Voting booth.Photo: PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty
With control of the U.S. House and Senate hanging in the balance, pollsters and political forecasters made wide-ranging predictions ahead of Tuesday’s long-anticipated midterm elections. Some of those predictions — like the “red wave” many Republicans claimed would sweep the nation — did not materialize.
Still, there were some races that were far closer than predicted and a handful of candidates who won despite the considerable odds against them.
Below, the biggest surprises of the midterm elections so far, updated regularly as more races are called and the future of the nation’s political makeup becomes more clear.
No Red Wave
John Fetterman.Mark Makela/Getty
Perhaps the biggest shock of all was that there were far fewer major upsets thanmany polls had suggestedahead of Election Day.
As ballots continued to be counted across the country, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham weighed in on early returns, telling NBC News the midterms were, “Definitely not a Republican wave, that’s for darn sure.”
“A wave would have been capturing New Hampshire and Colorado,” Graham told hostSavannah Guthrie, referencing Republican losses in the New Hampshire and Colorado Senate races.
Colorado’s Senate race also failed to be as competitive as Republicans had hoped, with Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet winning a third term in Congress with 55% of the vote to Republican Joe O’Dea’s 43%.
Other races, while close, also did not land Republicans the easy path to a Senate majority they had hoped. In Arizona, vote-counting remains ongoing, though early totals showed a neck-and-neck race between RepublicanKari Lakeand DemocratKatie Hobbs. In Pennsylvania, DemocratJohn Fettermanovercame doubts about his health to beat Trump-endorsedDr. Mehmet Oz, flipping the seat blue.
Speaking on NBC News, Sen. Graham offered a “hats off” to Democrats, noting, “they have performed well in a lot of these swing districts.”
Still, other GOP insiders saw the lack of a red wave as indicative that voters were pushing back on former President Trump.
“The Republicans have had enough of Trump, we want to move on,” one GOP source told PEOPLE. “The midterms results speak for themselves: a referendum on Trump.”
Uvalde Votes for Greg Abbott
CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
While Republican Gov.Greg Abbott’s victory was somewhat unsurprising in deep red Texas,his victory in Uvalde County was strikingconsidering recent events.
“Please, Governor, help Uvalde County! We need change! We need change, governor. We need change. Our children don’t deserve this,” a man shouted, in a momentcaptured on videothat was posted to Twitter. “Our children are under constant attack in this community. We need help.”
On Tuesday, Abbott won Uvalde County overwhelmingly, receiving more than 60% of the vote to democrat Beto O’Rourke’s 38%.
O’Rourke had made headlines of his own in Uvalde when heinterrupted one of Abbott’s press conferences on the shooting, accusing the Republican of doing nothing to halt gun violence.
“The time to stop the next shooting is right now and you are doing nothing,” O’Rourke told Abbott, per CNN.
“You said this is not predictable,” O’Rourke continued of the shooting. “This is totally predictable.”
Florida Enters Red State Territory
Gov. Ron DeSantis and Casey DeSantis.Executive Office of the Governor, State of Florida
While a red wave didn’t exactly sweep the nation, in Florida, Republicans saw sweeping victories.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis— who is widely rumored to be mulling a 2024 presidential campaign that could pit him directly against Trump —won reelection with a nearly 20% leadover his opponent, DemocratCharlie Crist. The race was called almost immediately after polls closed.
Lauren Boebert’s Close Race
Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert.Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Republican firebrandLauren Boeberthad been heavily favored to win her reelection to the House, with election forecaster FiveThirtyEightgiving her a 97% chance at securing the victoryin its final Monday night prediction.
But as results poured in Tuesday evening, Democratic challenger Adam Frisch had a notable lead on the incumbent. Though the lead has since shrunk, Frisch, a former city councilman, remained ahead at the time of publishing. With more than 95% of votes accounted for, Boebert sits in a dangerous position that few saw coming.
Boebert — a provocative right-wing politician in the mold of former President Trump — was first elected to Congress in 2020, and won the Republican primary election in western Colorado’s Congressional District 3 in June.
The lawmaker’s freshman term has beencheckered with controversy— that Boebert herself seemed to welcome at times.
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The 35-year-old was alsoaccused of meeting with organizersof pro-Trump rallies on Jan. 6, 2021. She has denied any involvement in theviolent riotthat followed. Boebert, a fervent gun advocate, reportedly got into a standoff with Capitol Police when sherefused to allow officers to search her bagafter setting off metal detectors just days after the insurrection.
Prior to the results funneling in, Boebert tweeted triumphantly, “The red wave has begun! … America First is winning!”
source: people.com
