Description: Monday Memo banner logo
The last two weeks have been a lot in politics. Here’s your bi-weekly update, starting with an overview of the outcome of the midterm elections.
Midterm Election Results Breakdown
Description: The U.S. Capitol Building.
Photo Credit: Architect of the Capitol / Wikimedia Commons
The midterm elections happened on Tuesday. Here’s breakdown of the results and overall trends.
Trends
The 2018 midterm elections turned out to be the costliest Congressional elections in history, with Democrats tending to outraise the Republicans.
Voter turnout was the highest it has been for midterm elections in about half a century, especially among women, Latinos and young people.
Senate
Republicans were able to maintain control of the Senate, winning 51 seats to the Democrats’ 46. Three races have not yet been called.
The race in Florida between Sen. Bill Nelson (D) and current governor Rick Scott (R) is headed for a recount, and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) and Democrat Mike Espy will face off again in a runoff election on Nov. 27 in Mississippi.
The Senate race between Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Martha McSally has been too close to call, although Synema has pulled ahead with 99% of precincts reporting.
The high profile race between Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke galvanized the highest increase in voter turnout since the 2014 midterm elections, but Cruz was able to maintain his incumbency, winning with a margin of 2.6% the vote.
Democrats ended up with a net loss of 2 seats, losing seats in North Dakota, Missouri, and Indiana, and gaining a seat in Nevada. The Democrats faced a challenging map, having to defend 26 seats to the Republican’s 9.
House of Representatives
Democrats were able to gain the majority on the house and have so far gained 32 seats. 10 races are still undecided according to the New York Times.
A historic number of women and people of color were elected, including the first Native American and Muslim women elected to Congress.
Republicans no longer hold any seats in urban districts, highlighting geographic polarization.
Governor & State Elections
The highly anticipated Florida Governor race between Trump-endorsed Ron DeSantis and progressive Democrat Andrew Gillum is headed to a recount, with Gillum currently trailing DeSantis by 33,684 votes (0.4%).
Republican Brian Kemp currently leads Democrat Stacey Abrams (who has yet to concede) in the controversial Georgia governor race. Kemp currently leads with 50.3% of the vote, but if that percentage drops below 50% the race will automatically head to a runoff election in December.
In statewide elections, Democrats were able to gain hundreds of seats that Republicans had swept in the 2010 and 2014 elections.
Stanford in the Midterms
Many Stanford incumbents maintained their seats in Congress, including two senators (Sen. Dianne Feinstein ’55 (D-CA) and Tina Smith ’80 (D-MN) ), and at least seven in the House of Representatives.
Josh Hawley ‘02 (R-MO) unseated incumbent Claire McCaskill in one of the most expensive Senate races in history, and Democrat Mike Levin ‘01 flipped California’s 49th Congressional district (which had been previously held by Republican Darrell Issa).
SCR Invites Dinesh D’Souza to Campus
Description: Dinesh D’Souza speaking at the CPAC in 2012.
Photo Credit: Mark Taylor / Wikimedia Commons
Stanford College Republicans submitted a grant application to bring far-right author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza to speak on campus. D’Souza, a former fellow at the Hoover Institution, is known for promoting conservative conspiracy theories. In a piece for the Stanford Review, SCR defended their decision to invite him to campus, saying “While we may not agree with every argument D’Souza makes, his deconstruction of Progressivism makes him more than worthy of our invitation.” Currently, there are two petitions circulating in opposition to the event, as well as several students who believe that the move to invite D’Souza condones anti-Semitism. SCR intends to host D’Souza this winter.
Stanford Stands with Harvard on Admissions Case
Description: Elizabeth Cary Agassiz House at Harvard University.
Photo Credit: Daderot / Wikimedia Commons
Along with 15 other universities including all of the Ivy Leagues, Stanford filed an amicus brief supporting Harvard in the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard case concerning discrimination against Asian Americans in admissions. Stanford and the other universities underscore the importance of race-conscious admissions in the brief, saying that it contributes to creating a diverse student body and richer learning environment. In the brief, the filers say that holistic review of applicants must include race, as “it is artificial to consider an applicant’s experiences and perspectives while turning a blind eye to race. For many applicants their race has influenced, and will continue to influence, their experiences and perspectives.”
Fountain Hopper editor-in-chief ousted from role by predecessor (Ingram / Stanford Daily)
According to the Stanford Daily, last month, former editor-in-chief of the anonymous investigative newsletter the FoHo was removed from his role by last year’s editor-in-chief and current alumnus, Emma Johanningsmeier ‘18, over differences about the purpose of the publication. In a statement to the Daily, Johanningsmeier said:
“He was irrationally afraid of getting sued, and afraid of offending people. [His removal was] not because of any specific decisions he made that I disagreed with.”
Johanningsmeier has since appointed a new editor-in-chief and will continue to be involved with the publication.
Podcast with Congresswoman Anna Eschoo
The Stanford Politics Podcast team sat down with Congresswoman Anna Eschoo from California's 18th Congressional District to talk midterm elections, the Kavanaugh hearing, and what’s to come for California. On her own role in Congress, Eschoo said:
“I have the privilege of representing the most distinguished congressional district in the country. It is the home of innovation for our nation. There is so much that comes out of our district that people of our country and certainly the people of our world benefit from… it’s a wonderful challenge, it’s a delicious challenge to represent these people.”
Click the link above to listen to the rest.
And In Case You Missed It…
Caltrain evacuated due to bomb scare (Harrison Bronfeld / Stanford Politics)
Bay Area locals march in protest of Jeff Sessions’ dismissal (Berber Jin / Stanford Daily)
Students rally in opposition to HHS memo (Evan Peng / Stanford Daily)
Stanford Political Science students speak on the Midterm Elections (Nicole Wesson / Stanford Daily)
Fewer children killed by guns in states with strict gun laws, study finds (Lisa M. Krieger / Chicago Tribune)
Governor Brown discusses what’s next for California (Coca, Lee / Stanford Daily)
Senate discusses Cardinal Conversations alternative (Zora Ilunga-Reed / Stanford Daily)
The Palestinians’ Worst Enemy Is Their Own Leaders (Former SP Senior Editor Elliot Kaufman / Wall Street Journal)
The Caravan of Honduran Migrants Reveals the Failures of Deterrent Immigration Policy (Former SP Staff Writer Jack Herrera / Pacific Standard)
Please forward widely!
Forward this newsletter to new students so that they can subscribe to the Monday Memo and stay informed. Similarly, if you are not yet subscribed, you can do so here. Thanks for reading!
Corrections:
(1) Today’s memo originally incorrectly stated that former FoHo editor-in-chief Emma Johanningsmeier was in the class of ’16, but she is in fact in the class of ’18. This post has been updated to reflect this.
(2) The memo also incorrectly reported that the Florida Governor race was headed to a runoff, when it is in fact headed to a recount.