There Were 26 Additional Seats Up For Election But None Of These Seats Changed Parties Louisiana Could Still Switch But We Wont Know Until December And It Wont Make A Difference To Democrats
The rest of the Senate races didnt switch parties this year. This includes 16 seats held by Republicans and nine held by Democrats. We still dont know the outcome of the Senate race in Louisiana as it has moved to a run-off that will be decided in December.
The open seat of Sen. David Vitter could now end up Democrat, but it still wont matter for Democrats when it comes to control of the Senate. The two candidates on the Louisiana ballot to fill Vitters open seat are Louisiana state Treasurer John Kennedy and Foster Campbell .
But this wasnt always the case: Up until a few weeks ago, Senate seats in Florida, Arizona, and Ohio were seen as pretty competitive races. The races only began to open up in recent days.
In Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio had a 3.7-point lead over challenger Patrick Murphy heading into Election Day. And in the other two states, incumbent Republicans John McCain and Rob Portman both enjoyed double-digit leads over their opponents, securing easy Republican victories.
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This Is The Future That Liberals Want
Say the Democrats win. Then what?
If Democrats manage to hold the House of Representatives and win back the Senate and the White House in November, the party will have full control of the federal government for the first time in 11 years. Police reform, climate change, and health care are all on their agenda. But before newly empowered Democrats get to any of that, they will very likely pass a relief package to address the coronavirus pandemic and the associated economic crisis. Then, they will aim to fundamentally change how voting and government work in the United States by expanding voting rights, reducing the influence of money in politics, strengthening ethics rules, and maybe even ending the Senate filibusterreforms they hope will make Americas democracy work better and the rest of their agenda easier to carry out.
If there is any political capital to be spent, the concerns over democracy reform take a front seat to everything in the agenda, a senior aide to a progressive senator told me . It would mean so much just in terms of building long-term power, a senior aide to a progressive House Democrat added.
What Is The Difference Between Republicans And Democrats
Republicans and Democrats are the two main and historically the largest political parties in the US and, after every election, hold the majority seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as the highest number of Governors. Though both the parties mean well for the US citizens, they have distinct differences that manifest in their comments, decisions, and history. These differences are mainly ideological, political, social, and economic paths to making the US successful and the world a better place for all. Differences between the two parties that are covered in this article rely on the majority position though individual politicians may have varied preferences.
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Biden Introduces Attorney General Nominee In Wake Of Capitol Riot
While introducing his nominee for attorney general, Merrick Garland, President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. said the nation needed to restore the independence and integrity of the Justice Department.
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What we witnessed yesterday was not dissent, it was not disorder, it was not protest it was chaos. They werent protesters dont dare call them protesters they were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists. Its that basic, its that simple. I wish we could say we couldnt see it coming. But that isnt true. We could see it coming. The past four years, weve had a president who has made his contempt for our democracy, our Constitution, the rule of law clear in everything he has done. We need to restore the honor, the integrity, the independence of the Department of Justice in this nation thats been so badly damaged. And so many former leaders of that department in both parties have so testified and stated that. I want to be clear to those who lead this department, who you will serve. You wont work for me. You are not the president or the vice presidents lawyer. Your loyalty is not to me. It is to the law, the Constitution, the people of this nation, to guarantee justice. As everyone who watched yesterdays events in Washington now understands, if they did not understand before, the rule of law is not just some lawyers turn of phrase. It is the very foundation of our democracy.
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Isan Control Of Congress
This table shows the number of Congresses in which a party controlled either the House, the Senate, or the presidency.
| Party |
|---|
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Visual Guide: The Balance Of Power Between Congress And The Presidency
Which party controls Congress? Which, the White House? The answer reveals the balance of power in the two branches of government that have elected officials .
Americans seem to prefer that the checks-and-balances envisioned by the founders be facilitated by having different parties control Congress and the White House.
- Contrary to popular belief, most of the time Congress and the President are at odds; that is, most of the time the same political party does not control the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.
