Although Hillary Clinton is currently favored to win the presidency tomorrow, and the races for the Senate remain tight, Republicans are still heavily favored to retain control of the House of Representatives. Indeed, Democrats might just end up right where they were after the 2012 election, right before they suffered additional losses in the 2014 midterm election.
The Cook Political Report writes that Democrats can expect only meager gains — with some tight races likely affected by the recent decision of FBI Director James Comey to announce that the bureau was still reviewing Hillary Clinton's emails, only to then clear her from facing charges this past weekend:
Democratic strategists express frustration that they were on the cusp of picking up more than 15 seats until the Comey letter helped bring straggling GOP voters "home" to Donald Trump. These voters' fresh motivation to oppose Hillary Clinton may rescue troubled suburban GOP seats like CA-10, CO-06, FL-26, KS-03, PA-08, and VA-10 — seats that could have easily fallen to Democrats if Clinton had run up a double digit margin. [The Cook Political Report]
If current "toss-up" races split down the middle, Democrats would only post a net gain of 10 seats, The Cook Political Report notes.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Likewise, University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball projects the Democrats picking up only 13 seats in the House, leaving the Republicans with an advantage of 234 seats to the Democrats' 201. That would be the exact same as the result of the 2012 House races.
-
Film reviews: ‘Send Help’ and ‘Private Life’Feature An office doormat is stranded alone with her awful boss and a frazzled therapist turns amateur murder investigator
-
Movies to watch in Februarythe week recommends Time travelers, multiverse hoppers and an Iraqi parable highlight this month’s offerings during the depths of winter
-
ICE’s facial scanning is the tip of the surveillance icebergIN THE SPOTLIGHT Federal troops are increasingly turning to high-tech tracking tools that push the boundaries of personal privacy
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
