By Felipe Sanchez @ Shutterstock.com
There were plenty of losers, not so many winners.
For those taking the time to examine closely the data from the 2022 election the major lesson is that it was a historically close election in a historically divided era. The WSJ reports in “Notable & Quotable:”
This is apparently the first time since the popular election of senators (1914) when neither party will hold more than 52% of governorships, House seats or Senate seats.
Harry Enten from CNN:
An examination of the data reveals that 2022 was a historically close election in a historically divided era. . . . Post-election, neither party dominates. Republicans have maintained the thinnest majority of governorships (52%) and House seats (51%). Democrats will control the Senate with a bare majority (51% of the seats).
It’s not unusual for any one of these (governorships, House seats or Senate seats) to be narrowly split. After all, we’ve just had two years in which each party has held 50 Senate seats.
What is unusual is to have all three be so closely divided. By my count, this is apparently the first time since the popular election of senators (1914) when neither party will hold more than 52% of governorships, House seats or Senate seats. . . .We have not had a presidential election in which the popular vote was decided by double-digits since 1984. This streak of single-digit elections is the longest since most states began popularly electing presidents in the 1820s.
