This blog is for students in Ms. Aby-Keirstead's AP US Government class in Bloomington, MN. It is for students to post their thoughts on current events and governmental affairs. Students should be respectful & think of this forum as an extension of their classroom. The instructor has the same expectations for classroom discussion & blog posts. These posts will be graded for both their academic merit & for their appropriateness.
What do you think the results of the midterm elections on November 6th mean? What is their significance nationally and in MN?
Labels: Congress, divided government, midterm elections, parties
posted by Ms. Aby @ 7:11 PM
This blog is for students in Ms. Aby-Keirstead's AP US Government class in Bloomington, MN. It is for students to post their thoughts on current events and governmental affairs. Students should be respectful & think of this forum as an extension of their classroom. The instructor has the same expectations for classroom discussion & blog posts. These posts will be graded for both their academic merit & for their appropriateness.
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I believe that the midterm results will have significant impact in multiple areas of the nation. First of all, the Democrats taking the House of Representatives will greatly affect the nation's economy. According to CBS (1), the White House wants to impose tariffs and new trade agreements that will need Congressional approval which may prove difficult with an opposing party controlling the House. Also, Trump's proposed tax cuts and spending will be challenged. Secondly, there were several new "firsts" in Congress including 2 Somalian women and an LGBT person being elected (2). As a result of the election, this will empower these groups and encourage more people like them to participate in federal government. This will lead to a more accurate representation of America and its diverse populations. Lastly, the results will affect Trump's foreign policy (3). As a result of an opposing party taking the House, Trump will face more resistance when he wants to interact in certain ways with other countries.
(1)https://www.cbsnews.com/news/midterm-elections-2018-how-race-results-could-affect-the-economy/
(2)http://www.startribune.com/from-donning-a-hijab-on-capitol-hill-to-lgbt-representation-a-look-at-minnesota-s-firsts-this-election/499975641/
(3)https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/02/three-ways-the-us-midterm-elections-will-affect-world-politics.html
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I believe the midterm election results will have a significant impact in the actions that happen in Congress regarding laws and administration. As Congress is now split with the recent victory of the Democrats taking the House of Representatives, they will have the ability to touch on topics of Trump's administration, foreign policies, and immigration. According to the Guardian, it states that the Democrats will now have the ability to investigate Trump and gives subpoenas to Trump's administration regarding his tax returns(1). This can greatly affect who will be in his administration and his ratings could go down even more. Secondly, according to CNBC, it will be harder for Trump to flow foreign policies (2). This will make things more difficult for Trump when he wants to interact with other countries. Lastly, according to Huffington Post, Democrats will now have the ability to serve as a check against Trump's immigration policy efforts (3). This is good for people who oppose his policies as Democrats will be able to slow down the process. As that being said, since Democrats has taken control over the House of Representatives, the process of passing laws and policies that favor Trump's ideals will be shut out. Furthermore, the significance of the midterm election results has portrayed nationally and in MN has been a greater voter turnout for women and a greater diversity as MN has elected the first Somali-American into Congress. The 2018 midterm election results has been one of the most exciting midterms as it will affect everyone in the United States on how the country will run.
(1): https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/06/midterm-elections-2018-what-we-know-so-far
(2): https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/02/three-ways-the-us-midterm-elections-will-affect-world-politics.html
(3): https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democrats-house-immigration_us_5be2ec2fe4b0e84388924c3d
I believe that the results of the Midterm votes are going to reshape what happens in congress and the whole country. (1) States that a huge chunk of 2021's redistricting will actually be determined by this years midterm elections. Since so much changing has happened and seems like the places that were once Republican have changed, also vice versa for the Democrats.The next redistricting won’t start until after the 2020 election. But crucially, many of the state politicians who will be in office for that redistricting will have been elected to four-year terms in 2018.(2) Health care is going to be put on a halt because the republics have to plan their next move. So getting rid of Obamacare isn't their top issue.(3) We voted and 2 Muslims and an LGBT women and many others. This is history breaking, which means that as the years follow we should be able to see more outcomes like this.
