The midterm elections are now over and we should do a quick review to see how everything all worked out. (Actually, there is still one more Senate race to be decided in Mississippi with Mike Espy running against a Ku Klux Klan member. I exaggerate. Well, not really.) One thing was clear from long before the polls even opened – this election was about Trump. Whether you hate him or hate him, Trump was the focus of the voter’s attention. So, how did the ignorant narcissist do?

Overall, the midterm elections represent a victory for the Democrats. The Democratic Party gained 38 seats in the House to now hold a comfortable margin of control over that body. For the next 2 years, we will see an active House of Representatives with committees investigating this administration on a wide range of issues, including Trump’s business dealings, cabinet member’s actions, and Agency policies. You will see a parade of top Trump officials testifying before House committees, including Ryan Zinke (Interior), Andrew Wheeler (EPA), and the ever popular Betsy DeVos (Education). I can’t wait for Zinke to explain to the committee how environmentalists are responsible for the wildfires in California. The House will now finally begin to do its’ job of oversight of the executive branch as outlined by the founding fathers. What a remarkable turn around!

Another result of this election cycle was that the Republicans increased their majority in the Senate by at least one seat depending on the Mississippi results. Previously, the Republicans held 51 seats and now they will hold either 52 or 53. I believe that too many Democrats and political pundits have erroneously viewed the Senate results as a victory for Trump and a blocking of the “blue wave”. Going into this midterm, the Democrats were defending 26 of the 35 Senate seats up for election including 10 seats in states won by Trump in 2016. The numbers just didn’t support Democrats making any great gains in the senior chamber. To gain a majority, Democrats would have had to hold all of their 26 seats and flip 2 of the 9 seats held by Republicans. That just was never going to happen. Nothing to feel bad about Dems.

The most astounding aspect of this election was the difference in the total number of votes cast in the House elections across the nation (data from Cook Political Report’s David Wasserman).

Democrats – 59,525,244 (53.2%)

Republicans – 50,516,570 (45.1%)

The Dems won these elections by over 9 million votes, the largest gap in the history of the midterms. The 8.1%  is also the largest percentage difference in recent election history. The Democrats would have won a much larger majority in the House if not for the gerrymandering of the districts by GOP-controlled state legislatures over the last decade. That will also now change based on this election cycle.

At the State level, Democrats picked up hundreds of seats in state legislatures and 7 governorships that had been held by Republicans. After years being heavily skewed towards Republican control, governorships now sit at 26-24 in favor of Republicans. Interestingly, although Republicans lead in the number of states, only 133 million people reside in Republican governed states compared to 190 million people in states that are led by a Democrat.

Perhaps even more important than these results were the voting trends that were evident in this election.  Compared to the 2016 election, the GOP lost voting percentage with women, Latinos, young people, and independents. Democrats gained greatly with suburbanites and with seniors. The Democratic Party won 17 House districts that Trump had won just 2 years earlier and won multiple statewide offices in the key states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Of concern for the GOP, as the electorate becomes more educated with every election, Republicans won only one house race where the majority of voters were college educated.

Even some elections that were won by Republicans were surprisingly competitive. The Governor’s race in Georgia, an historically red state, ended up being practically a tossup, with that southern stronghold being within 10,000 votes of having a black woman governor. The House seat representing Gwinnett County in Georgia, one of the most red of all House districts over the last 40 years, went to a recount before being declared for the Republican incumbent. Both the Florida Senate and Governor races were extremely close despite both being won by Republicans. Unless voting trends dramatically shift in the next 2-4 years, all of those positions will be in the Democratic fold after the next election cycle.

At the very local level, a more disappointing result. Among the multiple candidates for Mayor of Hilton Head was one woman who repeatedly expressed her admiration for Adolph Hitler and a man who was, and is, a Holocaust denier. When the votes were tallied, those two combined to win over 7% of the vote. That means that 1 out of every 14 voters for the Mayor of Hilton Head went into the booth and cast their ballot for either of these crackpots. I continue to be amazed at our electorate.

Looking at all of the results and voting trends, however, I would give the Democrats a B+ for this midterm exam and Trump would get a D. That’s ok for him, though. He probably frequently saw that grade on his exams at Wharton.

Now Dems, let’s legislate, let’s govern, let’s investigate fairly and judiciously, let’s work for all Americans, and let’s forget about impeachment. Just give this guy enough rope. . .