The Democrats Won Control of the House, But the Republicans Kept the Senate
Despite all the HYPE over this year’s Midterm Election, the takeaway is both GOOD and UNSATISFYING . . . for everyone. Both Democrats and Republicans are declaring victory . . . and they’re both kinda right, and kinda wrong.
The much-talked-about BLUE WAVE sort of happened . . . but only in the House races. Democrats not only took control of the House of Representatives, but they gained at least two dozen seats.
However, they weren’t able to take the Senate, and they even lost some ground.
For Republicans, President Trump was NOT total kryptonite like some people thought. The Republicans did well in their Senate races, and they also won some close, important governors’ races, particularly in Florida and Ohio. The five candidates Trump stumped for in the last two weeks won, and the four candidates Obama campaigned for lost.
So, both sides can look at the glass half-empty or half-full, and the only real significant difference is that control of Congress is split . . . meaning that they’ll get even LESS done, if that’s even possible. How exciting!
Not all the races are 100% settled, but when we last checked:
. . . The House has 222 Democrats and 199 Republicans, with 14 still outstanding.
. . . The Senate has 51 Republicans and 45 Democrats, with 4 still outstanding.
(As for governors . . . BEFORE the election there were 33 Republican governors and 16 Democrats, with 1 Independent. After the election, there are 25 Republicans, 21 Democrats, and 4 still to be determined.)
And here’s a quick rundown of EIGHT notable results:
1. Florida passed an amendment to restore voting rights for 1.5 million former felons, who have served their sentence, including parole and probation, with the exception of those convicted of murder and sexual offenses. (While this is potentially a GOOD thing, it’s SO Florida to be the first. And you thought Florida’s elections were crazy before.)
2. Colorado elected America’s first openly gay governor, Jared Polis.
3. Palestinian-American Rashida Tlaib (Michigan) and Somali-American Ilhan Omar (Minnesota) have become the first Muslim women elected to the U.S. Congress.
4. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York became the youngest women ever elected to Congress. She turned 29 last month.
5. Believe it or not, there has never been a lesbian Native American in Congress.
Sharice Davids changed that with her win in Kansas. There wasn’t even a Native American woman . . . and now there’s two. Deb Haaland is the other one, thanks to her win in New Mexico.
6. Mitt Romney is back on the scene! He won his Senate race in Utah. He’s succeeding Orrin Hatch, who’s retiring.
7. Remember Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk we only know about because she refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses? Well, she lost her re-election bid.
8. And speaking of things you probably don’t care about, Democrat Lou Leon Guerrero was elected the first female governor of Guam, which is a U.S. territory.