National Update

Voters went out on Nov. 6 to perform their civic duty in the United States midterm elections. According to Vox, there was an increase of voters that participated either to support or protest President Donald Trump and his administration. After the election, Democrats gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives, while Republicans retained control of the U.S. Senate.
Prior to voting, many news outlets said that the 2018 election would result in a ‘blue wave,’ a circumstance in which Democrats take both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Junior Eli Blaufuss claimed that if this ‘blue wave’ was to occur, it would separate the country even more then it is in the current political climate.

“I think that if Democrats are able to take the House it’s just going to lead to a more divided, more polarized country. It was the same in 2010 when Republicans took control of the House because there’s always extra obstruction in Congress, always more anger from the executive branch,” Blaufuss said. “I think it’ll just lead to a more divided country if Democrats take the house as expected than if Republicans took the house.”

The ‘blue wave’ had been widely expected due to a larger number of millennials that often sit out elections pledging to vote Democrat. According to The Atlantic, more than 3.3 million voters from that group cast their votes early, showcasing a 188 percent increase from 2014.

History teacher Nate Wollenberg was pleasantly surprised by the amount of people going out to vote especially within the age demographic of 18-30.

“Watching trends for years, teaching government class and watching the trends of voting being less than 50 percent, dropping down into the 30 percent range during some midterm elections was kind of disheartening and discouraging,” Wollenberg said. “The fact that we’re maybe going to be 50 percent or above, of eligible voters participating is a positive thing.”

On election night, each party presented their own fair share of surprises, but following the completion of the elections, the blue wave did not turn out as predicted.

Republicans kept control of the Senate, but lost the House to the Democrats, who had the most diverse freshmen class of congressmen and congresswomen in history. Although unable to vote junior Mariah McDonald wanted a more diverse congress.

“In this year alone, each state is going to make its own history because we’re seeing nominees for the House that we haven’t seen before,” McDonald said. “People who are openly transgender or people who are openly a part of the LGBT community [are represented].”

Of the final results Arizona and Missouri were two prominent senate races that gained more attention for changing control of political parties. In Arizona Krysten Sinema (D) won, making her the first Democratic senator in three decades, and in Missouri Josh Hawley (R), unseated incumbent Claire McCaskill (D).

Following the completion of the 2018 midterm, congress will return to work and the freshman class of congressmen and congresswomen will be sworn in as of January. From then on, the country will look toward the 2020 presidential election.

 

Political Terms to Know:

• Bipartisan- involving the agreement or cooperation of two political parties that usually oppose each other’s policies.
• Caucus- a conference of members of a legislative body who belong to a particular party or faction.
• Convention- a formal meeting between members of the same or different political parties.
• Delegate- a person sent or authorized to represent others, in particular an elected representative sent to a conference.
• District- an area of a country or city, especially one regarded as a distinct unit because of a particular characteristic.
• GOP- term for the Republican party, stands for “Grand Old Party”.
• Ballot- a electronic or paper platform in which voters cast their confidential vote
• Term- a fixed or limited period for which an elected official holds office.
• Incumbent- to currently be in office.