Americans can finally breathe a sigh of relief, now that the 2022 mid-term elections have ended (mostly). Most of us will enjoy about a week free of political advertisements on every medium in which in indulge. So what happened, and why does it matter? In my view, not a whole lot happened that I didn’t already expect.
First, so-called “elections deniers,” according to the Washington Post were on ballots in 48 of 50 states, and accounted for more than half of all Republican candidates for congressional and state offices. These fanatical followers of Donald Trump refuse(d) to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election. Many even gathered at the Nation’s Capital on January 6, 2021, in what many democratic lawmakers and mainstream media outlets have dubbed an “insurrection.” One of these rioters, Ashli Babbitt, a United States Air Force veteran, was killed by Capitol Police as she and others attempted to breach the chambers of the House of Representatives. Additionally, three Capitol Police Officers died, two by suicide, in the days following the event.
Ultimately, the “deniers” including Donald Trump himself, failed to change the outcome of the 2020 Presidential Election, and Joe Biden was sworn in as President of the United States.
Fast forward to 2022 and these deniers are now running for various offices throughout the United States, and many of them have direct support from the mean Tweeter himself. I thought from the beginning, that in many areas of the country support from and expressed approval of Donald Trump could be detrimental to many races. One such race happened here in New Mexico. Yvette Herrell, a Republican incumbent, and an election denier is vying to hold onto New Mexico’s southern congressional district. There should be more controversy surrounding this race after a redrawing of New Mexico’s congressional districts vastly changed the landscape and stacked the cards in favor of Democratic candidates. The new districts removed a significant area of conservative-leaning voters from Herrell’s District 3 and replaced it with an area of historically liberal-leaning voters. The loss of liberal voters and replacement with conservative voters, in District 1 is far less significant and unlikely to ever change the outcome of an election in that district. As of this writing, the race for Congressional District 3 in New Mexico has yet to be called, with Herrell’s challenger, Gabriel Vasquez, leading Herrell by just over 1,200 votes with 98% of precincts reporting.
Ultimately, it appears that Republicans are poised to take back control in the House of Representatives according to FiveThirtyEight. It’s hard to say what will happen in the United States Senate, as a pivotal Georgia senate race is likely to end in a run-off election later this year, and will likely determine which party (if any) gets control of the chamber.
For now, enjoy the freedom from awful political ads for at least a few days. With news that Donald Trump is likely to announce his run for the Presidency in 2024 early next week. If Donald Trump is the best candidate that the so-called “Grand Ole Party” can muster up, they are doomed to continue losing support from moderate conservatives in the foreseeable future.
