But yeah, Democratic turnout was pretty big. More than 8 million people voted in a midterm in Texas.ĭETROW: Yeah, this is - Democrats aren't looking for, you know, consolation prizes on a day like today on the Senate side. INSKEEP: OK, Scott Detrow, there was a lot of money in this election but also a lot of voters. TED CRUZ: All the money in the world was no match for the good people of Texas and the hard-working men and women across our state. INSKEEP: Let's listen to one of the winning Senate candidates from last night, Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, kept his seat despite a dramatic and much-followed challenge from Democrat Beto O'Rourke.
![nh midterm election results 2018 nh midterm election results 2018](https://s.abcnews.com/images/General/voting-lines-new-hampshire-ap-jef-181106_hpMain_4x3_992.jpg)
It makes it a little bit easier, and it sets the Republicans up for what will be a much harder cycle for them in 2020. As a practical matter, I think it's less significant than the Democrats taking over the House because even with just 50 votes and Mike Pence, they could have continued in the Senate to confirm Donald Trump's judges. And this is where he mattered - in the red-state Senate races, so he gets to crow about that victory. And I think this is where Democrats really failed to limit their losses. However, Mara Liasson, Republicans add to their majority in the Senate, which, among other things, is the body that confirms judges, isn't it? Adam Schiff, presumably, will be the chairman now, assuming that things stay as they are. Devin Nunes was the chairman - avid defender of the president. INSKEEP: Yeah, I'm just thinking - the House Intelligence Committee. That means they can dig into the Trump White House, whether it's things related to Mueller's investigation or scandals in the EPA and other departments or - get this - President Trump's tax returns and the relationship between his personal business and government action. But the most important change is that Democrats now have oversight control. They have a lot of leverage for spending. All the big pushes that President Trump and Republicans pushed for the last few years - repealing Obamacare, big tax cuts - that stops dead, and Democrats now have the leverage to try and get a permanent fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, among other Democratic priorities.
![nh midterm election results 2018 nh midterm election results 2018](https://manchesterinklink.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Andy-Martin.jpg)
INSKEEP: So, Scott, how big a change in Washington is that House result?ĭETROW: It's a major change. NPR's Mara Liasson and Scott Detrow are here to talk all this through. Republicans added to their majority in the Senate, defeating three Democrats who held seats in more rural and conservative states. INSKEEP: Pelosi is now favored to be the next speaker of the House, after Democrats gained something in the neighborhood of 30 seats or a little more. It's about restoring the Constitution's checks and balances to the Trump administration. NANCY PELOSI: Today is more than about Democrats and Republicans. They defeated Republican leaders who aggressively defended President Trump, and they empowered a party whose leader, Nancy Pelosi, says she will be independent of the president.
![nh midterm election results 2018 nh midterm election results 2018](https://www.politico.com/election-results/cdn/img/2018/share/ak/share.jpg)
A central result of last night's congressional elections was this - in a high turnout election for a midterm, a substantial majority of Americans voted for Democrats in the House.