(1) https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/2/16795804/elections-2018-midterms-consequences
(2) https://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-ways-the-midterm-election-results-will-affect-your-health-care-2018-11-07
(3)https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/midterm-election-results-us-makes-firsts-as-voters-elect-first-muslim-women-and-openly-gay-man-in-a3982816.html
I believe that the 2018 Midterm Election results will reshape and impact the works of Congress and administration because the Democratic party has won the House. The significance nationally is that there are many different/diverse people who have won jobs, which means we now have more voices of different views that we never had before. Since the Democrats took over the house, there will be laws or sayings that are potentially beneficial for the people all over America, especially for the minority groups that have built what we call America. The significance in Minnesota is that we has the first Muslim lady to win a position and the state has a history of always voting for the Democrat party. In the first article "A Week After the election, Democratic Gains Grow Stronger", the Democratic party within the House has grown into a stronger party because "The party has gained 32 seats so far and appears on track to gain between 35 and 40 once all the counting is complete". This means that the House has a Democratic Majority, and they didn't lose as many seats in the Senate as they thought they were going to. Health care was especially an important topic that won people over than the topic of racial division because now they have margin groups such as young people and immigrants. In the second article "Minnesota's Somali Muslim community impact midterm election results", the Democratic party defintely won over the Somali Muslim community withe the win of Ilhan Omar "who will be one of the first Muslim women to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives'. They got out and voted which impacts Minnesota because we are always #1 to do the right thing. The more diverse the leader is, the more the democracy is inclusive. In the last article "Weak Spots in Democrats' Strong Midterm Results Points to Challenges in 2020", although they losing counties that they wanted support from, they are also winning counties which were heavily Republican. It says that "Democrats didn’t have a particularly good showing in Orange or Osceola Counties, where growth among the Puerto Rican population was supposed to propel the party to statewide success" but I think in 2020 the Latino community will try to do their best even when the did not vote for the 2018 midterm election. They'll be encourage to voice their opinions to shape this country. They keep saying that the Republican party is going to do everything they can to keep their popularity up within these voting records, but I believe this will influence many other minorities to vote and change things. Overall, the Midterm election will only help the Democratic party in building strategies and techniques in hopefully winning all Congress in 2020 election.
1) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/us/politics/midterm-results-democratic-gains.html
2) https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/immigration/2018/11/11/minnesota-election-results-muslim-community-somali-immigrants-diversity-democracy/1942004002/
3) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/upshot/democrats-midterms-weaknesses-2020.html
From Kimee:
I believe that the 2018 Midterm Election results will reshape and impact the works of Congress and administration because the Democratic party has won the House. The significance nationally is that there are many different/diverse people who have won jobs, which means we now have more voices of different views that we never had before. Since the Democrats took over the house, there will be laws or sayings that are potentially beneficial for the people all over America, especially for the minority groups that have built what we call America. The significance in Minnesota is that we has the first Muslim lady to win a position and the state has a history of always voting for the Democrat party. In the first article "A Week After the election, Democratic Gains Grow Stronger", the Democratic party within the House has grown into a stronger party because "The party has gained 32 seats so far and appears on track to gain between 35 and 40 once all the counting is complete". This means that the House has a Democratic Majority, and they didn't lose as many seats in the Senate as they thought they were going to. Health care was especially an important topic that won people over than the topic of racial division because now they have margin groups such as young people and immigrants. In the second article "Minnesota's Somali Muslim community impact midterm election results", the Democratic party defintely won over the Somali Muslim community withe the win of Ilhan Omar "who will be one of the first Muslim women to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives'. They got out and voted which impacts Minnesota because we are always #1 to do the right thing. The more diverse the leader is, the more the democracy is inclusive. In the last article "Weak Spots in Democrats' Strong Midterm Results Points to Challenges in 2020", although they losing counties that they wanted support from, they are also winning counties which were heavily Republican. It says that "Democrats didn’t have a particularly good showing in Orange or Osceola Counties, where growth among the Puerto Rican population was supposed to propel the party to statewide success" but I think in 2020 the Latino community will try to do their best even when the did not vote for the 2018 midterm election. They'll be encourage to voice their opinions to shape this country. They keep saying that the Republican party is going to do everything they can to keep their popularity up within these voting records, but I believe this will influence many other minorities to vote and change things. Overall, the Midterm election will only help the Democratic party in building strategies and techniques in hopefully winning all Congress in 2020 election.
1) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/us/politics/midterm-results-democratic-gains.html
2) https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/immigration/2018/11/11/minnesota-election-results-muslim-community-somali-immigrants-diversity-democracy/1942004002/
3) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/upshot/democrats-midterms-weaknesses-2020.html
I feel like the 2018 midterms will not have that significant of an impact but an impact to a certain extent. One way that it will not impact the United States that much is that according to the Evening Standard(1) Nancy Pelosi said that it was "not the time" to consider Articles of Impeachment. She is the Democratic leader in the house and they would be the people to try to impeach President Trump but if it is not the right time then that would have little to no impact on how this country is run with no switch of power. Secondly, according to Forbes(2) if the parties can find a neutral ground then there is a possibility of lower the price of higher education and cheaper student loans. One problem with this idea is that the parties have to compromise and work together and that doesn't happen very often so the impact will be small. Foreign policy will most likely change because with the Democrats taking over the house the Democrats will fill the role of House Foreign Affairs Committee according to Council on Foreign Relations(3). They will have a different agenda then the Republicans did. In conclusion, the 2018 midterm elections will have little effect on the structure of the United states
1.https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/donald-trump-impeached-how-the-midterm-election-results-could-affect-his-presidency-a3982896.html
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2018/11/12/student-loans-election/#37a8d70a7dd6
3.https://www.cfr.org/blog/how-will-midterm-elections-affect-us-foreign-policy
I think that the midterm results will have a significant impact on the nation as a whole. The US saw many firsts in this election, for examples, Minnesota's Ilan Omar is the first Muslim woman in U.S Congress and the first openly gay man was elected as governor of Colorado (1). This shows that we the people are making our voices heard more so that our representation is a representation of the people living in our country. These steps of making Congress look more like our country will help push for more policies and laws that benefit us all and not just a tiny fraction. This year's midterms saw the highest voter turn out since 1966 (2). This could be because of Trump's poor approval rating and other political factors or it could be showing that the people are seeing the importance in their vote. This huge voter turns out could be used as hope that future elections will have high voter turnouts as well. However, along with more voices demanding to be heard, we have a political divide in our country that is growing. Our voting trends are deeply embedded in our identities. It is in our education level, our race and where we live. These identities are becoming more prominent with past elections and especially during Trump's presidency. In this midterm just like with the 2016 election in the south, Republicans did much better with whites of all backgrounds and in other areas, Democrats are doing much better with white women than white men (3). I think that we will see a continued battle for power and it will be interesting to see what happens in 2020.
1. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/06/politics/historic-firsts-election-2018/index.html
2. https://www.npr.org/2018/11/08/665197690/a-boatload-of-ballots-midterm-voter-turnout-hit-50-year-high
3. https://www.vox.com/midterm-elections/2018/11/7/18068486/midterm-election-2018-results-race-surburb
The recent midterm elections are significant nationally because they created a divided congress. Democrats won majority in the House of Representatives and Republicans in the Senate. The voter turnout rate was huge, especially in Minnesota. Minnesota had nearly 2.6 million people vote. “At 64 percent turnout, it was the largest total number of people to vote in a midterm election in the state's history, and the highest percentage of voters participating in a midterm since 2002” (1). Not only was this election significant because of the number of voters, but most of the voters were young and between ages 18-30. This is 10 percent more than in the past election. The result of this election can mean many things for congress and the president. A Democratic win in the House is a setback for the Trump administration and will create a deadlock congress (2). It will make it hard to pass laws and decide on important issues. The House also has the power to impeach the president if they choose. However, a Republican win in the senate is going to help Trump. He still has people who approve of him and protection from being impeached. “The Senate would be the site for Trump's trial if he is impeached, and it would take a two-thirds majority of the Senate to convict him — an extremely high bar, particularly when a president's party is in control of that congressional chamber” (3). Overall, the midterm elections created a divided congress which has positive and negative results.
Sources:
1)http://www.startribune.com/nearly-2-6-million-minnesotans-turn-out-setting-midterm-participation-record/499984031/
2)https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/us/politics/election-day.html
3)https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/07/how-mixed-midterm-results-will-help-and-hurt-president-donald-trump.html
I believe that the 2018 midterm elections mean that our society is further stepping into a more representative and equal future. A record number of women have won seats in Congress(1). As of November 7th 99 women were elected to Congress. The first openly gay man was also elected as governor in Colorado. This representation is still far below the actual amount of women in the united states (about 52% of the population) but it is a step in the right direction(2). Within this group of women 41 of them are people of color which has never been seen before this election. It's still falls under the actual make up of the population. The first Native American women was elected to Congress as well as the first Muslim women(3). According to Nancy Pelosi Congress is focusing on creating an office for hiring a more diverse and representative staff for the Congress members. All of these things are great, but Congress if still far from accurately representing the population. These are great steps in the right direction and could very well be the stepping stones to a more equal future for America.
1. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/07/politics/historic-firsts-midterms/index.html
2. http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-democrats-women-congress-20181107-story.html
3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/11/15/trickle-down-representation-will-most-diverse-congress-make-capitol-hill-more-diverse/?utm_term=.c5c3531ef709
I believe that the 2018 midterm elections will not only have an enormous impact in Minnesota but in the entire U.S government. For starters, Minnesota elected many Democrats, such as Tim Walz for governor and Kieth Ellison for attorney general. According to the StarTribune, This will result in more support for laws that align with Democrats, such as marijuana legalization and strict gun control (1). Next, the Democrats winning the house will help in weakening some of Donald Trump's goals. However, according to CNBC, this process will be, "incremental rather than radical"(2). Because of this change, the Democrats will hope to work with other lawmakers to slowly have voters back away from Trump. Finally, the 2018 midterm results will open the door for all people of different backgrounds to run for office. While there are many new people voted into office, a groundbreaking change for progress is Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tahib being the first Muslim women voted into Congress (3). This can show how the American people are trying to show that we are getting rid of division and racism in our country and instead of looking bright into the future of change. Furthermore, this precedent can lead to many others setting the ground on progress. All in all, the midterms will have a large effect on not only the government but society itself.
