Democrats gain control of House but GOP retains majority in Senate: NPR

Updated on Wednesday, 03:44 ET

Republicans and Democrats will split control of Congress next year. Democrats in the House should occupy enough seats held by the GOP to get a majority in the House, according to the Associated Press. Senate Republicans should maintain and perhaps expand their majority.

The findings create a divided Capitol Hill next year and mean that President Trump 's plans for further tax cuts, tougher immigration legislation and changes to the law on affordable care will be blocked.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of D-Calif., Declared her victory Tuesday night and President Trump called to congratulate her on her victory.

"We are fed up with the division, the American people want peace, they want results, they want us to work for positive results for their lives," Pelosi said at an organized election night with the most senior Democratic leaders of the House.

And after President Trump has focused his attention on the rally in the last few weeks of the campaign, Democratic senators from several Red states have suffered projected losses, and the GOP is about to expand its majority of votes. At least two seats.

Republicans will retain control of the Senate for at least two years, after Democrats' defeats in Indiana, Tennessee, Texas and North Dakota – says President Trump won a double-digit victory in 2016 Trump had led an aggressive campaign in those states.

Senate GOP leaders capitalized on a battlefield map that left Democrats defending 26 seats, including 10 in the states Trump won in 2016. They now have to defend Trump's radical rhetoric and politics on issues such as immigration and trade, despite tensions within the party. problems.

Trump was not on the ballot this year, but the mid-term elections were seen as a national referendum on his leadership. Now the leaders of both parties will pursue very different goals on Capitol Hill. Democrats in the House are committed to launching extensive investigations of Trump, his trade relations and the transparency of his administration. Republicans in the Senate will continue to install new Trump candidates for the federal judiciary and defend the president and his policies.

Drew Hammill, Pelosi spokesperson tweeted on Tuesday night on the phone call between the Speaker of the House and the House Minority Leader: "President Trump called Pelosi Leader at 11:45 pm tonight to congratulate him for winning a majority in the House of Commons. House of Democrats He hailed the party's bipartisan appeal in his victory statements. "

A divided Congress is expected to extend the fierce battles of the 2018 campaign until the 2020 presidential election.

The early voting data released Tuesday morning indicated that the electorate was younger and more diverse than in the last mid-term election. Participation rates were significantly higher in several demographic groups and were rising in states with competitive Senate contests – Arizona, Texas and Nevada.

The impact of the President has been different at some 80 competitions held in the House and more than a dozen tight competitions in the Senate.

The battlefield of the house depends on suburban and suburban competitions

The Democrats have based their hopes of finding the House to increase the participation of women and minorities and to woo moderate suburban voters who have been rejected by Trump.

They focused on recruiting diverse candidates who once seemed to stand out for the party. This included gun owners and veterans of the army – and many female candidates. The strategy was well designed to bring voters to the seats of the House and a record number of women will be sworn in early next year.

But the election also means that Democrats will have to reconcile the demands of a party that has developed to adopt progressives, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who won in a Democratic district of New York, while electing moderates like Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania, who won special elections earlier this year and won Tuesday in a reconfigured district.

Such a Democratic caucus will test the power and influence of leaders like Pelosi, who is planning to run for another term as Speaker.

A vocal group in the caucus blamed Pelosi for not being in touch with his changing party and for not offering new members opportunities. She has been the subject of millions of dollars in Republican attack ads during this round, forcing more than a dozen candidates to publicly promise not to support her as a speaker.

This division could make it difficult for Democrats in the House to unify around an agenda. Its most progressive flank will be pushed to decide on proposals such as a health care plan "Medicare for all". But Pelosi promised to focus first on government reform measures and campaign finance.

"When we win the victory, our Democratic Congress will be open and transparent," Pelosi said at an event Tuesday morning.

Republicans will have to fight against an opposite trend. Many moderate members have chosen to retire rather than face difficult re-election campaigns. While most competitions were concentrated in the suburbs, GOP candidates and management assistants were concerned that the president's harsh speech on immigration might have deterred women and independents in those areas.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has appealed to the President the weekend before the election so he focuses on the strength of the economy and benefits from the reduction in 2017. Although Trump boasts of these achievements, he continues to insist on his willingness to quell the "caravan" – the group of Central American migrants heading to the Mexican border with United States. He also stated that he would terminate citizenship through a decree – a proposal that, according to Ryan, would be unconstitutional.

House GOP leaders expect to oversee a more conservative conference next year, with much of their losses going to centrists. This tilt to the right will probably mean even more pressure from senior leaders for members to unite to vote on legislation closely tied to Trump and his agenda.

Senate races in most red states have benefited from Trump's focus

Senators Democrats have faced a daunting challenge in struggling to retain seats in the states that Trump has earned with a double-digit margin on the worst battleground of all parties in modern history.

Only six Republicans were ready to be re-elected; all but one of them ran into Republican states safely.

The Democrats have landed on a plan allowing every vulnerable democrat to lead an independent campaign without a unified platform. For example, Heidi Heitkamp, ​​in North Dakota, could protect farmers, while Joe Manchin, in West Virginia, promised new health protection measures for coal miners.

But the Republicans had the advantage of simply reminding them that the Democrats had voted against Trump. Heitkamp contacted Trump White House officials and attempted to create a bipartisan stance, but voted against Brett Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court. And other Senate red state democrats who ran for office – Claire McCaskill in Missouri and Joe Donnelly in Indiana – did the same.

Trump personally played an important role in the tight Senate debates during the last weeks of the election cycle. He went to Indiana, Florida, Montana, Nevada, Missouri and Mississippi – and sometimes landed drastically aboard Air Force One in front of crowds of supporters applauding enthusiastically for his red meat speeches focused mainly on immigration and warnings about what democratic control meant his agenda.

His visits included explicit reminders to his grassroots supporters, telling them that they were not voting for a Republican, but that they were voting for Senators promising to support his priorities.

"They want to raise your taxes, the Democrats do it, restore the crippling regulations, shut down your new steel mills, deprive you of your health care and place illegal aliens in the United States," said Trump. a closing rally in Indiana. "If you want more caravans, if you want more crime, vote for the Democrat tomorrow."

A year of big money and big controversies

Democrats have benefited from a flood of donations to official party organizations and outside groups working alongside them. Democratic candidates and their outside supporters are expected to spend more than $ 2.5 billion on this year's elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Republican candidates and their supporters are spending $ 2.2 billion.

Fundraising in 2018 has far exceeded what is normal for a mid-term election.

Donations from both parties have been spectacular and closely related to national political events such as hearings on allegations of sexual assault during Kavanaugh's confirmation. Donors have reacted to stormy political battles, such as financing a wall on the border with Mexico and Republicans' failed attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, flooding candidates with money.

Deirdre Walsh from NPR contributed to this report