U.S. Midterm Elections: The numbers behind the historic Democrat wave

In what has been described as a “blue tsunami”, the Democratic Party ended unified Republican control of Washington, D.C., recapturing both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the mid-term elections. Riding a wave of discontent with the Donald Trump presidency, Democratic candidates outperformed expectations in both Houses of Congress.

The Democrats flipped Senate seats in seven of the States held by the Republicans — Texas, Ohio, South Carolina, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina and Kansas. The nationwide surge carried Democrats to Senate wins in Republican strongholds such as Texas, Kansas and South Carolina, while races in Alaska and Mississippi remained too close to call. As Chart 3 shows, no Democrat has been elected from most of these States in decades, especially in what is considered a period of sharp polarisation in American politics.