The Progressive Current Beneath The Wave: 2018 Midterm Election Takeaway

Last Updated 11/29/18

National Trends

The long, unstoppable march at the state level away from voter suppression and bigotry and toward a higher minimum wages, Medicaid expansion, criminal justice reform, marijuana legalization and redistricting/election reform continues despite active hostility towards it in the Trump Administration.

In a midterm election with the highest turnout in more than 100 years, Democrats picked up at least 7 Governor's races across the country.(Florida and Georgia are still counting). There is a under-reported importance of these wins to the quickly approaching 2020 Census. Governors can use many tools to increases census participation and reduce undercounts among communities of color, the poor, and the young. Many of these states, like New Mexico and possibly Arizona, will be gaining at least one Congressional seat as a result of the census. Reducing census undercounts ensures those seats give political power to all the people.

Criminal justice reform is sure to get a boost from the results of district attorney races across the country as new reformers join the likes of Larry Krasner in Philadelphia and Kimberly Foxx in Chicago.

New Congress

There are a record number of women, people of color, and openly LGBTQ people, though still at numbers far less than in the general population, in this incoming 116th Congress and in state offices around the country. Democrats gained the most seats (40) in Congress since the wave of 'Watergate babies' in the 1974 midterm election. Of the 111 freshmen in the 116th Congress, 66 (59.5%) are Democrats, 42 (37.8%) are women, and 23 (20.8%) are people of color. (As of latest update, two races are yet to be declared.)

Also notable is the increase of people who come from outside the law school/business school bubble, like scientists, engineers, and teachers, which has dominated Congress for decades.

The next Congress and statehouses around the country are also going to benefit from more religious diversity and younger members. All of these much-needed and long overdue changes will add more perspectives, life experiences, and challenges to the status quo on Capitol Hill

State Standouts

Arkansas

Voters passed Issue 5 and raise their minimum wage from $8.50 minimum wage to $11 an hour by 2021

California

Prop 2 (61.6%)homelessness prevention housing. As the national Republican Party embraces an anti-immigrant and anti-environmentalist agenda, Golden State voters continue to send the California GOP the way of the Whigs even suffering massive loses in former Pres. Reagan's Orange County. State Democrats won two Republican-held California state Senate seats in the former solidly conservative Central Valley, giving the Dems veto-proof supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature. The GOP Congressional delegation looks headed to be reduced from 14 members (26.4%) to 7 members (13.5%)Voters passed out of 52 total seats. This delegation, the smallest percentage since the 1800s, may be reduced to 7 after all the counting in one of the last races to be decided in the midterms.which allows the State to use revenue from millionaire's tax for $2 billion in bonds for

Colorado

Coloradans not only elected Jared Polis, the first openly gay Governor, but also elected Jena Griswold, a voting rights lawyer who's been committed to expanding voting accessibility for years, as Secretary of State. Voters also approved Amendment Y (71.1%) & Amendment Z (70.8%), taking state and federal redistricting out of the hands of gerrymandering politicians and instead using independent redistricting commissions. They passed Amendment A (65.6%) which repeals an incredible state constitutional exception which allowed for slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. Voters also passed Prop. 111 (76.9%) which restricts payday loans interest to a still high, but not loan shark high, yearly rate of 36 percent.

Florida While the Senate and Governor's race is headed to a recount, Floridians overwhelmingly (64.5%) passed Amendment 4 which will restore the ability to vote to millions former felons upon the completion of their sentences. Voters banned offshore oil Amendment 9 (68.9%) and prohibited public officials from lobbying while in office and six years after leaving Amendment 12 (78.9%).

Idaho Voters in deeply red Idahoans agreed to expand Medicaid eligibility by passing Proposition 2 by over 60% of the vote.

Louisiana

In the deep South, Louisiana voters reformed their criminal justice system by passing Amendment 2 (64.3%) which requires a unanimous jury verdict for felony trials. This measure has its roots in Jim Crow policies which have disproportionately hurt African Americans.

