In the United States, midterm elections are typically held two years into a president’s term. They are frequently seen as a vote on how well a president is doing while in office. In the past, most presidents have emerged scarred.
On the 8th of November, Tuesday Inflation, abortion, crime, and climate change were the four key concerns that inevitably shaped the midterm elections. Inflation in America hasn’t surpassed the seven percent mark since Jimmy Carter’s presidency in the 1970s.
Although the Russia-Ukraine war and other supply-chain issues that followed the COVID-19 outbreak were the main causes of inflation, they had a negative influence on the cost of living. Many Americans and pro-abortion campaigners are upset with the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision. Additionally, the devastation and death left in their wake by a slew of hurricanes and tornadoes that battered America has brought attention to climate change.
The same excitement and fanfare that surround presidential elections were used to announce the mid-term elections. Both Democratic and Republican candidates were supported by President Joe Biden, former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and other prominent figures. Experts speculated that the campaign may have been a preview of the 2024 presidential election because it was entertaining and featured Trump and Biden on the hustings.
Former President Trump used his huge war chest to back candidates who shared his views on the 2020 election’s fairness. He continued by predicting a huge red wave or Republican tsunami at the end of the elections with his allies. The BBC Correspondent Katy Kay, a veteran of multiple American elections, called the rhetoric leading up to the mid-term elections “unnerving” because it was so vicious. In truth, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s spouse suffered an assault before the election.
There were 435 seats in the House of Representatives that were up for election. The same could be said for 36 governorships and 35 of the 100 Senate seats.
The elections were remarkably peaceful at the time this article was written, allaying the fears of those who feared the worst. And instead of producing a wave of Republican victories, the Republicans narrowly won control of the House. The outcome of the Senate election is still in doubt and a dead heat, despite the fact that results for one or two seats, like Georgia’s, are still pending.
The results of the midterm elections produced a number of firsts overall. They were also insightful and fascinating. Wes Moore became the first Black man to hold the office of governor of Maryland. Sarah Sanders Huckabee, a former representative for Donald Trump, was elected governor of Arkansas for the first time. And Maura Healey, a lesbian gay, became governor for the first time. Eight African Americans were elected to seats.
Donald Trump may be the candidate who suffered the biggest losses in recent elections. He didn’t just enter the race as the Republican Party’s unstoppable candidate for president; he also spread the idea of an imminent crimson wave. The misconception was debunked at the conclusion of the day.
His slate of well-known and illustrious candidates for the two houses were soundly defeated. Consider the condensed list: For the Senate alone, the slick television doctor Mehmet Oz was defeated by John Fetterman in Pennsylvania; Senator Maggie Hassan defeated Don Bolduc in New Hampshire; Richard Blumenthal defeated Leora Levy in Connecticut, and Peter Welch defeated Gerald Malloy in Vermont.
Even worse for Trump, the margin of victory for the Republicans in the House is not at all close to the “wave” he projected. Even worse, Ron de Santis, the governor of Florida, was re-elected with a landslide victory while being under consideration as his replacement by more subdued Republican Party members.
The fact that the New York Post, one of Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers, referred to de Santis as “the future” is indicative of the likely move in favor of him. Apart from the fact that his re-election raised his prominence, de Santis made a clear bid for the presidency in his strong, Kennedy-like acceptance speech. In fact, experts believe that Trump’s decisive victory will lead to a “massive internal civil war” within the Republican Party.
President Biden was encouraged by the results of the mid-term elections, while Donald Trump was muted by them. Trump had hoped to use them to declare his candidacy for president. The Democrats’ anticipated tsunami never materialized. Even prominent Trump backer and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham admitted that there was “certainly not a Republican wave.” The results were hailed as “a good day for democracy” by President Biden, who had contended that “democracy itself was on the table” prior to the elections.
He declared that Republicans could count on his cooperation and that the people had spoken their concerns loud and clear. For good measure, Biden, who had previously been reticent about running in 2024, announced his intention with assurance.
The peaceful nature of the midterm elections and their focus on issues confirm America’s status as a bulwark of liberal democracy and the “Shinning City on a Hill.” While we conduct the 2023 General Elections in Nigeria, these qualities and values ought to stand out.
