Democrats win many key seats to flip the House after eight years – but Republicans increase majority in Senate. Democrats also gained 7 new seats in the Governor’s race.
The Democratic Party in the US. has won back control of the House after eight years in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
The result is a significant boost to the Democrats who are trying to put a check on President Trump and the Republican party who controlled the Senate and House.
The results is also a blow for President Trump (although he is saying otherwise) as the majority gives Democrats oversight functions which they are expected to wield, starting with a possible subpoena for Trump’s tax resturns and a leverage for Mueller’s investigations.
Democrats, who have been locked out of power in Washington following Trump’s victory in 2016 ran a campaign based on healthcare and diversity and seem to have reaped the reward as they fliped over 23 Republican seats and made more inroads in predominantly red districts than in 2014.
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called the event historic: “Women and men mobilized in historic numbers who saw what this GOP Congress was doing and refused to stand still.
“Tomorrow will be a new day in America.”
Republicans still control the Senate and this could lead to more gridlocks in Washington with the two chambers voting according to party affiliations.
The biggest takeaway though, despite what Trump says is that Democrats now have more authority to act as oversight of the Trump administration with powers to investigate the President or his family. This is of particular significance as special counsel Mueller’s investigation into Trump-Russia collusion winds to a close.
There have also been talks about a possible impeachment, but Democrats have insisted they are not pursuing that yet.
Pelosi have said they would instead act as a check on the President: “Today is more than about Democrats and Republicans
“It’s about restoring the Constitution’s checks and balances to the Trump administration. It’s about stopping the GOP and Mitch McConnell’s assault on Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and the health care of 130 million Americans living with pre-existing medical conditions.”
There were significant talk of Democrats flipping the House before the election as talk of a “blue wave” swept over social media as Democrats easily outraised their Republican counterparts in most competitive House races.
Trump, in a bid to help Republicans increased his campaign appearances, but the damage was not curbed and the Republicans essentially lost the House.