The US Midterm Elections
On November sixth, Americans went to the polls for the mid-term elections. The elections mark an important cornerstone in American politics, as they reflect the public’s view of the President’s job performance. The Democrats hope for a “blue wave” in votes that would enable them to regain control of the Senate, but this implies winning some key Republican states.
The elections are crucial because they include races for the Senate, the House, and Governorship. In order for the President to effectively implement their policies, they require their party, in this case the Republicans, to control Congress. Although the Republicans currently control Congress, it is a weak majority. President Trump is urging Americans to vote for Republican senators and congressmen in order for the Republican party to firmly control the US government.
What worries Republicans is their slim majority in the Senate. In order to “flip the Senate” Democrats would only have to hold their current number and beat two more Republican candidates. That is much easier said than done. There are certain elections though that are gaining extra attention for the change they are bringing to the American political landscape. The Senate election in Texas, and the one in Arizona are the most important.
Beto O’Rourke is a two-term congressman representing El Paso in West Texas. He is currently running against Senator Ted Cruz as the Democratic representative. O’Rourke promotes liberal and forward-looking policies that greatly contrast the Republican status quo.
Democrats were betting big on Texas and the results were astounding. Congressman O’Rourke has managed to raise the most money in the history of Senatorial Campaigns -$70 million- without accepting donations from special interest groups or lobbies. In addition, he gained celebrity status throughout the country after receiving support from former politicians such as President Barack Obama and former CIA director John Brennan. Furthermore, Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey, NBA player LeBron James both endorsed Beto O’Rourke.
Given that Texas has the second highest number of unregistered voters, standing at nearly 50%, O’Rourke’s campaign focused on registering minorities (especially Latinos) to vote. Although Senator Cruz is ethnically Latino, he is unpopular amongst most of them due to his anti-immigration policies and rhetoric.
Senator Cruz, on the other hand, lacks a single “celebrity” endorsement. However, what he has is the support of President Donald Trump (despite their feuds in the past) and enormous corporations including Texas based Exxon Mobil. Most importantly, Senator Cruz is the darling of traditional conservative America. His campaign focuses on traditional Texas politics, which are low-taxes and small government. The Harvard-educated lawyer speaks to the conservative values of Christian Americans: his policies would make abortion illegal under all circumstances, he is an adamant protector of gun rights and believes that evolution should not be taught in schools.
In a very tight race, regardless of O’Rourke’s impressive campaign and the Democrats’ effort in Texas, Cruz came on top and managed to keep the Great State red with a narrow margin of 2.6%
However, the hard blow to the Democrats was quickly countered by Kyrsten Sinema’s crucial victory in the fragile Republican state of Arizona. Synema was able to capitalize on an ever-narrowing lead that she kept for most of the year, which in November shrunk all the way up to 0.2 points, making it anyone’s game at the poll.
In the race between the two women, the Democrat took the win home by a difference of , being this as well a huge disappointment for the Republicans, who had focused a lot in the state of Arizona since same-party now former Senator Jeff Flake adopted a critical position against Trump’s policies. This is believed to have contributed to the Democrat flip on the State from a 49-46 presidential win in 2016 to the recent 50-47 loss in approval.
With some of the Senate’s seats still up for grabs during what remains of the month due to a conflicted and tedious vote counting process and a slow announcement of results, the eyes of America and the world now turn to red states Florida -as a recount takes place- and to Mississippi -where the candidates will undertake a runoff.
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