As the midterm election draws ever closer, the country is looking at a massive “red wave” next week. It’s possible that even seats in deep blue states are vulnerable, as American’s concerns on inflation have seemingly been largely ignored by the party in power.
In generally every midterm election, the party in power loses seats. How many seats they lose is a reflection on how well citizens believe that the country and, more specifically, the president is doing to address the issues of the day.
But if the latest polls are any indication, the Democrats are going to have a rough night on November 8.
Most polls indicate that seats that were “Lean D” or “Toss-UP” are generally moving more towards Republicans. In order to try and stop the bleeding, Democrats are “scrambling” to do a last minute push to support candidates in districts that were successfully carried by President Biden in 2020.
One of those races is Senator Patti Murray in Washington state, which has always been a mostly hardcore blue state and where the 5-term politician has hardly met with a challenger. Now, the latest Trafalgar Group poll shows her Republican competitor Tiffany Smiley trailing just one percentage point at 48-49.
Some analysts have even posited that the “red wave” could actually be more like a “red tsunami.”
Douglas E. Schoen, an opinion contributor for The Hill, said, “Based on current trends, Republicans will likely gain between 30 to 35 House seats, and come away with a one or two-seat advantage in the Senate. This outcome would flip both chambers of Congress to GOP control, but wouldn’t necessarily rise to the 1994 or 2010 levels, when Democrats lost 53 and 63 House seats, respectively.”
Two of the most watched state races are in Georgia, where Republicans will likely retain the governorship and perhaps gain a Senate seat.
Part of the reason is the lack of “Zuckbucks” available to use this election cycle in Georgia.
Named after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, “Zuckbucks” were distributed by the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) in 2020, under the guise of helping communities manage the pandemic restrictions during the election.
The organization usually resulted in high Democrat voter turnout even in North Carolina, according to the research of the John Locke Foundation’s Dr. Andy Jackson.
In response to the influence of “Zuckbucks”, Georgia signed SB 202 into law, which “prohibits Georgia election officials from accepting private election funding.” CTCL pumped about $45 million into Georgia and its deep blue counties in 2020, which may have helped push Democrat Senator Raphael Warnock over the edge in the state’s runoff election.
Now, it seems like without that extra funding, the state’s Republican candidates may pull ahead in the race. However, a huge reason for this upcoming “red wave” is the economy.
The latest Civitas Poll showed that inflation remained a “primary issue” for about 65% of voters.
Addressing the issue of inflation has been challenging for the Democrats and may be an impetus for a shellacking next week.
