Madison Kwiecinski – Editor-in-Chief 

Mvk5945@psu.edu 

When entering this election term, Republicans prepared for a sweeping victory, expecting to take over control in the House with good margins and to possibly even change the closely balanced Senate. A shift in power has occurred, but it is nowhere near what the GOP expected, nor did it reach the results that were expected due to years of precedent. 

With Democratic President Biden in the White House, it was expected for his party to lose seats. According to NPR, the average seat loss in the House during a Midterm election “has been 28 since World War II. It has been 43 seats when the president’s Gallup Poll approval rating was below 50 percent…for Democrats in particular, the last four lost an average of 45 House seats in the first midterm after they were elected.” 

Losing control of the House or Senate makes it significantly harder to govern, which is why Presidents can often be set back by the results of Midterm elections. For voters, it is a way to express your approval or discontentment with the current administration, and you can usually draw direct lines to what influences the voters to act the way they did. 

If the other party strongly disapproves of something the sitting party is doing, you can see it drive voter turnout at the polls. You can also examine exit polls, specifically ones that ask voters which issues drove their vote. 

Personally, I think there were several recent political issues that drove Democrats to the polls, effectively holding off the expected “red wave.” 

Most obviously, voters are upset about the recent decisions and statements coming from the Supreme Court. Roe v. Wade was overturned, and people voted because they are scared for their rights. Women want the right to bodily autonomy, something they absolutely deserve. They also want the right for their medical decisions to be private, and to not be scrutinized for felony crimes if their body decides to miscarry or some other tragic set of circumstances take place. 

Many red states had triggered laws when Roe was overturned, making abortion illegal and a crime almost instantly. In other states, increasingly restrictive laws have been passed, sometimes making it a felony for those who even assist in abortions in any way to be penalized, such as the uber driver who takes you to a clinic, or the doctor who is making decisions based on the womans health and needs. 

The Court has also talked about overturning other major pieces of legislation, and the public is clearly taking this out on the Republican party, as they should. One example of this has been Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito making it clear they would like to overturn the precedent set in Obergefell v. Hodges, removing same-sex couples right to marry under the equal protection clause. 

Thomas wrote that the Obergefell decision “enables courts and governments to brand religious adherents who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman as bigots, making their religious liberty concerns that much easier to dismiss.” 

To counter that, bigotry is defined as an “obstinate or unreasonable attachment to a belief, opinion, or faction, in particular, prejudice against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular group.” 

Based on that definition, I would argue that the point Thomas is trying to make in his statement is null, because those denying LGBTQ+ the right to marry, are, to put it simply, acting as bigots. They are acting in prejudice against a group of individuals due to their attachment to a belief or belief system, something they have no right to be pushing onto other people. 

The Supreme Court has been pushing a conservative christian agenda, and despite how the majority of the Republican party may actually feel about this, it reflects badly on them and is affecting their voter turnout. Even if the majority of the population aligns with christian conservatism, the Supreme Court pushing that agenda goes against the religious freedom that is guaranteed as a right in America. 

In addition to the Supreme Court actively dragging the Republican party down with it, I think there is another major factor that affected them in the midterms, Donald Trump. I have consistently held the belief that Trump has the potential to cause the downfall of the Republican party, and this is something I think becomes more likely with each political step he takes. 

Trump caused a major divide among the GOP, trying to establish himself as the primary face of the party, despite the fact that there are many traditional conservatives who disagree with not only his views, but also the demeanor he puts forward. 

People oppose Trump not just for his policies, but for who he is as a person. As far as the public, he has alienated women, LGBTQ+, people of color, immigrants, and many more minority groups. He speaks in a vulgar manner, something much of the public does not respect, and he is hated by global leaders on an international scale. 

Trump’s expectation of unquestionable loyalty is made evident by his constant attacks of Republican Ron DeSantis, a candidate whose policies he supports. Trump has pushed multiple public attacks recently against DeSantis, calling him ungrateful and going after his character, simply because DeSantis has teased a presidential bid for 2024, and Trump expects “his party” to fall in line behind him. 

Trump stated prior to Nov. 8 that he was planning a big upcoming announcement, something people close to him have now confirmed will be his announcement for his third presidential bid. He is now being begged by the Republican party to hold off this announcement until at least the Georgia runoff election is complete. They fear Trump’s announcement will drive Democratic voters to the polls, or perhaps even discourage Republican voters from caring to go to the polls. 

In all of history, four Presidents have been impeached. One of these took place during the 1800s, one of them was Bill Clinton, the other two impeachments were Trump. Yet, we allow him to run once again. 

The Republican National Commission has also told Trump he should hold off on this announcement, as other candidates will not be announcing for months still, and it will complicate things for him legally. For example, the RNC currently is paying his legal bills, something they will be unable to do once he announces a presidential bid. 

The GOP had lackluster midterm results because voters are still outraged at the Trump presidency and the recent Supreme Court actions as a result. The Republican party needs to return to traditional conservative views and quit bending to the will of Donald Trump if they wish to return to being a powerful party once again, instead of ripping themselves apart due to this increasing division.