Maine

Voters were happy to see the back of term limited Governor Shifty' LePage and voting in Democrat Janet Mills. They also chose to invest in education by passing Questions 4 (54.1%) and Question 5 (64.8%) which raised millions of dollars for their University system and community colleges.

Maryland

Voters in Maryland, by more than 2 to 1(67.1%), made voting a little bit easier by approving Question 2 which authorized the legislature to enact same day voter registration.

Massachusetts

In a win against bigotry disguised as religious freedom, voters approved Question 3 (67.7%) which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity in public places like hotels, restaurants, and stores.

Michigan

Voters gave Democrats a huge win up and down the ballot. Democrats won the governorship, Senate, attorney general, three flipped House seats with women, five flipped state Senate seats, five flipped state House seats, the state supreme court and the state university boards. Garlin Gilchrist II, a 36-year-old African American, was elected lieutenant governor. Jocelyn Benson, former board member at the Southern Poverty Law Center and author of a book on best election practices for secretaries of state, become Michigan's first Democrat Secretary of State in 20 years. Voters passed Proposal 2 (61.2%), creating an independent redistricting commission. They also approved straight-ticket voting, automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, and no-excuse absentee voting by passing Proposal 3 (66.9%). Finally, voters passed Proposal 1 (55.9%), which legalizes recreational marijuana, and rejected another voter suppression Secretary of State in Mary Treder Lang by electing Jocelyn Benson.

Missouri

Despite incumbent Sen. McCaskill's loss to Josh Hawley,'Show me' State voters gave low-wage workers some help by passing Proposition B (67.2%) which not only raises their $7.85 minimum wage to $12 by 2023, but also pegs any future increases or decreases on changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). They approved Amendment 1 (61.9%) which better regulates lobbying and campaign finances, establishes a nonpartisan state demographer position, and enacts competitiveness and partisan fairness criteria for state legislative district maps. Voters also legalized medical uses of marijuana by passing Amendment 2 65.5%). The 4% tax revenue from the marijuana is earmarked for spend tax revenue on healthcare services for veterans.

Nebraska

Voters here, continuing the expanding appeal of Obamacare in conservative states, agreed to expand eligibility for Medicaid by passing Initiative 427 (53.2%).

Nevada

While Silver State voters elected Jacky Rosen as its new U.S. senator, they also easily passed Question 5 (59.6%), allowing automatic voter registration at DMVs and Question 6 (59.2%), requiring state utilities to get at least 50% of their energy from renewable sources by 2030.

New Jersey

In my beloved home state, Republicans look to be down to one (maybe two) representative out of New Jersey’s thirteen-member Congressional delegation as its educated middle-class and wealthy suburbs become more diverse, less bigoted, and unwilling to join Trump and the national GOP as it continues to move further right. For example, two notable losses Rep. MacArthur to Andy Kim, Obama Administration's former "point man" for Iraq and then ISIS and the state's first Asian American Congressman. MacArthur famously supported Trump’s attempt to destroy Obamacare and Grossman proudly ran on helping Trump’s agenda and was caught saying diversity was "a bunch of crap and Un-American". Both MacArthur and Grossman loss in areas which have been electing Republican for Congress for at least 25 years. (I know because many moons ago I went to high school in what is now MacArthur's district).

New York

In my adopted state, Democrats finally took over the state Senate with a comfortable majority, unseating 5 GOP incumbents and giving the party solid control of the chamber, with 40 seats to 23. The will of NY voters for progressive policies, like election reform, marijuana legalization, universal healthcare, and criminal justice reform, has been thwarted for over a decade by a handful of 'independent' Democrats. The IDC caucused for years with Republicans in exchange for personal perks and power. However, this long-overdue change will do more than simply pass long-denied reforms. It will give more political power senators of color, like Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and begin to undo the disproportionate power rural, less populated upstate NY has in Albany. New York’s new Attorney General, Brooklyn’s Letitia James, will definitely be a welcomed thorn in the side of the President. She surely will enthusiastically join other States in pushing back against the Administration’s immigration, climate change, and healthcare policies. Also, she plans to legally pursue shady real estate develops and stock market manipulators on the State level who then can’t be pardoned by the President.

