In the House races, the Democrats had a good night. They retook the House, clinching the necessary 23+ seats. They were able to find quality candidates who picked off Republicans across the country. GOP incumbents in Kansas, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey were all given pink slips, but was it a wave? It was not a tsunami. It was nowhere near the Tea Party wave, which wiped out all of the Democratic Party’s 2006 and 2008 gains. It’ll be the slimmest House majority since George W. Bush took office in 2001. Right now, Democrats look to clinch a 10-11-seat majority, but you know what that means. Rep. Nancy Pelosi will be getting her gavel back (via Politico):
Democrats have won back control of the House of Representatives, slicing through Republican-held suburbs where President Donald Trump has proven toxic to undo a Republican majority once thought to be impervious until the next round of redistricting.
From Florida to Texas to Illinois, Republican incumbents who survived reelection in 2016 even as Trump lost their districts fell decisively to Democratic challengers who linked them to the president and attacked their votes on health care and taxes last year, delivering a check-and-balance message to the president.
The first flip of the night came in Northern Virginia, where Democrat Jennifer Wexton, a state senator, beat Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock — who won reelection in 2016 even as Trump lost badly in the district. The same trend saw Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo, Illinois Rep. Peter Roskam, Minnesota Rep. Erik Paulsen, Kansas Rep. Kevin Yoder, Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman and more all lose in districts that Clinton carried, despite seeing off Democratic challenges in past years.
But Democrats expanded their gains into some districts where Trump did better. In Virginia, Democrats Elaine Luria and Abigail Spanberger toppled Republican Reps. Scott Taylor and Dave Brat in districts that backed Trump in 2016, while Democrat Anthony Brindisi won in a red-trending upstate New York district.
Oh, yes, Pelosi took a victory lap (via The Hill):
As Pelosi delivered the victory speech, she was flanked on both sides by House Democratic leaders and Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Tom Perez at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) watch party. She stood in between two of her grandchildren.
[…]
"We saw what this GOP congress was doing and refused to stand still," Pelosi said. "Thanks to you, we owned the ground. Thanks to you, tomorrow will be a new day in America."
She described the Democratic candidates who won on Tuesday night as "dynamic, diverse [and] incredible."
"Today is more than about Democrats and Republicans," she said. "It’s about restoring the constitution’s checks and balances to the Trump administration."
Pelosi laid out a vision of a "bipartisan" Congress in which Democrats have a "responsibility to find our common ground when we can, stand our ground where we can."
"We’ll have a ... bipartisan marketplace of ideas that makes our democracy strong," she said.
Chants of “Speaker! Speaker!” as @NancyPelosi takes the stage at the DCCC watch party —> pic.twitter.com/8Qj6lKVXYG
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) November 7, 2018
No, they don’t. It’s an agenda of more taxes, more regulations, and less economic growth. It’s an agenda of getting the president. The subpoenas are already getting prepped. Also, it’s not like the areas where the Democrats gained are receptive to the far left agenda peddled by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. There is no way this new batch can back these agenda items and win re-election in two years. That’s why I’m going to bet that the internal strife will be intense, and having a hardcore San Francisco liberal at the helm does not bode well for moderation. Democrats will overreach or peddle trash policies as they always do. Defending these 2018 gains in 2020 will be difficult, which is why I’m confident that we can regain a lot of ground, but for now; we have to deal with soon-to-be-Speaker Pelosi again. Oh, and did you miss the part in her speech where she said we should give pre-existing conditions a round of applause (via Free Beacon):
"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," Pelosi said. "Let's hear it more for pre-existing medical conditions."
Pelosi sucks; everyone knows this. Even fellow Democrats know that in some parts of the country she’s more reviled than Trump. So, by all means, keep her in front of that camera.