In early October, House Majority Leader Mike Johnson went live on Mornings with Fox Business and said he was confident Republicans would “defy the historic trend” when the President’s party loses seats in midterm elections. ”I'm telling you that we can win the midterms, and I am very bullish about that,” Johnson said.
While historic, last night’s election results did not end as Johnson had predicted. Instead, Democrats flipped districts across the country that had historically been safe for Republicans. KY-06 swung 35 points to the left, flipping a previously Republican House seat. Iowa’s 20th House District elected Eric Armstrong, a Democrat who suspended his campaign two months earlier because of health issues. Adam Hamilton became the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Kansas in nearly 100 years. The list goes on, with unexpected victories appearing throughout the night.
”I’ve seen enough,” said Dave Wasserman, Senior Editor at Cook Political. “Generational wipeout”
Democrats gained control of the Senate by flipping seven seats across the country: Maine, North Carolina, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Texas and South Carolina. Alaska is currently counting votes and is razor-thin, but Mississippi is the night's shocker.
Democrat Scott Colom, in a race no one expected to be competitive, has led his Republican opponent, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, by less than 100 votes throughout the night. Senator Hyde-Smith, who prevented Colom’s appointment to a U.S. District Court seat, spoke to supporters and preemptively proclaimed victory. “I blocked Scott Colom from being a federal judge, and you blocked him from being a U.S. Senator.”
“Bless her heart,” said Colom the next morning when asked how he responded to her premature declaration. His lead is expected to grow as outstanding provisional ballots tend to favor Democrats.
Governor seats in Texas, Georgia, Nevada, Iowa and Ohio flipped for Democrats, and in North Carolina, a redrawn map meant to give Republicans an 11-3 advantage broke for Democrats 10-4. Beau Bayh won his Secretary of State race over his Republican counterpart and, in some counties, saw a 41-point swing in his direction.
President Trump says he’s willing to work with Democrats to “make sure things go well for our country,” but he’s expressed disappointment with how the night went for Republicans. “I thought we would do better,” Trump said. “We had tremendous rallies, thousands of people outside, let alone inside, that couldn't get in." Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, however, puts it plainly. “It’s the political equivalent of a meteor strike that went all around the United States, blue states, red states, everything in between.”