Municipal Election Records
by: Kaylynn O'Curran
Yesterday was November 6th, 2018, a day some would say is the most important election to happen. Yesterday people went to their nearest polling location and casted their ballots. They voted for their values and for their futures. Some said the people who voted kept in mind whether they liked the President or not.
Today we hear the results; the results of people marching, of people knocking on countless doors, and of people rallying.
Midterms are commonly known to have a lower turnout than Presidential elections. However that does not mean the midterm election is any less important. This midterm many seats were up for reelection including all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, one-third of all U.S. senators, thirty-six state governors, and countless other local seats. Luckily this election was one for the books.
The Election Project estimates that about 40 million Americans are expected to have voted this election, which would be a huge increase from the 27.2 million who voted in the 2014 midterm election. There was also a huge turnout of early voters in key states such as Arizona and Florida. Along with the numbers of voters, the number of candidates running were also at a record high. There were more women and LGBTQ+ candidates running than ever before. According to the Washington Post, 277 female candidates ran for Congress and governor and as of this morning 117 of them have won the midterms. The amount of women in Congress before last night was 106 (a record number) but this election is predicted to exceed that number by a lot.
There are of course notable women to recognize. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (of New York’s 14th congressional district), at the age of 29, is the youngest person to be elected to Congress. The first ever Native American women were also elected to Congress, Deb Haaland, of New Mexico’s 1st congressional district, and Sharice Davids, of Kansas’s 3rd congressional district. Haaland won with 54% of votes compared to her opponents 36%. Davids, who identifies as lesbian, is the first openly LGBTQ+ member of Congress in Kansas. The first two Muslim women elected to Congress reside in the Midwest. Rashida Tlaib, of Michigan’s 13th congressional district, dominated with 85% of votes in her favor. Ilhan Omar also had a staggering win in Minnesota’s 5th congressional district with 78% of votes in her favor.
This election, my first election being able to vote, was a record-breaker. With millions storming the polls to vote for the large group of candidates, this country’s government is slowly beginning to represent the diverse population we have.