Republicans take the Senate as Sen. Kay Hagan loses re-election

In a stunning defeat, Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) has lost her re-election bid to Thom Tillis. The victory gives Republicans the net six seat pickup necessary to flip the Senate.

Hagan led in polls down the stretch and was projected to eke out a victory. Yet on a night when almost every election broke against the Democratic Party, so too did North Carolina's Senate race.

The GOP's big night isn't over yet either. Republican Joni Ernst is projected to win Iowa's Senate race, and polls aren't yet closed in Alaska, where Republican Dan Sullivan has a strong chance of picking off Sen. Mark Begich (D).

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Then there's Louisiana, where Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) and Republican Bill Cassidy are headed for a December runoff after neither candidate received at least 50 percent of the vote in a three-way race. Polls have shown Cassidy with the upper hand, and FiveThirtyEight gives him an 80 percent chance to win the two-way contest.

If everything breaks in favor of the GOP, the party could wind up with a 54-seat majority come next year.