2018 United States elections
Although the Republican Party increased its majority in the Senate, unified Republican control of Congress and the White House was brought to an end when the Democratic Party won control of the House of Representatives in what was widely characterized as a "blue wave" election as Democrats also gained governorships, other statewide offices, and state legislative chambers.In various referendums, numerous states voted to expand Medicaid coverage, require voter identification, establish independent redistricting commissions, legalize marijuana, repeal felony disenfranchisement laws and enact other proposals.Research has linked Republican losses in the elections to the party's unsuccessful and unpopular efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, as well as the China–United States trade war.In May 2018, President Trump began to emphasize his effort to overcome the traditional strength of the non-presidential party in midterm elections, with the "top priority for the White House [being to hold] the Republican majority in the Senate".[2] By early August, the president's midterm efforts had included rallies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Montana and elsewhere "reprising the style and rhetoric of his 2016 campaign".[6] By mid-October 2018, at a cost of some $124 million, more than 280,000 television advertisements related to immigration had been aired in House, Senate and gubernatorial races, representing a five-fold increase compared to the 2014 cycle.[7] In October 2018, The New York Times and The Washington Post characterized Republicans' 2018 campaign messaging as being chiefly focused on fear-mongering about immigration and race.[8][9] According to The Washington Post, President Trump "settled on a strategy of fear—laced with falsehoods and racially tinged rhetoric—to help lift his party to victory in the coming midterms, part of a broader effort to energize Republican voters".[42][43] Democrats gained a trifecta (control of the governor's office and both legislative chambers) in Colorado, Illinois, Connecticut, Maine, New Mexico, New York and Nevada as well as in Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.[65][66] In California, voters declined to repeal the 2017 Road Repair and Accountability Act, which increased fuel taxes and vehicle license fees to fund infrastructure improvements.[68] Incumbent candidates won in mayoral elections held in major cities, including Anchorage, Alaska (Ethan Berkowitz); Austin, Texas (Steve Adler); Oakland, California (Libby Schaaf); Providence, Rhode Island (Jorge Elorza); and Washington, D.C. (Muriel Bowser).Open seats were won in Anaheim, California (Harry Sidhu); Chandler, Arizona (Kevin Hartke); Garland, Texas (Lori Barnett-Dodson); and Trenton, New Jersey (Reed Gusciora).[74] Mayoral elections in November 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona, and Corpus Christi and Laredo, Texas, as well as Little Rock, Arkansas, resulted in no single candidate carrying a majority of the vote.White Mountain Apache Tribal Chairwoman Gwendena Lee-Gatewood won an open seat to become the first woman elected to lead the tribe.[98] Ousted Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council President L. Jace Killsback was re-elected by two votes in a special election on January 2 after being removed from office in October 2017.[118] Recounts of ballots were ordered for Florida's Senate, governor, and agriculture commissioner races on November 10 after the tallies from 67 counties were deemed too close to call.[122] On November 19, the Supervisor of Elections for Broward County, Florida, Brenda Snipes, announced her resignation from her post, effective January 4, 2019, after national scrutiny led to widespread condemnation by Republicans.[124][125] On November 17, Georgia Secretary of State Robyn Crittenden certified the election result, a day after the restraining order expired.[126] On November 12, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams filed a lawsuit to prevent two counties from rejecting absentee ballots with minor mistakes, such as if a voter moved and had not changed their address.[130] The Washington Post reported on December 5 that the board had collected as evidence of election fraud six sworn statements from voters in Bladen County alleging that individuals called on them to pick up their absentee ballots.[129] Incoming Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced that the House of Representatives would not seat the apparent winner, Republican Mark Harris, until the fraud investigation had been completed, leaving it vacant at the start of the 116th United States Congress.[135][136] In early 2018, six U.S. intelligence agencies unanimously reported their conclusion[137] that Russian personnel were monitoring American electoral systems and promoting partisan causes on social media.[141] Trump would later accuse China of meddling in the U.S. midterm elections, asserting that "they don't want me or us to win" because of his imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods.[142] In August 2018, Coats and FBI director Christopher Wray announced at a White House press conference that Russia was actively interfering in the 2018 elections.Russia, and other foreign countries, including China and Iran, conducted influence activities and messaging campaigns targeted at the United States to promote their strategic interests".[151] That same month, Politico reported that the National Republican Congressional Committee had been hacked, though it was unclear which group was responsible for the data breach.He indicated that he looked forward to "a beautiful bipartisan-type situation" but promised to assume a "warlike posture" if House Democrats launched investigations as attacks on his administration.House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi asserted that her party won gains because of voter desire to "[restore] the Constitution's checks and balances to the Trump administration".[160][161][162][163] At the end of election night, Democratic gains in the House appeared modest and the Democratic candidates trailed in Senate races in Arizona and Montana and looked set to make a net loss of as many as four Senate seats, leading some news outlets to characterize the election as a "split decision" whereas other outlets described it as a "blue wave".[167] Democrats also made among the largest gains in House seats in Pennsylvania, where the state Supreme Court had struck down a heavily gerrymandered map that favored Republicans.
