Last Tuesday was election day in the United States, and for these midterms, I am reminded that the President’s party typically loses seats. But this year, burdened with very low approval ratings and dissatisfaction with President Trump, the Republicans were routed. The Democrats won both houses with very comfortable majorities, exceeding even the most optimistic predictions for the party. How unprecedented is this Democratic victory? What led to these historic gains? What does it mean for the last two years of the Trump Presidency? [ dur:58mins. ]
- Seth C. McKee is Professor of Political Science at Oklahoma State University. He is the author of The Dynamics of Southern Politics: Causes and Consequences and coauthor of Rural Republican Realignment in the Modern South: The Untold Story with MV Hood.
- Jan Leighley is Professor of Political Science at American University. She is the co-author of, Who Votes Now? Demographics, Issues, Inequality and Turnout in the United States,Strength in Numbers? The Political Mobilization of Racial and Ethnic Minorities and Mass Media and Politics: A Social Science Perspective.
- Jeremi Suri is Professor in the Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office and his latest book Civil War by Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight For Democracy. He hosts the podcast This is Democracy.
This program is produced by Doug Becker, Maria Armoudian, Ankine Aghassian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre.
Politics and Activism, Elections, Governance / Law, 2026 elections, US
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