Breaking: Democrats Projected To Take Control of House
Spurred by victories in several key districts, Democrats on Tuesday are poised to regain control of the House.
As recent polls have increasingly indicated that it was likely Democrats would control the House, President Donald Trump was asked about that potential reality.
While urging voters to support GOP candidates during a West Virginia rally, Trump noted that he has overcome adversity before.
“It could happen, could happen,” Trump said. “We are doing very well, and we are doing really well in the Senate, but it could happen.”
“I can’t go everywhere,” he added, saying Democrats could “squeak it by.”
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“And you know what you do? My whole life, you know what I say? ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ll just figure it out.’ Does that make sense? I’ll just figure it out,” he said.
Democratic control means Trump would have to figure out responses to proposed investigations that House Democrats have discussed over the past two years. Axios reported that the list compiled by the White House comes to over 100 items, from Trump’s tax returns to payments by Trump to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Impeachment has been a favorite subject of House Democrats, from long-time foe Rep. Maxine Waters of California to newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Ocasio-Cortez called impeachment “a no-brainer” recently when interviewed by Jorge Ramos on his “Real America with Jorge Ramos” show on Facebook Watch.
“I mean, yeah. To me, it’s a no-brainer,” Ocasio-Cortez said when asked about impeachment.
Ocasio-Cortez said that based on the standard Republicans used to begin impeachment against former President Bill Clinton, Trump does not deserve a pass.
“You look at the bar that the Republicans held for impeaching Bill Clinton and somehow impeaching Donald Trump is supposed to be beyond the pale? It seems ridiculous to me,” she added.
Republicans went into this election facing the harsh historic reality that midterm elections have not been kind to the party that controls the White House.
In 2006, during the second term of the administration of former President George W. Bush, the GOP lost both houses of Congress, Politico noted. Bush’s first mid-term election saw him and the GOP buoyed by the American response to the terror attacks of 9/11.
Although former President Barack Obama was a winner in 2008 and 2012, his party suffered greatly in both of his mid-term elections. In 2010, the GOP gained 63 House seats. In 2014, the Democrats lost control of the Senate and hit the party’s lowest point in the House since 1929.
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One additional factor that made 2018 an uphill climb for Republicans was the number of open seats. USA Today noted than 41 GOP House seats were “open” because incumbents either retired or moved to other contests. Incumbents have a much higher chance of election than newcomers.
“These open seats are especially susceptible to being swept whichever way the national winds are flowing because the candidates tend not to be well-defined,” said Dave Wasserman, House editor of the Cook Political Report.
Although control of the House flip-flopped in the early part of the 20th Century, Democrats seized control in the 1954 election and would hold the House until the 1994 election, according to House.gov. During that time, Democrats peaked by winning 292 seats in 1976, leaving Republicans with only 143 seats.
Republicans held the House until the 2006 election when Democrats swept back into power. Democratic control was short-lived, however, and ended in 2010 when the Republicans again took the majority.
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