Cartogram of U.S. House of Representative results:
Democratic gain Republican gain
Democratic hold Republican hold
Independent hold
Democratic gain Republican gain
Democratic hold Republican hold
Independent hold
Democrats retained trifecta
Democrats gained trifecta
Republicans retained trifecta
Republicans gained trifecta
Divided government maintained
Divided government established
Officially non-partisan legislature
Democratic control
Republican control
Split or bipartisan control
Independent redistricting commission
No redistricting necessary
[
g
]
Republican hold
Democratic hold
Democratic gain
No election
Medicaid expansion proposal passed
Medicaid expansion previously implemented or passed
No Medicaid expansion
Midterm electionsDonald TrumpSenate electionsHouse electionsGubernatorial electionsRepublicanSenateCongressWhite HouseDemocratic PartyHouse of Representatives"blue wave" electiongovernorshipsstate legislative chambersUnited States House of Representativesfederal trifecta2016 electionsUnited States Senate116th United States Congress99th United States Congresselected in 1984voter turnoutfirst openly gay governorfirst openly bisexual U.S. senatorMedicaidvoter identificationredistricting commissionsmarijuanafelony disenfranchisementAffordable Care ActTax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017allegations of attempted Russian interference in these electionsefforts to repeal the Affordable Care ActChina–United States trade war2020 reelection campaigninauguration dayborder wall"trade war"space forceLindsay WaltersThe New York TimesThe Washington Postmigrant caravanPatient Protection and Affordable Care ActAmerican Health Care Act of 20172018 United States Senate elections2014 electionsMinnesotaMississippiNate SilverFiveThirtyEight2016 presidential electionNevadaHillary ClintonfilibustersIndianaMissouriNorth DakotaFloridaArizonaMidwesternMichiganWisconsinNortheasternswing statePennsylvaniaMontanaWest VirginiaChris Cillizza2022 Senate elections2018 United States House of Representatives elections2010 electionsdelegatesDistrict of ColumbiaU.S. territoriesPaul Ryanincumbency advantage1974 electionsSpecial electionPennsylvania's 18th congressional districtTim MurphyConor LambArizona's 8th congressional districtTrent FranksDebbie LeskoTexas's 27th congressional districtBlake FarentholdMichael CloudOhio's 12th congressional districtPat TiberiTroy BaldersonMichigan's 13th congressional districtJohn ConyersBrenda JonesPennsylvania's 7th congressional districtPat MeehanMary Gay ScanlonPennsylvania's 15th congressional districtCharlie DentSusan WildNew York's 25th congressional districtLouise SlaughterJoseph Morelleredistricting2020 United States census2018 United States gubernatorial electionsU.S. statesMayor of the District of Columbiared states2018 United States state legislative elections2022 electionsLegislative Assembly of Puerto Ricostaggered termsColorado SenateNew Hampshire HouseNew Hampshire SenateMinnesota HouseMaine SenateNew York State SenateConnecticut SenateNorth CarolinaCaliforniaIllinoisOregonmulticameralunicameral