Rural versus Urban is still in the mix. Majority of urban dwellers vote Democrat while the majority of rural individuals select Republican. Some political pundits have suggested (maybe in jest) that for the Democrats to overtake the Senate, some urban dwellers will need to move to rural and conservative States.
Democratic Gubernatorial success was made across the country. Democrats gained 6 seats while Republicans gained 1 seat. New Democratic governors will appear in Nevada, Maine, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois and Michigan. It may not be blue wave tsunami but it's certainly significant and noteworthy.
There's not one strategy that was effective for the positive results Democrats experienced in the House. Each district is different and many candidates have customized their message depending on the district. Some more liberal districts emphasized Medicare for all and free college tuition while other more centrist or Republican districts emphasized working across the aisle and improving the Affordable Health Care plan.
It appears some Republicans in Florida were quick to say "Voter Fraud" as a mass recount was taking place a week or so after the election. They didn't have any proof of voter fraud but didn't appear to be a deterrent to make this claim. Hearing this over and over again may have some voters questioning the integrity of this institution which could have dire consequences in future elections. Regardless, a recount was needed as 3 key races were within the margin used to do a recount. Non-partisan voting officials stated that minimal voter fraud occurred in these elections, however, the irony could be that voter suppression occurred - many eligible voters were removed from the voting database for minor registration infractions such as inconsistent signatures, long lines at the polling place, and limited amount of polling locations in rural areas.
One side note, some skeptics of Florida politics might say you made your bed, now you have to sleep in it. In other words, if there were issues with voting machines or how the ballots were designed and counted, this could have been addressed at the state level. One skeptic might say why go through the painstakingly hard process of legislating this when you can just cry foul through the media. Karma can come back and bite you.
I've been reading several media reports saying because of demographic changes, Republicans are trying to make it harder to vote. Besides gerrymandering, this could be accomplished several ways, either by reducing the number of polling places, hours polling places are opened, or requiring an ID card. If counties or states require ID cards, should these not be provided by the state?
Our current occupant was asked before the election of 2016 if he'd accept the results and his response was "We'll see." Of course, even though he lost the popular vote by 2.9 million votes in 2016, he did win the presidency by capturing the greater number of the Electoral College votes. Of course, he didn't question the integrity of the election once he was declared the winner. In Florida for 2018, he claimed the results indicated that both Republican candidates won (Senate and Governor). In addition, without reviewing the details and status of the results, stated a recount was another example of "voter fraud," another words, why should there be any due diligence as my party won? Of course, he appears to only whine and cries voter fraud when his candidate doesn't win or where a recount is required.
Brian Kemp, current Secretary of State, Georgia. Why wouldn't he recuse himself once he's running for governor? Is that not the ethical thing to do? Isn't one of the duties of secretary of state is to oversee the election results?
More people in the USA voted in the midterms than ever before any other midterm. What does this indicate about how the electorate feels about the current state of our federal government?
Don't read too much into the Senate race results in N. Dakota, Missouri and Indiana. All three Democratic senators from these 3 states lost their election. Some political analysts might say this is a cause for concern although I look at it differently. Heidi Heitkamp (North Dakota), Claire McCaskill (Missouri) and Joe Donnelly (Indiana) are moderate or conservative Democrats but represent states that are Republican leaning. It certainly hurts the balance of power in the Senate for Democrats that these 3 Senators lost in 2018 but it shouldn't come as a big surprise what occurred.
It appears that the Republicans and President Trump didn't do that well in these past elections. According to Nytimes.com recently, Democrats gained 40 Congressional seats during the 2018 midterms. Some political pundits have suggested that it's predictable that a President's party in power after 2 years doesn't fare that well in the non-presidential elections. However, with a strong economy, very low fuels costs and unemployment being the lowest in 25 years, one might say the President's party has short coattails as they didn't fare that well in this last election.
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