As the beginning of the new year kicks off, so does midterm election season for the new congress seats, where the projected election numbers tremendously miscalculated who was actually voted in.
As the election approached, it was projected that republicans would take control in both the House of Representative and the Senate by large majorities, due to democratic president Joe Biden’s low approval rating.
However the election showed only a 5 person majority in the House of Representatives and a majority in the senate with republicans taking an even 50 seats, democrats having only 48 seats, and there being 2 independent seats on the floor.
This low turnout rate for republicans can be attributed to the parties political strategy and topics like abortion when Supreme Court Justices nominated by republican presidents overturned Roe v. Wade in mid 2022.
Nearly 27 percent of voters in this election stated that abortion was the most important issue to them when it came to deciding on who to vote for this time around.
A good portion of republican voters are middle class women, and this large action against abortion has caused a shown change in support from women to the party. Where a majority of women don’t want these types of limitations on what they can and can’t do with their bodies, causing many usually republican leaning women voters to swing democratic for this midterm election.
Republicans have time and time again shown a lack of leniency when it comes to many dividing issues, abortion being one of the more recent ones. This proven unwillingness to propose policies that provide limitations rather than just set bans is leading them to a demise and causing the party to be viewed in a radical light.
Leading up to this election republicans made the mistake of banking on the idea that the low approval rating of Biden and the projected numbers for the republicans caused them to be lax with their political strategy and campaigns.
Republicans counted on issues like inflation rates and increasing gas prices to give them way larger a winning lead than they actually got.
Republicans also took the issue of increased crime rates and ran with their theory that because it is an issue on the democratic party then it will give them a ahead in the election.
Banking on the idea that because the democratic party also has issues voters don’t want to support, then they will get more votes is an idea that has proven to be unsuccessful for republicans because there are also weaknesses within their own party.
Republicans have recently shown a tendency to double down and become rapidly more defensive when it comes to their own parties issues, leaving people who were on the fence during an election to vote the other way.
This lack of trying and instead assumption of a large leading win for the party has caused lower turnout for the party than anticipated and has caused generally republican leaning voters to sway democratic in these current elections. The republican party needs to be more conscious in its moves, doubling down on issues that the majority of voters disagree with will continue to hurt them.