- Congress has usually been controlled by the same party; with the odd man out being,;literally, the President. Only 16 times since 1945 have both branches of Congress and the Presidency been controlled by the same party; the Democrats have held this advantage more often than Republicans . However, it has happened four times since 2003, making this seem more common that it has been, historically . Prior to WWII, having House, Senate and White House controlled by the same party was the norm.
- Since 1945, the House and Senate have been controlled by different parties only six;times . The first three were under Reagan . The other three have been since the 2000 elections, which makes this seem more normal to us than it is, historically.;From 1901-1945, this happened only twice.
And there have been only two complete turn-overs of Congress since 1949: one in 1995 and the other in 2007.
How Is Senate Majority Chosen
The Senate Republican and Democratic floor leaders are elected by the members of their party in the Senate at the beginning of each Congress. Depending on which party is in power, one serves as majority leader and the other as minority leader. The leaders serve as spokespersons for their partys positions on issues.
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Iowa Montana And South Carolina
Though Iowa, Montana and South Carolina are all traditionally right-leaning, polls had shown tight Senate races in those states, and the Cook Political Report had rated each a tossup. But come Election Day, Republicans easily won each race.
In Iowa, Senator Joni Ernst, the Republican incumbent, dispatched Theresa Greenfield, her Democratic challenger, by 6.6 percentage points. In Montana, Senator Steve Daines, the Republican incumbent, won by more than 10 percentage points against Steve Bullock, Montanas two-term Democratic governor.
And in South Carolina, Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican and the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, survived a challenge by Jaime Harrison, a former chairman of the states Democratic Party, winning by 10.3 percentage points.
Election Results : Veto
- See also: State government trifectas
Two state legislatures saw changes in their veto-proof majority statusâtypically when one party controls either three-fifths or two-thirds of both chambersâas a result of the 2020 elections. Democrats gained veto-proof majorities in Delaware and New York, bringing the number of state legislatures with a veto-proof majority in both chambers to 24: 16 held by Republicans and eight held by Democrats.
Forty-four states held regularly-scheduled state legislative elections on November 3. Heading into the election, there were 22 state legislatures where one party had a veto-proof majority in both chambers; 16 held by Republicans and six held by Democrats. Twenty of those states held legislative elections in 2020.
The veto override power can play a role in conflicts between state legislatures and governors. Conflict can occur when legislatures vote to override gubernatorial vetoes or in court cases related to vetoes and the override power.
Although it has the potential to create conflict, the veto override power is rarely used. According to political scientists Peverill Squire and Gary Moncrief in 2010, only about five percent of vetoes are overridden.
| Changes in state legislative veto-proof majorites |
|---|
| State |
The laws largely focus on tightening voter ID requirements, purging voter rolls and restricting absentee and mail-in ballots.
Texas
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New Hampshire Hasnt Been Called Yet But That Wont Change The Balance Of Power In The Senate
- New Hampshire, where Sen. Kelly Ayotte has a narrow margin over Gov. Maggie Hassan . Votes have only been counted from 94 percent of precincts, so there is a possibility that Hassan could still win, but with Ayotte wining 48.1 percent of the vote compared to Hassans 47.8 percent, it seems as if Ayotte will hold onto her seat.
Annual Congressional Competitiveness Report 2020
Ballotpedias Annual Congressional Competitiveness report for 2020 includes information on the number of elections featuring candidates from both major parties, the number of open seats, and more.
HIGHLIGHTS
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Y Control In Congress And State Legislatures
In the politics of education course I teach this semester, I was looking for a nice overview of trends in party control for Congress and state legislatures. Just a simple chart showing trends in which party holds the majority in the House and Senate and whether similar trends occur in state legislatures. We often just focus on one or the other, but I want to see Congress and states on the same graph.
But I couldnt quite find what I was looking for. So in its absence , I compiled data from the Senate and House history pages along with the National Conference of State Legislatures partisan composition page.
