This midterms cycle, Democrats defied historical precedent and expectations, outperforming across the country. Typically, the opposite party of the incumbent president will take back at least one of the chambers of Congress during the midterms, either the House of Representatives or the Senate. There was no “red wave” as GOP candidates and some pundits had predicted. Instead, the best description for the midterm landscape would likely be something more of a “lavender haze,” as both parties had successes.

While Democrats struggled statewide in Florida with low numbers in Miami-Dade county, a former Democratic stronghold, 25 year-old Maxwell Frost prevailed in his race for the House, locking him in as the first Gen-Z member of Congress. In Ohio, J.D. Vance, the Republican candidate, defeated Tim Ryan, the Democrat, in the race for Senate. Although Ohio is a traditionally red state, Tim Ryan was able to keep the race fairly competitive until the end of the campaign. Another tough political match took place in the traditionally blue state of New York. When former governor Andrew Cuomo resigned in disgrace amid sexual harassment allegations, his lieutenant governor Kathy Hochul took over, becoming the first female New York governor. After a close race with GOP candidate Lee Zeldin, Kathy Hochul became the first woman to be elected governor of New York. 

Reactions poured in following the midterm results. Mark Updegrove, the CEO and President of the LBJ Foundation, summed up some takeaways from the midterms when he said, “Big winners tonight: Biden, who lost far fewer congressional seats than historical averages; reproductive rights, which proves a major issue among voters; democracy, with huge voter turnout and many high-profile election deniers losing big.” N

The 2022 midterms yielded unexpected and unusual results. The Democratic Party kept the Senate, flipping a seat to expand their majority to 51 Senators. While Democrats did much better than expected, Republicans still won the House of Representatives, albeit by a narrow margin, with the final count being 222 Republicans and 213 Democrats. The campaigns are now over and the 118th Congress has commenced. With the elections done, eyes turn to Washington to see what they can accomplish.