Financial TimesFinancial Times

By the numbers: What we’ve learned from the 2022 US midterm elections

By Oliver Roeder, Amanda Chu, Sam Learner, Caitlin Gilbert

13 Nov 2022 · 5 min read

Editor's Note

In the U.S. midterm elections, Democrats have retained the Senate, but the race for the House of Representatives is still open. The Financial Times delivers seven key takeaways from the election.

Votes are still being counted across the US following Tuesday’s midterm elections, and we do not know which party will control the House of Representatives after the Democrats were projected to hold the Senate on Saturday night.

But it is clear that Democrats fended off a predicted “red wave” of Republican wins across statewide and federal races, as they were buoyed by underperforming Trump-backed candidates, targeted spending on key races and a diverse base of support. Democrats’ losses at the federal level are historically low for the party of a sitting president facing his first midterm. And at the state level, the party posted gains in both legislatures and governorships.

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