2018 United States elections

The 2018 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. These midterm elections occurred during the presidency of Republican Donald Trump. The elections marked the highest voter turnout seen in midterm elections since 1914, at 49.3%. The elections saw several electoral firsts for women, racial minorities and LGBT candidates.

About 2018 United States elections in brief

Summary 2018 United States electionsThe 2018 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. These midterm elections occurred during the presidency of Republican Donald Trump. The elections marked the highest voter turnout seen in midterm elections since 1914, at 49.3%. The elections saw several electoral firsts for women, racial minorities and LGBT candidates. There were allegations of attempted Russian interference in these elections as well as controversies regarding potential voter suppression and other alleged election irregularities. In the state elections, Democrats gained seven state governorships, control of approximately 350 state legislative seats, and control of six state legislative chambers. Nearly half of all health care advertisements by Democrats focused on defending the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Almost a third of Republican ads focused on taxes, especially on the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. A Gallup poll found that registered voters considered the economy and healthcare to be the top issues among voters, though many voters also considered immigration to be a top issue. The election was widely characterized as a “blue wave” election. The 116th United States Congress became the first Congress since the 99th U.S. Congress in which the Democrats controlled the U. S. House of Representatives and the Republicans controlled the Senate. The Republican Party retained control of the United States Senate, making a net gain of two seats and defeating four Democratic incumbents in states that had voted for Trump in 2016. In late August 2018, the Huffington Post reported that Trump and his administration had been engaging in campaign activity on taxpayer-funded trips.

According to the report, a top White House staffer identified 35 events by Cabinet and senior staff members \”with or affecting House districts in August already\”. White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters called the report \”misleading\”. In November 2018, Facebook, NBC, and Fox News withdrew a controversial pro-Trump advertisement that focused on migrant caravan; that the ad violated Facebook’s rules concerning “sensational content” The election saw the election of the first openly gay governor and theFirst openly bisexual U. S. senator. The midterm elections were the first to be held during the administration of President Donald Trump, who launched his 2020 reelection campaign on his inauguration day in January 2017. The president’s midterm efforts had included rallies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Montana and elsewhere. He focused his message on the economy, his proposed border wall, the \”trade war\” with China, criticism of the media, and his proposal to create the space force, a new branch of the military devoted to operations in space. The 2018 elections featured a wider range and larger number of campaign advertisements than past midterm elections. By mid-October 2018, at a cost of some USD 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. 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.