Midterm Elections 2018
The first midterm elections of the Trump presidency will be held on November 6. All 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives are up for election, as are 33 U.S. senators, 36 governors, and many other officeholders.
Instructors, click the link below to download this week’s lecture for use in your classroom. The deck contains a writing prompt and a debate question as well as other assessment questions.
Download the PowerPoint Lecture Spark for Midterm Elections 2018
Links
“Midterm elections: 5 hot races that could help decide House control”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/10/23/midterm-elections-5-hot-races-could-help-decide-house-control/1683472002/
“The key races to watch at the midterms”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2018/sep/17/midterms-2018-candidates-odds-predictions-democrats-republicans-key-races
“Over 8 million people have voted early, outpacing 2016, NBC News finds”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-voters/over-8-million-people-have-voted-early-outpacing-2016-nbc-n924281
“DeSantis, Gillum decry lack of civility – then trade harsh insults in final Florida debate”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/desantis-gillum-decry-lack-civility-then-trade-harsh-insults-final-n924291
“Midterm elections could have strangest result in decades”
https://nypost.com/2018/10/25/midterm-elections-could-have-strangest-result-in-decades
“The 9 most important state legislature elections in 2018, explained”
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/7/30/17614554/2018-midterms-state-legislature-elections-gerrymandering
“Who wins 2018? Predictions for every House and Senate election”
https://www.politico.com/election-results/2018/house-senate-race-ratings-and-predictions/
“Forecasting the race for the House”
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-midterm-election-forecast/house/
“US mid-terms: Can we tell if Democrats will win?”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45013748
“The Forecast”
https://www.cnn.com/election/2018/forecast
Assessment
- Writing: What are the key races to watch in 2018?
- Debate: Given their legislative performance, Republicans should maintain control of Congress.
- Poll: How many of you believe Donald Trump has hurt the chances of the Republican Party to keep control of Congress?
- Short Answer: Why does the party of a president typically lose seats in the first midterm election?
Current events quiz:
1) The BBC explains that often when presidents are unpopular, midterm elections
a. serve as a referendum on the president.
b. are a way for voters to express their anger the president
c. typically go the president’s party’s way, since presidents have much more funding at their disposal.
d. will always lead to the House flipping so that the party of the president is no longer the party in control.
2) Among the key races to watch this election season are:
- Ed Royce v. Young Kim
- Carol Miller v. Richard Ojeda
- Xochitl Torres Small v. Yvette Herrell
- All of these
3) Politico has predicted that the
- House will stay red and so will the Senate.
- Senate will go blue and the House will go red.
- House and Senate will both go Blue.
- Senate will stay red and the House will go blue.
4) It is entirely likely that Democrats will win the House but not the Senate in 2018. (T/F)
5) The top three Senate races to watch are those in MA, PA, and RI. (T/F)
6) At least 11 million people have voted early so far this election cycle. (T/F)
Answers:
1) A
2) D
3) D
4) True
5) False
6) False
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