Fallon Deatherage-Bradley
News Editor
The 2018 election is one for the history books with the Republicans maintaining control of the U.S. Senate and the Democrats gaining the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
As it currently stands, the Republicans hold 51 Senate seats while the Democrats hold 46. In the U.S. House, the Democrats hold 228 seats to the 199 Republican seats. These numbers are subject to change, especially as some high-profile recounts get underway in Arizona and Florida.
The 2018 election also saw some pricey campaigns. In the close race between Florida senator Bill Nelson and former governor Rick Scott, over $94 million was spent in campaigning. This is still not as much as the record-setting $ 93.85 spent on the Texas Senate race between incumbent Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke, in which Cruz squeaked out the closest victory the state has seen in 40 years.
This election was also an election of firsts.
Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan made history as the first Muslim women elected to congress. Sharice Davids of Kansas and Deb Haaland of New Mexico are the first Native American women elected to congress. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire became the first openly gay man to be elected to congress and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York became the youngest woman elected to congress.
The 2018 election also made some pretty big waves in Idaho where a total of 600,097 people voted, 29,085 of which were in Bannock county. 159,981 Idahoans voted early this year, 63 percent more than early voting four years ago in the 2014 midterm elections.
In 2016, Idahoans cast 710,877 votes while the 2014 midterm saw the state cast 445,307 votes. Midterm elections generally have a lower turn out, but the 2018 primary leading up to the general election saw 264,320 people vote compared to the 2016 primary in which only 1767,806 voted.
Ada county, where Boise is located, saw a 46.8 percent increase in voter turnout compared to 2016. In the county, more people voted in this year’s governor race compared to the 2016 presidential race.
Lieutenant Governor Brad Little of Emmett, will be the next governor after securing 60 percent (360,081) of the votes over Democratic candidate Paulette Jordan’s 37.9 percent (227,720). Jordan was only able to win in Latah, Ada, Blaine and Teton counties while Little took the rest. In Bannock county, 51.5 percent voted for Little while 46 percent voted for Jordan.
Incumbent representative Mike Simpson was able to remain in the U.S. House with a 60.7 percent (170,280) majority over Democrat opponent Aaron Swisher’s 39.3 percent (110,386). Simpson’s victory was slightly smaller than his 2016 victory against Jennifer Martinez with a 63 percent majority.
