[News] Midterm elections takeaways: Biden's agenda helped Dems, abortion concerns tipped scale

[BirSaNN]

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden's unrelenting election optimism may not have been entirely misplaced.

Biden was insistent throughout the fall that his presidency could defy the odds and that the Democratic Party would not suffer the steep midterm losses that were associated with his predecessors. 

As of Wednesday morning, Democrats were still expected to lose their House majority, with dozens of races too close to call. But a handful of front-line lawmakers who were elected in a 2018 wave and are seen as rising stars in the Democratic Party have already been declared safe.

They include Reps. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Sharice Davids of Kansas. Democratic Reps. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey were also reelected.

The big surprise of the night was Pennsylvania, where Democrats succeeded in flipping a seat with John Fetterman. 

Here are four other takeaways about what happened Tuesday night:

 

 

Campaigning on Biden's agenda (even without him) worked
Biden did not visit Nevada, Georgia or Arizona, where incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly was fending off his Republican challenger in early results.

He also avoided battleground New Hampshire, where Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan easily defeated Republican state Sen. Dan Boldoc.

One of his last stops on the campaign trail was to Pennsylvania, where he stumped for Fetterman and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro. Fetterman won a close race against former President Donald Trump's chosen candidate Mehmet Oz, while Shapiro cruised to victory over his election-denying Republican opponent Doug Mastriano.

 

Link: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/11/09/midterm-elections-biden-abortion-2024-results/8307579001/