The 2018 election is finally over. Here's how Democrats, Republicans, and Trump fared.
The election of Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) on Tuesday and belated victories of Democrats TJ Cox in California's 21st Congressional District and Anthony Brindisi in New York's 22nd District — both declared Wednesday — bring the 2018 midterms to an official close. Republicans will control the Senate by a 53 to 47 margin and Democrats flipped 40 seats to win a 235-200 majority in the House, the party's best showing since gaining 49 seats in 1974.
According to Dave Wasserman at the Cook Political Report, Democrats won 9.4 million more votes than Republicans in the House races, a margin of victory of 8.4 percent, with a record 60.1 million votes versus the GOP's 50.7 million. The incoming House includes 62 new Democrats (35 of them women) and 31 new Republicans (including one woman).
NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith tallied up how the final results look for President Trump, who played an active, defining role in the campaign. Trump's final score: 54 people he endorsed won, 46 lost.
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If Trump batted above .500, California Republicans were decimated. With Cox's victory, Republicans will hold only seven of California's 53 House seats, the fewest since 1947, when California had only 23 seats, according to the Los Angeles Times. Bloomberg's Greg Giroux puts that in perspective:
The culling of California's GOP delegation is a particular blow to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) — soon to be House minority leader — and you can read more about that at the Los Angeles Times.
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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