February 21st, 2019
Written by - Margot Luria '20
Whether you didn’t catch the November 6th midterm election results, you’re looking for a refresher on the key points, or you are curious about the immediate aftermath of shifts in the federal and state administrations, it’s always helpful to review major political events, especially in a time of this much change and tensions in our nation. As previously shared on the online current events page, Democrats regained control over the house, which had been Republican since 2011, and Republicans continued to build up their majority in the senate. While this is not surprising on a national level, there were some surprising shifts in state votes during the elections. Florida, for example, has elected Republicans to governorship and its two senate seats - a result that goes against the predictions from the September polls. Florida is one of the country’s most important swing states and if the Democrats are looking for a presidential win in 2020, they will be working tirelessly to reestablish Democratic favor in Florida. It will be interesting to see how the Democrats change their game to pick up swing state votes.
Nationally, this was a landmark election for many different minority groups. Elected politicians are beginning to show a more accurate representation of the diversity of the American population. Colorado elected an openly gay governor, Muslim, Latina, Native American and African American women were elected to congress, and the senate received its first openly bisexual representative. Many of these politicians spoke out about the current state of US politics, claiming that the current federal administration has an inaccurate view of the landscape of the American public. A politician I found particularly interesting was Jahana Hayes, who was elected to represent Connecticut in the house. She has a very fascinating background, which is definitely worth reading up on if you have the time. Jahana based her campaign on the improvement of public education, beating out her heavily Pro-Trump opponent, Manny Santos.
Looking at Ohio, Democratic senator Sherrod Brown maintained his seat in the senate and the state elected Republican Mike DeWine to governorship. The races in Ohio were very close, which is in keeping with its reputation of being a bit of a wild card swing state. Sherrod Brown’s opponent, Jim Renacci had originally announced his retirement from politics in 2017, but rerouted and entered the race for a senate seat after he was backed by the Trump administration. The support from Trump and Renacci’s somewhat “old school” political agenda of reducing regulation in the economy, education, and other components of American life seemed to be his downfall in Ohio, putting him behind Brown.
The exit polls, which are filled out by voters immediately after completing the midterm voting process, are always interesting to keep track of. This year, 76% of respondents believed that American politics are becoming more divided. The response I found most interesting was to the question “Is the direction of the country headed in the right track or the wrong track?” 54% of voters said the country is headed in the wrong track, and 42% said right track. Of the 54% that said wrong track, 85% were Democrats, and of the voters who said “right track,” 86% were Republicans. I do not find this surprising, as Democrats continue to argue that Republican policies are “moving backwards,” while Republicans argue that deregulation lends to slow but steady national improvement.
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