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TODAYS TOP HEADLINES
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Wednesday, November 7, 2018 3A
Democrats gain in quest for House
control but GOP retains Senate
DANIEL SANGJIB MIN I Associated Press
Voters cast their ballots at Robious Elementary School in Chesterfield, Va., on Tuesday,
November 6.
BY STEVE PEOPLES,
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Demo
crats were gaining signifi
cant ground in the battle for
House control Tuesday night,
while Republicans held their
Senate majority as voters
rendered a mixed verdict in
the first nationwide election
of Donald Trump’s turbulent
presidency.
The results allowed both
parties to claim partial vic
tory, but highlighted an
extraordinary realignment
of U.S. voters by race, sex
and education. Republicans
maintained their strength
in conservative, rural states,
while Democrats made
inroads across America’s
suburbs.
With control of Congress,
statehouses and the presi
dent’s agenda at stake, some
of the nation’s top elections
were too close to call.
Yet Democrats’ dreams of
the Senate majority as part
of a “blue wave” were shat
tered after losses in Indiana,
Tennessee, North Dakota
and Texas. They also suf
fered a stinging loss in Flor
ida, where Trump-backed
Republican Ron DeSantis
ended Democrat Andrew
Gillum’s bid to become the
state’s first African-Ameri
can governor.
In the broader fight for
control in the Trump era, the
political and practical stakes
on Tuesday were sky high.
Democrats could derail
Trump’s legislative agenda
for the next two years should
they win control of the
House. And they would claim
subpoena power to investi
gate Trump’s personal and
professional shortcomings.
Some Democrats have
already vowed to force the
release of his tax returns.
Others have pledged to pur
sue impeachment, although
removal from office is
unlikely so long as the GOP
controls the Senate.
Democrats won half the
seats they needed to claim
House control with dozens
additional competitive con
tests remaining. Victories
in contested races across
Florida, New York, Virginia,
Pennsylvania and Minne
sota gave them cause for
optimism.
Trump sought to take
credit for retaining the
GOP’s Senate majority, even
as the party’s foothold in the
more competitive House
battlefield appeared to be
slipping.
“Tremendous success
tonight. Thank you to all!”
Trump tweeted.
History was working
against the president in the
Senate: 2002 was the only
midterm election in the
past three decades when
the party holding the White
House gained Senate seats.
Nearly 40 percent of
voters cast their ballots to
express opposition to the
president, according to AP
VoteCast, the national sur
vey of the electorate, while
one-in-four said they voted to
express support for Trump.
Overall, 6 in 10 voters said
the country was headed in
the wrong direction, but
roughly that same num
ber described the national
economy as excellent or
good. Twenty-five percent
described health care and
immigration as the most
important issues in the
election.
Nearly two-thirds said
Trump was a reason for their
vote.
Trump encouraged voters
to view the first nationwide
election of his presidency as
a referendum on his leader
ship, pointing proudly to the
surging economy at recent
rallies.
He bet big on a xenophobic
closing message, warning of
an immigrant “invasion”
that promised to spread vio
lent crime and drugs across
the nation. Several television
networks, including the pres
ident’s favorite Fox News
Channel, yanked a Trump
campaign advertisement
off the air on the eve of the
election, determining that
its portrayal of a murderous
immigrant went too far.
The president’s current j ob
approval, set at 40 percent
by Gallup, was the lowest at
this point of any first-term
president in the modern era.
Both Barack Obama’s and
Bill Clinton’s numbers were
5 points higher, and both suf
fered major midterm losses
of 63 and 54 House seats
respectively.
Democrats, whose very
relevance in the Trump era
depended on winning at least
one chamber of Congress,
were laser-focused on health
care as they predicted victo
ries that would break up the
GOP’s monopoly in Washing
ton and state governments.
Yet Trump’s party will
maintain Senate control for
the next two years, at least.
