BU News Service
Americans went to the polls on Tuesday to define what has been an unprecedented midterm election: 39 million ballots were casted in early voting and in 28 states and Washington D.C., early voting exceeded the number reached in the previous midterm.
Both Democrats and Republicans rushed to the polls in what has been defined as an identity politics election. Polarization under the Trump administration has raised the stakes of this year’s midterm.
Democrats have taken all 24 seats needed to obtain a majority in the House of Representatives.
Gubernatorial key races
In Massachusetts, incumbent Republican Gov. Charlie Baker was reelected with 68 percent of the vote, a 36 point lead over Democratic challenger Jay González.
In a very contested gubernatorial race in Florida, Republican Ron DeSantis won with 49.9 percent of the vote, defeating Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate. This was one of the key and most contested races in the midterm elections, too close to call until over 99 percent of precincts reported results.
U.S Senate key races,
In the Indiana’s Senate race, Mike Braun (R) defeated Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly with a 54 percent victory.
In Texas, Ted Cruz (R) held to his seat in the U.S. Senate, carrying 51 percent of the vote, a close lead against his challenger Beto O’Rourke (D).
In Massachusetts, Sen. Elizabeth Warren kept her seat with 60 percent of the vote, a 23 point victory over her Republican challenger, Geoff Diehl, who got 36.6 percent of the vote.
U.S House of Representatives’ key races.
In Florida’s 27th Congressional District, Democratic candidate Donna Shalala defeated Republican Maria Elvira Salazar, picking up a House of Representatives’ seat that had been under Republican control for the past 30 years.
Shalala, who served as the secretary of health and human services under the Clinton administration and later lead the Clinton Foundation, clinched a victory with 52 percent of the vote.
Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District was closely fought by Ilham Omar (D) and Jennifer Zielinski (R). Omar carried the victory for Democrats with 78.5 percent of the vote.
In Texas, Democrat Collin Allred carried the 32nd Congressional District with 52 percent of the vote, defeating incumbent Republican Pete Sessions.
