The Republicans lost anyway
I’ll bet you didn’t see this coming:
Voters across the country shifted toward Republicans in the midterm elections — veering further right in areas won by former president Donald Trump and also tacking rightward in nearly all districts won by President Biden. House Republicans, however, picked up only a small number of seats.
The Republicans’ tally could grow as counting continues, but they will end up with a small majority. That unexpected result belies a broader movement to the right when comparing votes in each district to the presidential vote there two years ago.
Republicans outran Trump’s margins in 344 districts. By comparison, Democrats outperformed Biden in just 69 districts.
Republicans’ gains were sizable in some areas, though rarely enough to pick up seats held by Democrats. The moves either slightly widened existing Republican advantages or narrowed Democratic margins.
For instance, here are the districts Biden won in 2020. Unsurprisingly, Democratic candidates won most of them. But many shifted toward Republicans:
Districts that voted for Trump are where Republicans saw many of their largest swings, winning all but four.
There are warnings in all that which are obscured by the fact that Democrats beat expectations. But people should not make the assumption that the battle is won.
Don’t get cocky, Democrats.