Cari Spencer
Editor in Chief
Americans woke up on Nov. 7 to historical results from the midterm elections. Roughly 114 million votes were cast, an impressive increase from the 81 million cast in 2014, according to estimates by The New York Times. More voices hit the polls, and with those voices came changes at the local, state, and federal levels.
Who won in Minnesota?
In the U.S. Senate race, Amy Klobuchar (Dem.) won re-election. She was first elected in 2006. Tina Smith (Dem.) beat out Karin Housley (Rep.), 53 percent to 42.4, in the special election, allowing her to finish serving Al Franken’s term.
As for the U.S. House race, three of the eight Minnesota districts were won by Republicans and five were won by Democrats. In District 3, Dean Phillips (Dem.) beat incumbent Erik Paulsen (Rep.) for the House seat by 12 percent.
Although Jeff Johnson (Rep.) won the Orono High School mock governor election, Tim Walz (Dem.) was elected by the state citizenry. Walz beat Johnson 53.9 percent to 42.4 percent.
Keith Ellison (Dem.) was elected attorney general, defeating Doug Wardlow (Rep.) 48.96 percent to 45.09.
78.2 percent of voters in District 5 voted for Ilhan Omar, resulting in the first Somali-American elected to legislative office. She is one of the two first Muslim women elected to Congress.
What about the rest of the country?
Republicans gained two senate seats, maintaining the red majority in the senate 51 to 46. Democrats, on the other hand, gained 30 seats in the House of Representatives, surpassing the 218 threshold for control of the House. With 225 Democrats and 197 Republicans in the House, the dynamic has shifted. Democrats will now hold committee chairs and have more power to investigate the president.
Sharice Davids (Kansas) and Debra Haaland (New Mexico) became the first Native American women elected to Congress, Marsha Blackburn became the first female senator elected to represent Tennessee and Jared Polis (Colorado) became the first openly gay person elected to governor in America, among other notable firsts.
“The election ended up turning out well, especially because there is at least a small amount of diversity in the three branches of government,” senior Carolyn Fritz said, “but what I was truly amazed by was the voter turnout. People are truly fulfilling their civic duty and it’s amazing. I’m excited to see what the next election holds.”