What the midterms mean for the Democrats' 2020 hopes

Democrats should be thrilled with their gains

In Tuesday's midterm elections, Democrats captured control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 2010. But they lost the Senate decisively, as well as some closely-watched and hard-fought gubernatorial races. While the party had high hopes for a long-shot takeover of the Senate, the numbers just weren't there, as Democratic incumbents Bill Nelson (Florida), Heidi Heitkamp (North Dakota), Claire McCaskill (Missouri), and Joe Donnelly (Indiana) were defeated. And while Beto O'Rourke ran well ahead of Hillary Clinton (or any statewide Democrat in the last 20 years), he lost his bid to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas.

The results set up a narrative battle: For Democrats who had hoped for a comprehensive defeat of the forces of Trumpism, certainly the night could have gone better. At the same time, given the headwinds of gerrymandering and partisan clustering in the House, Democrats should be thrilled with their substantial gains; they will make it much harder for Republicans to recapture control in 2020.

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David Faris

David Faris is an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. He is a frequent contributor to Informed Comment, and his work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and Indy Week.