Republicans gains become a rout

A good night for the Republicans in the mid-terms, and not so good for the pollsters with Republicans on average doing 6% better in competitive Senate races, than he polls had them.

Let’s look at the results by type.

Senate

• Republicans are ahead 52 to 45 with Alaska, Louisiana and Virginia yet to declare. Louisiana goes to a run off which is likely to go Republican. With 50% counted they are 5% ahead in Alaska, so at this stage a 54 to 46 majority is most likely
• Incumbent Democrats Mark Pryor in Arkansas and Mark Udall in Colorado lost their seats by 17% and 5%
• Joni Ernst won by 9% in Iowa. Her initial campaign ad talked of her experience castrating hogs and how it would help her cut pork in Washington! She is also a a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard and the first woman to be elected to Congress from Iowa
• Shelley Moore Capito won West Virginia for the Republicans making her the first female Senator for West Virginia and the first Republican Senator in that seat since the 1950s
• John Kasich won strongly in Ohio, a key electoral college state
• Pat Roberts defeated independent Greg Orman by 11% in Kansas
• Michelle Nunn lost by a huge 18% in Georgia, which was seen as a close race.
• In what was thought to be a safe seat for Democratic Mark Warner, Virginia was retained by just 1%
• The one bright spot for the Democrats was the retention of New Hampshire for Jeanne Shaheen against former Massachusetts senator Scott Brown

Governors

• The Republicans did better than expected winning five gubernatorial races where the Democrats had led in the polls – Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois and Kansas. They have so far gained three states in total
• In a shock result, Republican Larry Hogan defeated Anthony Brown in heaving Democratic Maryland
• Massachusetts was won by Charlie Baker for the Republicans
• Rick Scott beat Charlie Crist by 1% in Florida. Crist is a former Republican who defected.
• Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker won re-election by 5% against a furious campaign from the left due to his union reforms
• Wendy Davis lost in Texas which was expected, but she lost by a bigger margin that her predecessor. Her national profile and hype did not translate to votes.
• The only pick up for the Democrats was Pennsylvania

House

• Republicans projected to gain between 14 and 18 seats in the House. If they gain over 246 seats it will be their best result since 1929 in the House. They have 242 confirmed and 13 races not yet decided.
• Mia Love for elected in Utah to become the first black Republican woman elected to Congress. Utah is less than 1% black. She won the seat off the Democrats.
• The youngest ever woman elected to Congress is 30 year old Republican Elise Stefanik who won New York’s 21st by 24%. It has been held by the Democrats for 22 years. She is no political novice having got a job at the White House at age 21
• Clay Aiken failed to win North Carolina’s 2nd district by 18%

General

• Referenda on legalising personal use of cannabis passed in Oregon and Washington DC and leads in Alaska. It failed in Florida but that is because they need 60% to pass and it got 58%.
• Referenda to have mandatory GMO labelling have lost in Colorado and Oregon