In Texas, Sen Ted Cruz
staved off a tough chal
lenge from Democrat Beto
O’Rourke, whose record-
smashing fundraising and
celebrity have set off buzz
he could be a credible 2020
White House contender.
In Indiana, Trump-backed
businessman Mike Braun
defeated Democratic incum
bent Joe Donnelly. And in
Tennessee, Congresswoman
Marsha Blackburn defeated
former Gov. Phil Bredesen, a
top Democratic recruit.
In the leadup to the elec
tion, Republicans privately
expressed confidence in
their narrow Senate majority
but feared the House could
slip away. The GOP’s grip on
high-profile governorships in
Georgia and Wisconsin were
at risk as well.
Cruz fends off O’Rourke in Texas
BY WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press
EL PASO, Texas —
Sen. Ted Cruz fended off
a spirited underdog chal
lenge from Democrat Beto
O’Rourke to win re-election
on Tuesday in a Texas race
that once seemed like a
cakewalk but needed a late
boost from President Don
ald Trump to help push the
incumbent over the top.
Cruz began as the pro
hibitive favorite after his
surprisingly successful
2016 presidential run, but
he suddenly found himself
in a tough contest against
O’Rourke, a little-known
El Paso congressman and
one-time punk rocker who
became a national politi
cal sensation and shattered
fundraising records despite
shunning donations from
outside political groups and
pollster advice.
Cruz turned back
O’Rourke with the help of
Trump, his bitter rival in
2016. Trump took the unex
pected step of traveling to
reliably Republican Texas
during crunch time, staging a
Houston rally to energize his
base for Cruz just two weeks
before Election Day. The
president praised the sena
tor as “beautiful” and smart,
a far cry from two years ago
when he repeatedly mocked
Cruz as “Lyin’ Ted,” made
fun of his wife’s appearance
and suggested that Cruz’s
Cuban-born father had a
hand in the assassination
of John F. Kennedy. With
the win, Cruz kept alive his
hopes of mounting a second
presidential run once Trump
leaves the White House.
O’Rourke grabbed glowing
national headlines by visiting
all 254 Texas counties and
often drawing large crowds
— even in fiercely conserva
tive areas other Democrats
had long since written off.
He raked in donations from
across the country and even
set a new record for Senate
campaign fundraising by col
lecting more than $38 million
in the three-month period
from July through Septem
ber alone. All told, he raised
a whopping amount — more
than $70 million.
Cruz had the support of
outside groups but was still
being outraised 3-to-l by the
end of the race — a discrep
ancy he dismissed by saying
the “hard left” was energized
by outrage at Trump and
“Texas will not be bought.”
“It’s the time for choosing.
It’s the time for action. We
know that the hard-left right
now, they’re angry. They’re
energized,” Cruz said Mon
day. “They’re filled with
rage and hatred for the presi
dent. And that’s dangerous. ”
For months, Cruz refused
to entertain the notion that
he’d lose, saying there are
more Republicans in Texas
than Democrats, so all he
had to do to win was avoid
conservative complacency.
He also said O’Rourke’s sup
port for impeaching Trump,
relaxing federal immigration
policy, decriminalizing mari
juana and implementing uni
versal health care were too
liberal for even many of the
state’s moderate Democrats
and independents.
TOM FOX I Associated Press
Texas U.S. Senate candidates in the November election from
left, incumbent GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, left, and Democratic
U.S. Representative Beto O’Rourke.
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GOP’s DeSantis defeats
Gillum in Florida
governor’s race
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.-
Former Republican U.S.
Rep. Ron DeSantis was
elected Florida governor
Tuesday, riding the support
of President Donald Trump
to victory.
DeSantis, 40, was consid
ered an underdog before
Trump tweeted his support
for DeSantis in December, a
month before he got into the
race. Trump campaigned to
help push DeSantis to a pri
mary victory in August and
came to Florida two more
times to propel him past
Democratic Tallahassee
Mayor Andrew Gillum.
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