Since the fights for the White House, Senate and House are so close, it doesn’t take much for any of those contests to end up barely on one side of the partisan ledger or the other. And that means there are multiple combinations of outcomes.

Even though Harris is running stronger, it’s still possible for Republicans to sweep the White House and both houses of Congress. It’s also possible for Harris to win, Republicans take over the Senate and Democrats secure the House. Or Harris could prevail and Republicans could win the House and Senate. Or, in a long shot, Democrats could sweep the Big Three. The point is that there are multiple possible scenarios.

The challenge is that a split decision on Nov. 5 will make it difficult to discern what the voters were trying to say. Both parties will highlight their victory and tout it as the most important result, ignore any losses, declare a mandate and march back into Washington next year. Maybe more importantly, mixed results will inhibit future growth of each party.

Unless a party gets completely wiped out, there’s no incentive or urgency to fundamentally change the party and its leadership. If everyone has a significant victory to tout, then the parties are less likely to make drastic changes to their philosophies and strategies.

The timing of the election results could complicate the key takeaways and narrative of the entire cycle.

It’s possible that the Senate is called first. Republicans are going to gain one seat early in the evening with West Virginia in the Eastern time zone. Then the GOP will need to win just one more seat for control regardless of the White House outcome. If that happens, an incomplete narrative about it being a great Republican cycle may set in.

Harris could still win the presidential race, but it will likely take longer to call because that victory is dependent on counting ballots in a lot more close states. And a Harris victory would certainly complicate the initial “great Republican cycle” message.

The wait to learn the outcome in the House could be lengthier still, with multiple competitive races in California, New York and Pennsylvania, where counting ballots can take even longer. But knowing which party will control the House is essential to declaring which party had a “good” or “bad” cycle.

Unfortunately, patience is not a virtue in America, and the story about the 2024 elections will start to be written after the first key races are called. It would be wiser to wait until all the results are in before defining the cycle.

Nathan L. Gonzales is a senior political analyst for the Public Affairs Council and editor of Inside Elections, a nonpartisan newsletter with a subscription package designed to boost PACs with a regular newsletter and exclusive conference call. You can also hear more on the Inside Elections Podcast. His email address is [email protected].