North Dakota

Unfortunately voters in this conservative State not only voted out Democratic Senator Jon Tester, but also easily rejected Measure 3 (59.3%) which would have legalized recreational marijuana for people 21 and older and created an automatic expungement process for those with convictions involving marijuana. However, they did pass Measure 1 (53.65%) which establishes an ethics commission, bans foreign political contributions, and reigns in lobbying and conflicts of interest by elected officials.

Ohio

In May, Ohioans overwhelmingly approved Issue 1 (74.9%) to prevent partisan/racial gerrymandering after the 2020 Census by creating a bipartisan redistricting process

Oklahoma

Back in June, in the conservative home of Ado Annie, voters passed Question 788 (56.8%) which legalized the licensed cultivation, use, and possession of medicinal marijuana.

Pennsylvania

Preliminary numbers show a large increase in voter turnout across the state compared to other midterm election years. For example, the youth vote increased by 10% to the highest rate in 25 years and heavily Democratic Philadelphia saw a 44.7% increase over the turnout in 2014's midterm election. After the State Supreme Court threw out the drastically gerrymandered previous congressional district map, Keystone State Democrats gained 3 seats in Congress producing an evenly split PA congressional delegation of nine seats for each party. Four Democratic women from the Philadelphia suburbs and Lehigh Valley, the largest female representation in PA history, won their U.S. House races: Madeline Dean, Chrissy Houlahan, Mary Gay Scanlon and Susan Wild. The old map had drained political power from Pennsylvania’s more populated metros, like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and used it to inflate the political power of its sparsely populated rural interior. Thanks to the wisdom of the State Supreme Court to toss out this un-democratically manipulated map, Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation is not evenly split 9 Democrats and 9 Republicans. This better reflects its voter's party identification. Urban area will also be better represented at the Statehouse in Harrisburg with more young and female members.

Texas

Despite the loss of Beto O'Rouke against Ted Cruz, Texas saw a surge in voter turnout which resulting in Democrats winning many down ballot races, like mayors, city councils, and judges. For example, Democrats picked up two state Senate seats and 11 seats in the state’s lower House. In Harris County, which includes Houston, Democrats unseated 59 Republican judges (23 district judges, 13 family court judges, 8 county civil and probate judges, and 15 misdemeanor judges. A historic total 17 of the 59 are black women.

Utah

Voters approved Proposition 2 (51.9%), which legalized medicinal marijuana use and expanded Medicaid eligibility by passing Proposition 3 (53.1%). Proposition 4, the citizen-led initiative to end partisan gerrymandering by creating an independent election commission, finally passed after two weeks of counting (50.3%) by a mere 7,000 votes out of over a million cast.

Washington

In a bid to prevent deadly encounters with police, voters approved Initiative 940 (59.6%) , which uniform state standards for justifiable police use of deadly force, requires them to receive situational deescalation and mental health training, and provide first aid. They also passed sensible gun control with Initiative 1639 (59.7%). It raises the minimum age to purchase a gun to 21 and requires background checks, waiting periods, and storage requirements in order for people to purchase a gun.

Wisconsin Voters, helped by a strong turnout by communities of color, finally throw out anti-union, failed 2016 presidential hopeful Scott Walker out the Governor's mansion after years of attacks on the State's social safety net, K-12 teachers, and public university system.

Michael Jackson is a political analyst/researcher and freelance writer/editor living in New York City. He holds a B.A. in political science with a concentration in American Politics & Urban Studies from California State University, East Bay and was formerly graduate fellow at the Columbia University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences' Ph.D program