By MARK LANDLER and DAVID E. SANGER
The president opened the door to a lengthy, potentially contentious debate over the nature and extent of American engagement in Iraq and Syria.
First Draft
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
What might happen in the final months of a Democratic-led Congress.
By JONATHAN WEISMAN
Tax reform, international trade and budget policy may offer common ground for Democrats and Republicans in President Obama’s final two years in office.
By CARL HULSE
After winning full control of Congress, Republicans plan to move quickly to show they can legislate, aware that they risk a backlash if they fail to deliver.
By JASON HOROWITZ
As the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell has been a constant foil to the president’s agenda. Now he’s expected to be the majority leader. Can two political combatants function together without driving each other crazy?
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Congressional Republicans are likely to go for smaller, bipartisan measures before working on bigger goals like cutting taxes.
By JENNIFER MEDINA
Now, 40 years after he was first elected governor, the question will be what Jerry Brown, 76, intends to do with his power.
First Draft
By ALAN RAPPEPORT
An emboldened Speaker John A. Boehner warned on Thursday that President Obama risked “burning himself” if he takes unilateral action to reform the United States immigration system.
By JONATHAN MARTIN
A powerful lesson for both parties emerged Tuesday: Demographic shifts that are gradually reshaping the American electorate cannot overcome a difficult political environment and a weak message.
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE
The election was a pivotal moment for the “super PACs” and political nonprofit groups that helped the party defeat Democrats across the country.
By ASHLEY PARKER and JONATHAN WEISMAN
The midterm election results that rolled in on Tuesday night were unremitting good news for Republicans.
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON and RICHARD FAUSSET
After decades of decline from once-total control of the South, Democrats already had little left to lose before the election.
The Upshot
By NATE COHN
The national Democratic party has been out of favor in the South for decades, and now the party has become a toxic brand for local politicians.
By JULIA PRESTON
Latinos voted two to one for Democratic candidates in the midterm elections, but Republican gains in key races showed a possible tactic for cutting that lead in 2016.
First Draft
By NICK CORASANITI
Representative Steve Israel is stepping down as the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, turning down a request from Representative Nancy Pelosi to return for a third term, but is hoping to remain within the Democratic House leadership.
By JASON HOROWITZ
With Representative Steve Israel of Long Island as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, his party lost 14 House seats nationwide, including three in New York.
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MONICA DAVEY
With the states acting as laboratories for legislation that cannot advance in Washington, Republican policy changes are likely on a variety of issues.
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
While Republican women fared somewhat better than Democratic women, 2014 was hardly the year of the woman.
By PETER BAKER
After a long campaign, First Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing of the Union army was honored for his sacrifice at Gettysburg; at the time the medal was not given posthumously.
By ADAM LIPTAK
Some appeared critical of the decision to prosecute John L. Yates, who faced a maximum of 20 years in prison for throwing back three undersize red grouper.
By JACK HEALY
Gov. John W. Hickenlooper’s narrow victory over Bob Beauprez defied a wave of Republican victories in races for governor in usual Democratic strongholds like Maryland, Massachusetts and Illinois.
By MANNY FERNANDEZ
After Wendy Davis’s lopsided defeat in the governor’s race, analysts agreed that the problems went beyond her campaign.
By KIRK JOHNSON
The race for Senate — between Dan Sullivan, a Republican, and the incumbent, Mark Begich, a Democrat — and the vote for governor were still undecided on Wednesday.
The Upshot
By NATE COHN
Many Democrats would have won if turnout had resembled a presidential election year. But Democrats also lost in states where turnout surpassed that of 2010.
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
The region’s all-Democratic House delegation will gain two Republican members, one from New Hampshire and one from Maine.
By JOHN ELIGON
After a comfortable, across-the-board victory Tuesday, state Republican leaders proudly affirmed their conservatism and said the party should follow suit.
By TRIP GABRIEL
Beyond a forceful repudiation of President Obama, there was little uniformity on just what Republican voters wanted from their party’s new Senate majority.
By SHAILA DEWAN
If the ballot measures on Tuesday were any measure, the issue has become unmoored from partisan politics, drawing support from both sides.
By KIRK JOHNSON
Lessons for both sides of the issue are seen in votes in Alaska, Oregon and Washington, D.C.
The Upshot
By JOSH BARRO
Significant expansions of gambling passed in three states, but were rejected in two where in-state interests balked.
By MICHAEL BARBARO
For Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, the wave of Republican victories in statehouses on Tuesday is helping recast his image as a team player within his wary party.
By BENJAMIN MUELLER
On a day when Republicans snatched up governor’s seats in traditionally Democratic states, Dannel P. Malloy’s wobbly victory took on the tone of a much larger triumph, and might have opened a narrow path to national prominence.
By MATT FLEGENHEIMER
After landslide re-election wins, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and his father, Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, were accused of failing to support other Democrats on the ballot.
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
Mayor Bill de Blasio was depicted as a liberal boogeyman in ads by Republicans aimed at upstate voters.
By THOMAS KAPLAN
A divided Legislature will put Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in a powerful position, allowing him to play deal maker between Republicans and Democrats.
By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ and CLIFFORD KRAUSS
Issues expected to get a new look include a corporate tax overhaul, environmental and financial regulation, trade deals and the Keystone oil pipeline.
By ERIK ECKHOLM
Republican gains are likely to add to state abortion restrictions, from two-day waiting periods to bans at 20 weeks after conception to costly building requirements.
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS
A White House official said most of the emergency funding would be for immediate response efforts.
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
Mr. Warner, a Democrat, claimed victory just after midnight Tuesday, but his Republican opponent, Ed Gillespie, may be able to request a recount.
First Draft
By JEREMY W. PETERS
Could Harry Reid be deposed by his own caucus before he even has a chance to become minority leader?
First Draft
By NICK CORASANITI
New Jerseyans, in a new poll, said they preferred Gov. Chris Christie’s response to that of the federal government.