For Republicans, Democrats, third-party members and Independents alike, this year’s midterm elections were probably a mixed bag of emotions. The result did not meet many of the expectations from either major party, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert saying that she was expecting a massive win for Democrats.
“Up until today, I would have said if the election was held today, we would win. Now I’m saying we will win,” said Pelosi. “Democrats will carry the House… the Senate, governorships.”
Colbert, as if to foreshadow the actual election results, warned Pelosi not to be too cocky.
Colbert said, “I feel like I should sacrifice a goat to take the hex off what you just said.”
The head of the National Republican Congressional Committee told the White House only moments before polls closed that Republicans should expect to lose only a few seats in the House. This would allow Republicans to maintain the majority of seats in both branches of Congress, as a Republican majority in the Senate was expected.
“As of 4 p.m., National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Steve Stivers was telling White House advisers to expect for a net loss of 17-21 seats in the House, three sources tell CBS News Chief White House correspondent Major Garrett,” according to CBS News. “That would still keep the GOP in the majority.”
Each party seemed to feel confident that they would end up dominating the midterms, even with these wildly differing predictions being thrown around.
The reality was a whole different story.
Yes, the Democrats won control of the House of Representatives, but only by the slightest of margins. Republicans maintained control of Senate and ended the night occupying the majority of the governorships, but they left a Republican president vulnerable to the now Democrat-majority House’s investigations.
Despite the feelings this election could have evoked, there are many firsts to be celebrated.
“At least 244 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates ran for office on all levels of government this year, including 21 candidates for Congress and four for governor,” reports MarketWatch, a financial information media company. “A record one-third of the candidates running for the House were women of color, and a record number of women overall were running for office in 2018, according to Emily’s List, a Democratic-leaning nonprofit that supports women in politics. Some 234 women won House and Senate primaries in 2018.”
Among the firsts celebrated were Jared Polis’ gubernatorial win in Colorado, making him the first openly gay governor of a state, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s historical win, making her the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
Many celebrities shared their opinions on the Nov. 6 results.
James Corden, famous late-night talk show host, gave his reaction to Jared Polis being elected in Colorado.
“This is incredible!” Corden wrote. “Massive. Congratulations, Jared Polis.”
After his defeat to Republican incumbent Ted Cruz in Texas, Beto O’Rourke started receiving a push from several celebrities to run for president in 2020.
“Beto lost? That’s ok,” Tweeted Alyssa Milano. “Now he can run for President.”
Though the elections were all hard fought, they are not all over quite yet. Several key races still remain undecided. Both the Arizona and Montana Senate races are too close to call, according to Fox News. The race for Georgia’s governorship sees candidate Stacey Abrams calling for a full count of votes with a 75,000-vote difference between her and opponent Brian Kemp with 97 percent of the votes accounted for in an election many find rife with voter suppression by Kemp, who maintained his seat as Secretary of State, putting him in charge of the very election he ran in. CBS News reports that the Mississippi Senate race still has yet to go to runoff. The full outcome of the 2018 midterms remains to be seen.
Letitia James is now the attorney general for New York. She has become the first woman in New York to be elected as attorney general, the first black person to serve as attorney general and the first African-American woman to be elected to statewide office, according to The New York Times. Results from cattco.org state in Cattaraugus County, she only received 31 percent of the vote to Keith Wofford’s 66 percent.
Kirsten Gillibrand won reelection in the New York state senatorial race by 33.2 points. She secured 44 percent of the vote in Cattaraugus County based on a cattco.org report. Her challenger, Chele Chiavacci Farley, received 56 percent.
Thomas DiNapoli won his reelection for New York Comptroller. DiNapoli only secured 44 percent of the vote, as compared to his opponent Jonathan Trichter’s 54 percent in Cattaraugus County, according to cattco.org.
The local seat for the House of Representatives was won by incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, establishing his fifth term for New York’s 23rd district. Dr. Tracy Mitrano, the Democratic challenger, lost by just under 10 percent of the vote.
Cattaraugus County’s election results were reported by cattco.org. 29 percent of the county voted for Andrew Cuomo to have another term as governor, while 64 percent voted for his Republican challenger, Marc Molinaro. All in all, Cuomo won his reelection bid to once again be New York state’s governor.
By Landon Allison, Staff Writer
allisolj17@bonaventure.edu
