Midterms coverage: Live results | What to know | Stories around the countryStay connected: NPR Politics Podcast | NPR Politics newsletter | NPR app All the signs were pointing in Democrats' direction heading into election night. But nothing indicated quite this level of a romp. Democrats won the House and the Senate, and while that outcome was always a possibility, the depth and breadth of the Democratic victories were jaw-dropping.
Tuesday night was a reminder that the pendulum of American politics continues to swing, and politics is never permanent. Here are six takeaways about what happened, why it happened and what it all means going forward: 1. President Trump wanted this election to be about him.
It was, and that hurt Republicans President Trump's unpopularity has been a glaring warning sign for the Republican Party heading into election night. Since the Iran war, Trump's approval ratings slid from 48% to as low as 36% in an average of the polls. A whopping 62% of voters in this election disapproved of his job as president, according to the voter poll commissioned by the broadcast networks and the , which mixes pre-Election Day polling of early voters and Election Day exit polls.
Three-quarters of voters said they are either angry or dissatisfied with the direction of the country. A plurality said the economy was the most important issue, and two-thirds said Trump's policies have made economic conditions worse. In addition to the economy, corruption rose as an issue in the last several months.
The voter poll showed that 62% said Trump prioritizes his own interests more than the country's. For all of the things that will be written about this election, the bottom line is that Trump waged the kind of war he said he wouldn't get into — one that is dragging on, raising gas prices and piling on people who were already feeling the pinch — and now he is paying the price. If Trump was supposed to be the kingmaker in the 2028 Republican presidential primary, think again.
These midterms will have heavy reverberations for the presidential election. It will likely mean more GOP candidates will enter the race, and they will be more likely to present a wider view of what the direction of the party could be — rather than simply trying to carry the Trump torch. 2. Republicans tried to insulate themselves with redistricting, but it didn't work The fundamentals of this election seemed to mirror the 2006 midterms amid the Iraq War — the last time the Democrats won back both the House and Senate.
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