Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1071930
palletcentral.com PalletCentral • November-December 2018 29 Republicans left 38 seats open, the largest number of retirements since 2008 when they lost 21 seats in the House, and also saw the hierarchy of their leadership step aside; the House Speaker and nine House committee chairmen headed for the exits. All of this was a major blow to GOP fundraising. Republicans were outraised by approximately 80 million dollars in tight congressional races. Democrats had better numbers across the board in terms of candidates, money and polling, and the results showed up on election day. But the Senate is different electorally. House races have become more nationalized, parliamentary in nature. Senate seats are almost like mini-presidential elections. Candidate and campaign quality matters more. Republicans recruited quality candidates such as Rick Scott in Florida, Josh Hawley in Missouri and Kevin Cramer in North Dakota who were able to defeat incumbent Democrats. Republicans also benefited from a great Senate Map cycle. Only a third of the Senate is up every three years. Democrats were defending seats picked up in Republican states in 2012 when President Obama was re-elected and Republicans ran weak and had ineffective candidates. In fact, Democrats were defending 26 seats while Republicans were only defending eight, and 11 of those 26 seats were in states President Trump won in 2016 – six in states he won by more than 18 percentage points. Advantage GOP. This is why commentators differ on the meaning of these elections. Some look at the massive losses that Democrats suffered in 1994 and 2010 and say that the GOP losing several fewer seats was a win. Others look at the House losses and Republicans failure to gain more Senate seats given their extraordinary advantage with the 2018 map and claim their suburban losses and inability to win races in places like Montana, West Virginia and Arizona, spell political disaster. The truth lies in the middle. Republicans lost so many House seats because they were routed in the suburbs. In Virginia for example, the GOP lost well regarded House incumbents in the well-educated, wealthy suburbs of Northern Virginia, Richmond and Virginia Beach. Republicans no longer hold the three major "suburban" congressional districts in this key swing state – which is arguably no longer a swing state at all. Yet Democrats failed to take advantage in the Senate because they are losing by big margins in rural areas in large but less populated states. House races have become more nationalized, parliamentar y in nature. Senate seats are almost like mini-presidential elections. Candidate and campaign quality matters more. iStockphoto.com/fstockfoto