The strength of education polarization broke historical precedent in 2022 US House races, overpowering “down-ballot lag,” which occurs when changes in partisan patterns appear first at the presidential level, to drive continued realignment during this midterm cycle. Education polarization drove rapid and notable realignment between the 2012 and 2020 presidential elections, and … [Read more...] about Roe Overturn Led to Historic Realignment in 2022 Midterms
2022 Midterms
Democrats Boosted Matt Dolan’s OH GOP Senate Campaign in 2022
Matt Dolan formally announced his campaign to challenge Senator Sherrod Brown and become the next Republican Senator of Ohio on Tuesday. Ohio will be at the center of GOP attempts to flip the Senate in 2024, as Democrats are already on the brink of losing their majority. With vulnerable incumbents in the deep red states of Montana and West Virginia, Democrats will struggle to … [Read more...] about Democrats Boosted Matt Dolan’s OH GOP Senate Campaign in 2022
How Democrats Managed to Avoid a Red Wave in the 2022 Midterms
The 2022 Midterms were exceptionally successful for Democrats as the party expanded their majority in the US Senate and only lost 9 seats in the US House. Democrats also won nearly every competitive gubernatorial election (including races in five states Donald Trump won in 2016—Kansas, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania) and flipped state legislative chambers in … [Read more...] about How Democrats Managed to Avoid a Red Wave in the 2022 Midterms
Recap: McCarthy Finally Prevails in Speakership Vote After Chaotic Four-Day Marathon
Well, last week was certainly historic. It was also extraordinarily chaotic, but let’s stick with the history for the moment. For the fifteenth time in American history, the election of a Speaker of the House required more than one round of voting. The most recent such occurrence was exactly a century ago in 1923, although it was far from the worst such impasse, which took … [Read more...] about Recap: McCarthy Finally Prevails in Speakership Vote After Chaotic Four-Day Marathon
The Ten Politicians Who Had the Best and Worst 2022
With the holidays upon us and the turn of the calendar looming, it’s time for the 2022 edition of my top ten list of politicians who had the best and worst year. I first undertook this exercise back in December 2021, and found it a fruitful way to chart the course of a year in our political life. Far too often our focus on the present obfuscates the larger trends and … [Read more...] about The Ten Politicians Who Had the Best and Worst 2022