It was where “good Republicans go to die,” Ronald Reagan often quipped. Now, with the final ballots counted, Democrats have achieved a total takeover of congressional seats in the one-time Republican bastion of Orange County. Across the country on Election Day, Democrats shifted the balance of power in the US […] Read more »
New election map: Ohio, Colorado no longer swing states
The 2018 midterms remade Congress for the next two years, but they also hinted at a changing electoral map for the next presidential race. Broad gaps in exit poll numbers combined with the results from the midterm elections suggest that the battleground states of 2020 may look a bit different […] Read more »
Trump Is Beginning to Lose His Grip
America’s polarized citizenry took a break from intense partisan bickering to produce the highest off-year turnout in a midterm election in 50 years on Nov. 6. Is it possible that all that effort actually nudged us forward a bit? Because the votes were counted so slowly across the country, we […] Read more »
Trump’s 2016 Showing Was the Most Important Factor in 2018 House Races
Not long after the November 2017 elections, I had lunch with David Petts, a Democratic pollster and longtime veteran of congressional campaigns. He remarked that the Republican gubernatorial candidates in Virginia and New Jersey performed within one to four points of President Trump in every congressional district in the state. […] Read more »
The Midterms Sent an Unmistakable Message to Republicans
In last week’s election, the bill came due on the defining bet placed by congressional Republicans during the Donald Trump era. Led by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House and Senate Republicans made a strategic decision to lock arms around Trump over the past two […] Read more »
As Long as Trump Is President, Blue Texas Could Actually Happen
Enthusiastic Democrats can often be heard talking about how Texas is turning purple and maybe even blue. Professional strategists have mostly scoffed at this idea — after all, Donald Trump won Texas by more than 800,000 votes in 2016. But if President Trump decides to seek a second term — […] Read more »