| | | | On Thursday, Democrat Jared Golden beat Maine Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin, marking the 33rd seat pickup for Democrats in the 2018 election.
There are seven races in the House left uncalled -- all are Republican-held seats; Democrats lead in five of the seven. If they win all the races where their candidates are winning at the moment, Democrats will net 38 seats. If they lose them all -- which is very unlikely -- they will hold at a 33-seat gain.
In an interview Wednesday with the conservative Daily Caller website, President Donald Trump insisted that by his aggressive last-minute campaigning across the country he had saved House Republicans from seat losses that could have numbered into the 70s. "I think I did very well," he concluded.
So did he? As compared to history?
Not really, is the answer.
There's no question that Trump did not suffer the massive seat loss that his immediate predecessor -- Barack Obama -- did in his first midterm election in 2010. In that election, Republicans netted an astounding 63-seat gain, the largest since Democrats lost 72 House seats in the 1938 midterms.
But more broadly, the 33 seat loss (at least) by Republicans in 2018 places this election firmly in the upper echelon of House-seat losses by a president's party in modern midterms.
Since Watergate, the president's party has lost more than 33 seats three times: 2010 (63 seats), 1994 (54) and 1974 (48). In that same time frame, the president's party has lost fewer than 33 seats eight times: 2014 (13), 2006 (30), 2002 (president's party won eight seats), 1998 (president's party won five seats), 1990 (eight), 1986 (five), 1982 (26) and 1978 (15).
The Point: It's fair to say the 2018 election wasn't a complete and total disaster for Republicans, but it was far from a nothing burger either. If 1 is calm political waters and 10 is a tsunami, I think the 2018 election is rightly described between 7.5-8.5.
-- Chris
| | "The fact is, I've done a lot. I could -- goodbye! Goodbye everybody!"
-- President Donald Trump jokingly said while waving during remarks at a White House event on Thursday. H/T Maegan Vazquez and Liz Stark. | | | | A federal judge denied a motion for an injunction to remove the state's deadlines for machine and manual vote recounts. From CNN's Matthew Hilk: The campaign of Sen. Bill Nelson and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee argued that both deadlines should be lifted for however long is determined necessary to allow all counties to finish these counts.
The ruling appeared most relevant to Palm Beach County, which appeared to be the only county in jeopardy of missing today's 3 p.m. deadline (which it did).
CNN's Gregory Krieg and Daniella Diaz report that voting machines have been used by election boards in every state county this week to recount ballots, with three statewide races still within the .5% margin required for a statewide machine recount.
The Florida races that still haven't been called include: - Senate: Sen. Bill Nelson (D) vs. Gov. Rick Scott (R)
- Governor: Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D) vs. former Rep. Ron DeSantis (R)
- Agriculture commissioner: Matt Caldwell (R) vs. Nikki Fried (D)
| |  | Here's why Nancy Pelosi will be speaker - again | | | California Rep. Nancy Pelosi is facing some pushback from her fellow Democrats over her bid to be the next speaker of the House. Chris looks at why (despite the naysayers) she'll be speaker — again. | | On Wednesday, President Trump tried to make the case for voter ID laws by saying that shoppers must show identification to purchase cereal.
"The disgrace is that, voter ID. If you buy, you know, a box of cereal, if you do anything, you have a voter ID," Trump reportedly told the conservative news website the Daily Caller.
CNN's Maegan Vazquez reports that election researchers and experts around the country who spoke to CNN ahead of the midterm elections all agreed that there is zero evidence of widespread voter fraud, whether by citizens or noncitizens.
But what exactly do voter ID laws have to do with purchasing breakfast? Read Vazquez's breakdown of the claim here. | | The United States has announced new sanctions against 17 individuals who were allegedly involved in the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
CNN's Donna Borak and Nicole Gaouette write: "The fresh sanctions from the Treasury Department came hours after Saudi prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty for five people charged in the death of Khashoggi." Read more here. | |  Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Beto O'Rourke -- who just last week were vying for Cruz's Senate seat -- posed for a photo together after running into each other at a Texas airport.
Tiffany Easter, who posed in photos with the two men, posted on Facebook and Twitter that "Beto noticed Ted sitting down and walked over to congratulate him on his re-election and campaign."
"It was the first time they had seen each other since the election and the entire conversation was both of them talking about how they could move forward TOGETHER," Easter wrote on Facebook. | |  | | From Brenna: "You, letting your friends in on the secret that is The Point." Thanks for reading. Tell people you know to subscribe to The Point. | | | | | | |
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