A few notes about whats being measured here. For the states, NCSL tells us whether both chambers are controlled by a given party. If Democrats hold both chambers, then the state is coded as Democrat. States are coded as Split if Democrats carry one chamber and Republicans the other. Nebraska is omitted because it has a non-partisan unicameral legislature, but I put them in the Split plus NE category just so we have all 50 states. And all data are as of January of the given year, except 2016, which uses December to reflect the outcomes of the most recent election:
Shifting gears to Congress, the chart shows the percentage of members from each of the two parties:
But these three charts are hard to put the full picture together, so the following combines them into a single visualization that I think tells the story a little clearer:
Data:
What The Midterms Mean For President Obama And 2016
Only one in three voters in exit polls said the country was on the right track, and one in five said the government in Washington could never be trusted to do whats right. Two-thirds said the economic system is unfair.
The Republican swing fit a historical pattern: The last three two-term presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush all served their last two years with the opposing party controlling both houses of Congress.
And the party controlling the White House has lost seats in the House in the midterm election every time but twice since World War II.
In the Senate, Democrat Mark Pryor of Arkansas was ousted by Rep. Tom Cotton, and Mark Udall of Colorado was bounced by Rep. Cory Gardner. Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan lost her seat to Thom Tillis.
Democrat Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire held off a furious challenge by ex-Sen. Scott Brown.
Republicans Joni Ernst in Iowa, Steve Daines in Montana, Mike Rounds in South Dakota and Shelley Moore Capito in West Virginia all captured seats held by retiring Democrats.
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What Happened The Last Time Republicans Had A Majority This Huge
They lost it.
Josh Zeitz has taught American history and politics at Cambridge University and Princeton University and is the author of;Lincolnâs Boys: John Hay, John Nicolay, and the War for Lincolnâs Image. He is currently writing a book on the making of Lyndon Johnsonâs Great Society. Follow him .
Since last week, many Republicans have been feeling singularly nostalgic for November 1928, and with good reason. Itâs the last time that the party won such commanding majorities in the House of Representatives while also dominating the Senate. And, letâs face it, 1928 was a good time.
America was richâor so it seemed. Charles Lindbergh was on the cover of Time. Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. Jean Lussier went over Niagara Falls in a rubber ball . Mickey Mouse made his first appearance in a talkie . Irving Aaronson and His Commanders raised eyebrows with the popularâand, for its time, scandalousâsong, âLetâs Misbehave,â and presidential nominee Herbert Hoover gave his Democratic opponent, Al Smith, a shellacking worthy of the history books.
The key takeaway: Itâs been a really, really long time since Republicans have owned Capitol Hill as they do now.
But what if the Republicans of 1928 owed their demise to a more fundamental force? What if it was demography, not economics, that truly killed the elephant?
On a surface level, the Great Depression was to blame.
By Patricia Zengerle, Susan Cornwell
4 Min Read
A Quick Guide To The Eight Competitive Senate Races We Watched Most Closely
There were 34 Senate races this year, but only eight had a reasonable chance of a seat switching from one party to another. There were four races where Democrats led in the polls and four where Republicans were ahead. Most of them were very close, with the exception of the Illinois race between incumbent Sen. Mark Kirk and challenger Rep. Tammy Duckworth , where Duckworth handily beat Kirk.
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Control Of The Senate Could Be Decided By Georgia Races
;There are two races up in Georgia this election, a regular Senate race and special election. The rules in Georgia for both the regular Senate election and the Senate special election require a candidate to win a majority, and if none of the candidates clear the 50% threshold, the race goes to a runoff in January.;
Recent polling in the race between incumbent GOP Senator David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff has been tight, and the presence of a libertarian candidate on the ballot could prevent either Perdue or Ossoff from clearing the majority. In the special election, 21 candidates have qualified to be on the ballot, including Democrat Raphael Warnock, who has led in recent polls. GOP candidates Senator Kelly Loeffer, who was appointed to the seat last year, and Congressman Doug Collins are also on the ballot. If no candidate clears the majority, that race will also go to a runoff in January.
