PROPELLED BY ANGER
Divisiveness is order of the day as millions vote
The nation’s poisonous political climate was on the minds of millions of Americans as they converged on the polls Tuesday, making their voices heard in a historic midterm election that will decide which party controls Congress.
At polling sites across the country, voters agreed on one thing: they were motivated to cast ballots in this year’s unusually energetic midterm contests because of a pervasive divisiveness that has consumed the national political dialogue in recent months, in large part due to President Trump’s explosive rhetoric.
“Our country is in shambles right now and it’s not going to change unless we vote, vote, vote,” said Beth Greenberg, a 63-year-old retired nurse, after throwing her vote for Democrats at Public School 75 on the Upper West Side.
The high-stakes election is widely viewed as a verdict on Trump’s first two years in office and its outcome could have seismic repercussions on the rest of his presidency.
On the other side of the country, Kathleen Ross, a 69year-old retired professor, made clear her vote was all about her disgust with the man in the Oval Office.
“My loathing for him knows no bounds,” Ross said after casting her ballot for Democrats in Olympia, Wash. She said she felt confident that this election will usher in a blue wave that topples the President’s divisive agenda.
All 435 seats in the U.S. House were on ballots, although fewer than 90 were considered competitive. Some 35 Senate seats were in play, as were almost 40 governorships and the balance of power in virtually every state legislature.
As results rolled in, Republicans looked likely to keep control of the Senate and even add to their 51-49 majority. Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) became the first Democratic casualty, losing his reelection bid to Republican Mike Braun, a former state rep.
From coast-to-coast, Democrats ran on staunchly anti-Trump platforms as they hoped to reclaim control of the House.
Democrats seized early wins in House races in Florida and Virginia, but lost a highprofile Kentucky contest.
At the same time, Democrats reelected embattled New Jersey Sen. Bob Menenstood dez, who, less than a year ago, trial for federal corruption charges.
Republicans had spent the final weeks leading up to the midterms worrying whether they had enough momentum to maintain their majority in the Senate as Trump did his best to paint voters’ choice at the polls as a decision between a law-and-order-loving GOP and a Democratic Party he claims stands for open borders and mob rule.
Democrats say they are eager to rein in a President who has in recent weeks proclaimed himself a nationalist, vowed to change Constitutional rules regarding citizenship and sowed fear about a caravan of migrants nearly a thousand miles away from the U.S. border.
They tried their best to retheir main focused on health care in closing message to voters, vowing to protect Americans with preexisting conditions and other popular part of the Affordable Care Act.
The Dems needed to pick up two dozen seats to seize the House majority and two seats to control the Senate.
In New York, Democrats riding on Trump’s disastrous approval ratings were hoping to flip the state Senate blue, which would put both houses of the Empire State Legislature under the party’s control for only the third time in the last century.
Gov. Cuomo cruised to victory for his third term as governor over long-shot Republican challenger Marc Molinaro.
City Public Advocate Letitia James made history by be-
coming the first black woman elected state attorney general.
Trump stayed uncharacteristically quiet on Election Day, only tweeting and retweeting a handful of endorsements for GOP congressional candidates, including embattled upstate New York Rep. John Faso.
The final weeks of the campaign were thrown into chaos as authorities intercepted potential explosive devices sent to some of the President’s favorite political targets, including former President Barack Obama and former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Days later, tragedy struck as 11 people were killed in a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue.
Trump lamented that the incidents stifled Republican’s “momentum” leading into the midterms.
Trump attempted to keep immigration in the headlines over the last month, spreading false and fear-mongering claims about a U.S.-bound caravan of Central American migrants who remain hundreds of miles away from the southwestern border. He even ordered thousands of armed U.S. troops to the border last week, a move that critics say is pointless and purely politically motivated as the caravan is diminishing in size and mostly consists of children and families.
The President’s nonstop campaigning and aggressive allegations about desperate migrants — which included the baseless claim that “unknown Middle Easterners” are "mixed in” with them — resonated with some Republican voters. “We don’t know what that caravan is bringing,” said Judy Jenkins, a Westerville, Ohio resident who described the President as “my guy.”
Democrats, meanwhile, alternated between lambasting the President over his racially charged rhetoric and trying to focus on health care and the Republican Party’s failure to repeal Obamacare or come up with a viable alternative.
With the political stakes sky-high, some voters battled bad weather and broken election machinery as they tried to cast their ballots.
More than 40 million Americans had already voted, either by mail or in person, breaking early voting records across 37 states, according to The Associated Press.