This year’s midterms were discussed far before they took place. A record number of women and people of color were running. Predictions were made about which parties would take the House of Representatives and the Senate. Amid all the talk of the elections, many sources reported that they would result in America’s largest voter turnout ever. Now, the results are in.
In the end, Democrats took 28 seats in the House of Representatives and now hold the House majority. Republicans added two seats in the Senate, keeping their majority there. Both of these results were predicted well before the elections took place.
Despite winning the House, Democrats had surprisingly low results in places that had previously voted Democratic, such as in the 2016 presidential election. Democrats won much of the Midwest, including Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin’s Senate seats. Their support came mostly from suburbs, while their popularity in former mining and industrial towns waned.
Even more, than a week later, the elections haven’t quite wrapped up yet. In Florida, the races for senator and governor had less than .5% margins, and recounts are still happening. In counties where the machine recount results in less than .25% margins, or in those who did not finish the machine recount by 3:00 p.m. November 15, a hand recount will be completed before November 18.
Over 4,000 mail-in ballots in Florida were rejected because of inconsistent signatures, but some voters were not notified of this problem in time to fix it. Because of this, voters will be given until 5:00 p.m. on November 17 to recast their ballots.
The president has weighed in on the recount in Florida and has accused Democrats of trying to “steal” Florida’s Senate and gubernatorial races. He also accused Florida voters of wearing disguises.
One surprise was the race for Arizona’s Senate seat. Democrat Kyrsten Sinema came from behind to win against her Republican opponent, Martha McSally. McSally initially was ahead during election night, however, Sinema pulled ahead after the counting of outstanding votes.
The race for Texas’ Senate seat was also surprising. Texas has not voted for a Democratic statewide official in 24 years, but the recent midterms showed only a 3% margin between the winning candidate, Republican Ted Cruz, and the Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke. This has led some to wonder if Texas could become a swing state and possibly vote Democratic in the 2020 presidential elections.
Though some results were expected, these recent elections came with many changes, bringing in more diverse candidates, unexpected outcomes, and party switches.
Graphic By: Ellen Lee
