CNN Washington bureau chief and political director David Chalian said Democrats’ victories in the House and Senate mark a major shift in U.S. political power and will make the final two years of U.S. President Donald Trump’s term markedly different from the first two. According to ChainCatcher, voters delivered a strong rebuke to Trump, whose approval ratings were underwater in key Senate states and even deeply conservative states. Democrats won seats in Texas, Ohio, Iowa and South Carolina—states Trump carried by double-digit margins two years ago and won in all three of his presidential campaigns. The shift reflected the alienation of independent voters, Latino and young voters’ return to the Democratic Party, dissatisfaction with Trump’s economic management and concerns about the cost of living, all of which contributed to Republican losses in the midterm elections.
