The 3 Midwestern states that secured Trump's presidency all elected Democratic governors and senators
President Trump has boasted that the 2018 midterms were a "tremendous success" and a "big victory" for him, but the writing might be on the wall in the three states that carried him to the presidency in 2016, CNN reports. In Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania — which gave Trump a combined 46 electoral votes in 2016 — Democrats cleaned house on Tuesday night, winning all three governor and Senate races and securing badly needed House seats in the states as well.
Prior to the 2016 election, these three states made up what was known as the "blue wall," which hadn't been won by a Republican in 28 years. Despite Trump demolishing the wall on his path to the presidency, it looks like it might already be back: "When we woke up after the 2016 election, there was a real possibility that we were seeing a realignment among white working-class voters in the Midwest," Michigan State University political scientist Matt Grossman told Politico, adding: "But two years later, there's no sign that those gains are holding or being extended."
Democrat Gretchen Whitmer will be governor in Michigan, Democrat Tony Evers in Wisconsin, and Democrat Tom Wolf in Pennsylvania. Democrats Debbie Stabenow, Tammy Baldwin, and Bob Casey won their respective Senate seats, and the party also picked up House seats around Detroit, Milwaukee, Madison, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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