Midterm updates
More stories from Clare Bielefeld
As we view the midterm election race in retrospect now, tensions are high as the results will greatly influence the political atmosphere in the next two years. The midterm elections took place on November 6th.
“I think these midterms are a good chance to get more Democrats in the House,” said Dylan Cole, 12,“ and to ensure that Trump does not have complete autonomy for the next two years.”
For Democrats to win the majority in the Senate, they would have had to take two more seats. They were at a disadvantage in this situation however because Democrats were defending 26 seats, while Republicans were only defending 9. However, they were much more likely to win the House, where they needed to gain 23 seats in order to take the majority.
These two feats may have been unlikely, but one proved to be possible. In the past, midterm elections typically have drawn an older, whiter demographic than is expected this year. In the wake of the implementation of the Trump administration, many young people have been stirred to vote in these coming midterms. Because of this change, the Democrats ended up taking the House, but there were many losses in the Senate. The Democrats now have 225 seats in the House, but only 44 in the Senate.
Young, hopeful Beto O’Rourke lost in the Texas Senate race against Ted Cruz. This is a massive loss for Democrats considering how close the race came.
Despite the losses in the Senate, a partial blue wave took place, so that the entire Congress is no longer red.