The places that will decide the 2018 midterm elections

Red pockets. Romneyland. Blue-collar blues.

Those labels describe the three groups of seats in the House of Representatives that will likely determine control of the chamber in November’s midterm election. …

This battlefield reflects the long-term trends that have seen Democrats demonstrate increasing strength up and down the ballot in diverse, heavily college-educated, major metropolitan areas — even in Republican-leaning states. In parallel, Republicans have established dominant control over preponderantly white non-metro and blue-collar areas, even in otherwise Democratic-leaning states.

All of these trends have accelerated under Trump. CONT.

Ronald Brownstein, CNN