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People standing inside of blue material voter polls
People standing inside of blue material voter polls
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Culture > News

Pinch of Politics: Midterm Elections and What It All Means

Mayahuel Crane
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Texas chapter.

Happy late Halloween and happy early Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a good voting experience! The numbers are tallied, but what does it all mean?

What was on the ballot?

In addition to propositions and local positions, the big positions on the ballot were the spots for governor, senate, and house. If you’ve been keeping up with Texas news, you’ll know that Greg Abbott won against Beto O’Rourke in the race for governor. Essentially this means the state will continue in the direction it has been going for the past 30 years.

Governor:

  • 17 states elected a Democratic governor (Total: 23 Democratic governors)
  • 17 states elected a Republican governor (Total: 25 Republican governors)
  • Winners have not been called in 2 states (Arizona and Alaska)

Senate: 

  • Republicans now have 49 seats 
  • Democrats now have 50 seats
  • There is still 1 seat that hasn’t been decided yet (Georgia)

House:

  • Republicans now have 211 seats
  • Democrats now have 204 seats
  • There are still 21 races that have not been called yet
  • As of right now, there is a Republican majority

So what does that mean?

Since President Biden is of the Democratic party, a Republican majority in the House and Senate would make any goals the Biden Administration has more difficult to achieve. A Democratic majority would mean those goals would be significantly easier to achieve.

There were also some firsts this election! Maura Healy of Massachusetts and Tina Kotek of Oregon are going to be the first openly lesbian governors in the United States! Wes Moore also made history as the first Black governor of Maryland!

Sources:

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3718346-healey-prevails-in-massachusetts-governors-race-dealing-historic-win-for-lgbt-community/

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/midterm-election-results-ted-cruz-beto-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-stacy-abrams-diversity-politics-a8621871.html

Mayahuel Crane is a writer and the Marketing and Public Relations Director at the Her Campus at Texas chapter. She is responsible for all new member recruitment, organizing open socials, fundraising, designing/ordering chapter merchandise, heading a committee, securing sponsorships, communicating with companies, the creation/growth of the Her Campus at Texas mentorship program, and general marketing of the chapter. She also created “Pinch of Politics,” a Her Campus news segment dedicated to making knowledge about current events accessible. Outside of Her Campus, Maya is an active member of her community and currently works for Justice for Children and EcoRise, two non-profit organizations dedicated to correcting the systems that harm the most vulnerable. She teaches elementary school students about mental health through Project Yellow and is a member of two pre-law organizations: Phi Delta Phi and Minority Women Pursuing Law. Maya has won “Best Feature for Current Events and News” twice for her “Pinch of Politics” articles and has successfully sustained her segment for over a year. She is a second-year Government and Mexican American Latino Studies double major at the University of Texas at Austin. Mayahuel is a huge political buff and loves to research and write in her free time. She also loves concerts, being with friends, and anything pink.