livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
America’s urban-rural divide deepens
A deeply divided electorate delivered a split verdict on President Trump’s first two years in office on Tuesday, one that reflects growing chasms along geographic and ideological faults.
On one hand, suburban voters delivered a stern rebuke to an unpopular president, ousting both Republican incumbents who had embraced Trump and those who had sought to distance themselves. Democrats made big gains in Midwestern gubernatorial races, a step in the direction of rebuilding once-favorable political terrain that Trump had claimed.
On the other hand, rural voters stormed to the polls in virtually unprecedented numbers, delivering once again for the president they voted for in 2016 in a handful of critical Senate and gubernatorial elections in ruby red states.
“We’ve got some big schisms out there,” said Rep. Tom ColeE (R-Okla.), who won reelection in an exurban and rural district on Tuesday. “Rural America’s much more Republican than ever before.”
Exit polls showed three-quarters of voters said Americans are becoming more divided.
Trump’s rhetoric in the closing days of the campaign exacerbated those divides, by turns strengthening Republican chances in Senate races where the GOP base turned out and weakening his party’s hopes of keeping the House.
The exit surveys showed Trump was a major factor in Tuesday’s elections. Nearly two-thirds of voters said they cast their ballot for Congress either to support Trump (26 percent) or oppose him (38 percent). More voters said they were casting a ballot to support Trump than oppose him in Senate races in Missouri, Indiana and North Dakota, three states where Republicans beat Democratic incumbents.
The Senate Democrats who lost their reelection bids on Tuesday all saw their vote shares drop in rural areas.
Six years ago, Sen. Claire (D-Mo.) won 53 counties as she won a second term; on Tuesday, McCaskill won only five counties — around Kansas City, St. Louis and Columbia — and lost her seat to Sen.-elect Josh Hawley (R). Sen. Joe DonnellyJoseph (Joe) Simon DonnellyMidterms: The winners and losersSenate GOP beats expectations with expanded majorityMcConnell thanks Trump as early results favor Senate GOPMORE (D-Ind.) won seven counties along Indiana’s southern border in 2012; this year, he won only one, Vanderburgh County.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who trails state Auditor Matt Rosendale (R) by a tiny margin with votes left to count, improved his performance in Montana’s largest counties, around Missoula and Helena. But he lost by big margins in rural counties from Lincoln, along the Idaho border, to Carter, which borders South Dakota.
The same rural surge doomed Democrats, for a second election in a row, in the pivotal state of Florida. Tallahassee Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum (D) ran ahead of Charlie Crist
Charles (Charlie) Joseph CristEx-lawmaker urges Americans to publicly confront officialsEx-Republican lawmaker: I left GOP over Trump ‘flirtations with misogyny' and 'race-baiting’Ex-Florida lawmaker leaves Republican PartyMORE, the 2014 Democratic gubernatorial nominee, in mega-counties like Miami-Dade and Orange.
But Republicans have improved on both their turnout and overall performance in rural areas for several elections in a row; Gov.-elect Ron DeSantisRonald Dion DeSantisMidterms: The winners and losersThe blue wave ran into Trump’s red wallFive takeaways from a divisive midterm electionMORE (R) ran ahead of Trump’s 2016 performance or Gov. Rick Scott’s (R) 2014 vote share in 13 of 16 counties in the Panhandle.
Where Democrats lost ground in rural areas, they won big in the suburbs. Democrats picked up big chunks of House seats in Minneapolis, southeastern Pennsylvania, Richmond, Va., and New York. The suburban wave even swamped Republicans who had prepared for a tough race, like Reps. John (R-Fla.) and Dan Donovan (R-N.Y.).
America’s urban-rural divide deepens
A deeply divided electorate delivered a split verdict on President Trump’s first two years in office on Tuesday, one that reflects growing chasms along geographic and ideological faults.
On one hand, suburban voters delivered a stern rebuke to an unpopular president, ousting both Republican incumbents who had embraced Trump and those who had sought to distance themselves. Democrats made big gains in Midwestern gubernatorial races, a step in the direction of rebuilding once-favorable political terrain that Trump had claimed.
On the other hand, rural voters stormed to the polls in virtually unprecedented numbers, delivering once again for the president they voted for in 2016 in a handful of critical Senate and gubernatorial elections in ruby red states.
“We’ve got some big schisms out there,” said Rep. Tom ColeE (R-Okla.), who won reelection in an exurban and rural district on Tuesday. “Rural America’s much more Republican than ever before.”
Exit polls showed three-quarters of voters said Americans are becoming more divided.
Trump’s rhetoric in the closing days of the campaign exacerbated those divides, by turns strengthening Republican chances in Senate races where the GOP base turned out and weakening his party’s hopes of keeping the House.
The exit surveys showed Trump was a major factor in Tuesday’s elections. Nearly two-thirds of voters said they cast their ballot for Congress either to support Trump (26 percent) or oppose him (38 percent). More voters said they were casting a ballot to support Trump than oppose him in Senate races in Missouri, Indiana and North Dakota, three states where Republicans beat Democratic incumbents.
The Senate Democrats who lost their reelection bids on Tuesday all saw their vote shares drop in rural areas.
Six years ago, Sen. Claire (D-Mo.) won 53 counties as she won a second term; on Tuesday, McCaskill won only five counties — around Kansas City, St. Louis and Columbia — and lost her seat to Sen.-elect Josh Hawley (R). Sen. Joe DonnellyJoseph (Joe) Simon DonnellyMidterms: The winners and losersSenate GOP beats expectations with expanded majorityMcConnell thanks Trump as early results favor Senate GOPMORE (D-Ind.) won seven counties along Indiana’s southern border in 2012; this year, he won only one, Vanderburgh County.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who trails state Auditor Matt Rosendale (R) by a tiny margin with votes left to count, improved his performance in Montana’s largest counties, around Missoula and Helena. But he lost by big margins in rural counties from Lincoln, along the Idaho border, to Carter, which borders South Dakota.
The same rural surge doomed Democrats, for a second election in a row, in the pivotal state of Florida. Tallahassee Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum (D) ran ahead of Charlie Crist
But Republicans have improved on both their turnout and overall performance in rural areas for several elections in a row; Gov.-elect Ron DeSantisRonald Dion DeSantisMidterms: The winners and losersThe blue wave ran into Trump’s red wallFive takeaways from a divisive midterm electionMORE (R) ran ahead of Trump’s 2016 performance or Gov. Rick Scott’s (R) 2014 vote share in 13 of 16 counties in the Panhandle.
Where Democrats lost ground in rural areas, they won big in the suburbs. Democrats picked up big chunks of House seats in Minneapolis, southeastern Pennsylvania, Richmond, Va., and New York. The suburban wave even swamped Republicans who had prepared for a tough race, like Reps. John (R-Fla.) and Dan Donovan (R-N.Y.).
America’s urban-rural divide deepens