fbpx
Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

The Republican Blowout

Republican candidates haven't won every single major contested race in this year's elections, but they have come very close.
Mitch McConnell Election Night Celebration Rally in Louisville
Supporters of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, cheer during his election night rally after he retained his Senate seat, in Louisville, Kentucky on November 4, 2014. McConnell defeated his Democratic challenger Alison Grimes. UPI/Kevin Dietsch (Newscom TagID: upiphotostwo343964.jpg) [Photo via Newscom]

Republican candidates haven’t won every single major contested race in this year’s elections, but they have come very close. Their incumbent governors in Florida, Michigan, and Wisconsin were re-elected. Contrary to my predictions, both Snyder and Walker won easily. Kansas Gov. Brownback seems to have won as well. The only major Republican loss at the moment is the governor of Pennsylvania, whose defeat had long been a foregone conclusion. Even the Republican candidate for governor in Illinois has succeeded. As of this writing, the New Hampshire Senate race is still quite close despite being officially called for Shaheen, and in Virginia Ed Gillespie has very nearly toppled Mark Warner. In North Carolina, Hagan was trailing her challenger by two points with 98% reporting. Roberts prevailed in Kansas, and Perdue appears to have won outright and avoided a run-off in Georgia. Cotton and Gardner’s victories were announced almost as soon as the polls closed. The party easily passed the six-seat mark it needed to win a majority. The only question at this point is whether there will be 54 or 55 Senate Republicans in the new Congress.

Democrats had earlier tried to soften the blow of losing the Senate by talking up the gubernatorial races that their candidates were likely to win, but in almost every one they have been routed. LePage appears to be on track to be re-elected in Maine, Beauprez is winning in Colorado, and even in Vermont the Republican candidate is running close behind the incumbent Democrat. All of this suggests that most observers, myself included, underestimated the extent to which Republicans would dominate this election. The GOP ran an almost purely negative campaign and said almost nothing substantive about policy, and they have been rewarded with one of the biggest gains in Senate seats they have ever achieved in a midterm vote. Republicans can’t claim a mandate for anything, but with control of both houses of Congress they don’t need to have one to stymie and thwart the administration on any issue they choose. Now that they have just won a major victory running on nothing, that is what I assume they will do.

Advertisement

Comments

Become a Member today for a growing stake in the conservative movement.
Join here!
Join here