DEMS WIN HOUSE, BIG HIT TO DON
Blizzard of investigations get new life as up to 35 seats across country may change from red to blue
The Democratic Party reclaimed control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in eight years on Tuesday, dealing a major blow to President Trump and opening him up to an onslaught of investigations and even the possibility of impeachment.
Sixteen incumbent House Republicans — from New York City to Minnesota — had lost their seats shortly before midnight, as roughly another 10 GOP districts were expected to officially flip in the small hours and ensure the sweeping Democratic upset. Both Fox News and NBC News called the Republican House defeat around 10 p.m.
The high-stakes midterm elections were widely viewed as a referendum on Trump's first two years in office and Democrats considered their victories evidence that Americans are fed up with his divisive agenda and hotheaded leadership.
“This is a complete rejection of Donald Trump by key constituencies the Republican Party needs to survive longterm,” veteran Democratic strategist Zac Petkanas told the Daily News. “Urban and suburban voters are absolutely done and are looking for a check on this out of control presidency.”
Max Rose, a 31-year-old Army veteran who mounted a Democratic challenge to Staten Island's Trump-endorsed incumbent Dan Donovan, bucked expectations and painted New York City's only red district blue.
Rose, a middle-of-the-road candidate who says he won't stand unequivocally with Democratic leadership, stayed clear of attacking Trump during an ebullient victory speech at his campaign headquarters, instead thanking Donovan, calling for bipartisanship and pledging to “do things differently.”
“We were never in this to win an election,” Rose said at the top of his voice. “We were in this to change politics irrevocably.”
Also in the city, self-described democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who stunningly defeated longtime Queens Rep. Joe Crowley in the primaries, easily defeated Republican Anthony Pappas, making her the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
In upstate New York, longshot Democratic challengers Antonio Delgado and Anthony Brindisi defeated incumbent incumbents John Faso and Claudia Tenney despite Trump's aggressively campaigning for both Republicans.
In Virginia, political newcomer Jennifer Wexton defeated two-term GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock. The Republican incumbent had been branded Barbara "Trumpstock" by Democrats in a race that pointed to Trump's unpopularity among college-educated women in the suburbs.
In south Florida, former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala defeated Republican Maria Elvira Salazar, capping off an unusually expensive race in a traditionally red district.
With control of the lower chamber, Democrats are expected to launch probes into the personal finances of the President, his family and his associates. Trump's tax returns, which he has long refused to release, will likely be a top priority.
Beyond the President, Democrats will likely target other parts of Trump administration mired in scandals and allegations of wrongdoing, including the Homeland Security Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Interior Department and the Commerce Department.
The House upset comes after a historically hostile midterm campaign season featuring Republican candidates taking pages out of the Trump playbook by using racially-charged language to attack their Democratic opponents.
Democrats needed to pick up at least 23 seats to reclaim
control of the House and strategists tied the Democratic victories to an unprecedented turnout among millennials, suburban women and well-educated voters, who came out in large numbers in large part because of their vehement opposition to Trump, according to polls.
“That's a new part of the electorate that is making its voice heard,” longtime GOP consultant Evan Siegfried told The News. “Democrats usually do really well in elections on a federal level when there's been some sort of mess-up for the Republican Party and in this case that mess-up is Donald Trump.”
Trump was conspicuously quiet on Election Day, watching returns with friends and family at the White House and not making any public remarks.
The President crisscrossed the country to stump for embattled GOP candidates ahead of the election but appeared to concede in the last few days of campaigning that the possibility of a Democratic win in the House was likely.
“It could happen,” Trump begrudgingly told supporters at a rally in West Virginia last week. “Don't worry about it, I'll just figure it out.”
The President spent most his energy on the campaign trail obsessing about a slowmoving caravan of Central American migrants, spreading false and fear-mongering claims about them while allotting less time to the economic boom that the moderate wing of his party had hoped he would focus on.
Democrats in turn painted the elections as a battle for the soul of the nation, lambasting their Republican opponents for reflexively siding with Trump, who they have accused of perpetuating racism and bigotry.
Some House Dems have want to impeaching Trump on allegations he lacks the moral judgment to occupy the Oval Office and has obstructed investigations into campaign's connections to Russia.