1: http://www.startribune.com/readers-write-alan-page-gov-tim-walz-and-marijuana-laws-crime-and-gun-laws-wisconsin-and-gerrymandering-minneapolis-2040-plan/500642481/
2: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/17/house-democrats-prepare-for-majority-after-midterm-election-wins.html
3: https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/06/politics/first-muslim-women-congress/index.html
I believe that the results of the 2018 midterms will allow more people from all backgrounds to be elected into office. For example, in Minnesota alone, we elected one of the first Muslim women into Congress as well as the first openly gay Congressperson from Minnesota (1). This shows how voters are more open to accepting candidates from all backgrounds and how as a country, we are finally able to look past that and focus more on the issues that they stand for. Hopefully, now that Congress, the US House, in particular, wis more diverse, it will soon be a more true representation of our country. Additionally, voter turnout for these elections was also record-breaking, especially among young people. According to the Pioneer Press, early voter turnout was up 129 percent from the 2016 elections and 82 percent of all eligible voter on Minnesota were registered to voted before election day(2). I think that voter turnout, especially among young people, has increased so much this election year is because of how popularized it was on social media. I was constantly seeing campaigns letting people know how to register to vote and the importance of voting. I also think that an increase in voter turnout in these elections will spark a change overall and the numbers will continue to go up. Finally, the elections will also affect the efficiency of the federal government since Democrats were able to gain control of the House but Republicans still control the Senate. This divided government is going to make it difficult for the legislation to pass that both parties want to see, especially on hot topics such as healthcare and abortion. More importantly, a Democratic win in the House opens up the question of whether or not Trump will be impeached(3). Overall, this election was very important nationwide, and it opened a lot of doors for people and I think the future of this country is promising.
Sources:
1: http://www.startribune.com/from-donning-a-hijab-on-capitol-hill-to-lgbt-representation-a-look-at-minnesota-s-firsts-this-election/499975641/
2: https://www.twincities.com/2018/11/06/expectations-high-for-voter-turnout-in-minnesota/
3: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/us/politics/election-day.html
The impact MN will see from the midterm elections is because many Democrats were elected, the decisions in this state will be much different then in years passed. We could see changes in our healthcare like pricing and quality of the insurance. For better or for worse is based on your opinion. I also feel like the elections helped Minnesota's representation because a lot of races were elected into our offices. Anywhere from a refugee, to an openly gay man to the house, were all first for Minnesota. This might open the eyes of other states that this seems like the first time that any state really elected these people into our government. Nationally I feel like with these brand new people in office, there is going to be a more "go get it" mentality and there going to want to get as much stuff as they can done while they are in office. Most of the people that were elected have not been in Congress before. Some issues I see that will be revised is global warming. I feel like this topic has been forgotten because Republicans don't feel strong about fixing it. Now that there is Democrats in the House this topic will come up and they will want to do something about it.
http://www.startribune.com/from-donning-a-hijab-on-capitol-hill-to-lgbt-representation-a-look-at-minnesota-s-firsts-this-election/499975641/
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/17/house-democrats-prepare-for-majority-after-midterm-election-wins.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/06/midterm-elections-2018-what-we-know-so-far
There will be a definite impact from the mid-term election's because of the way they divided congress. The Democrats won the House and the Republican's won the senate, and it's a common fact that it's harder for President's to push bills when they have a divided congress(1). As for how the midterm's will affect Minnesota; we had the highest voter turn out in MN since 2002(2), and that made a difference. Seeing that voting does make a difference will encourage youths in MN to continue going out of their way to vote when the time comes so that more change can happen. Not to mention the fact that MN now has a much more diverse politics members, what with us having the "First former refugee sent to Congress. First openly gay U.S. House member from Minnesota. First Muslim elected to a statewide office in Minnesota. First American Indian elected lieutenant governor nationwide"(3). Having this diverse group of people representing not just Minnesota, but the U.S, will lead to greater understanding of what minorities need and want in order to live in the U.S.
1:https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/2/16795804/elections-2018-midterms-consequences
2: https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2018/11/07/minnesota-midterm-elections-voter-turnout/
3: http://www.startribune.com/from-donning-a-hijab-on-capitol-hill-to-lgbt-representation-a-look-at-minnesota-s-firsts-this-election/499975641/
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