After a long, hard-fought, and often bitter campaign, the
parties battled to a partisan draw. As expected, Democrats took
over the House of Representatives. Democrats also flipped a number
of Governors' mansions, but lost some of their high-profile
targets.
The party in power usually does poorly in midterm elections, but
the Republicans grew their majority in the Senate and stymied any
Democratic hopes of a "blue wave." Looking deeper at the
results, Democrats had their most important victories in suburban
areas, while rural areas continued their trend of getting redder.
This deepening divide will likely only escalate the divisiveness in
Washington.
On a state level, seasoned political observers are closely
watching the realignment of state control and its impact on
congressional redistricting. Democrats lost over 900 state
legislature seats in the past decade after states redrew districts
following the 2010 census. Prior to this election, Republicans
controlled
