundly defeated his far-right opponent to become Maryland's first Black governor. But soon the president was congratulating Democrats in more competitive contests, like Virginia congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, whose political fate was seen as a bellwether of Republicans' fortunes. He ended what one prominent forecaster declared the craziest election night I've ever seen" with an early morning text to Pennsylvania lieutenant governor John Fetterman, who defeated celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz in one of the most fiercely contested Senate races that had become a proxy battle between Biden and Donald Trump.