Democrats Could End Up With 40 New House Seats: What It Means

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According to updated congressional maps, Democrats so far have “flipped” 34 House seats. It appears that they might win closer to 40, however, since there are still eleven House races that are either not called or too close to call, and Democrats have a solid chance of winning six of those.

Even though on election night most commentators said there was not a Blue Wave, in fact there was. The Democrats are going to gain more House seats in the 2018 midterms than in any election since the Watergate elections in 1974 when they picked up 48 seats.

In fact the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives is an amazing and game-changing result.

It could have a real impact on the country and make millions of people’s lives better.

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Many people thought such a victory was impossible, with years of GOP gerrymandering and entrenched Republican incumbents making a Democratic takeover too difficult to achieve. But thanks to many factors, including hard work by millions of Democrats and activists in “the Resistance” it did happen.

Here’s what it will mean:

Democrats can put a stop to GOP attempts to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
They can protect pre-existing conditions and other elements of the Affordable Care Act.
They can secure funding increases, or prevent more cuts, to important social welfare programs like food stamps and other government programs.
They can investigate the many wrong-doings of Donald Trump and his administration and expose corruption.
They can protect the Robert Mueller investigation.
They can block all of Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.

It’s important that the Democrats won big on election night instead of just squeaking by. Such a dominant takeover in the House sends a message of rejection to Donald Trump and his supporters. It tells America that it is no more business as usual, and for the first time in two years there will be accountability in Washington.

One very interesting angle on the midterms concerns House races in California. According to Dave Wasserman from the Cook Political Report the Democrats could end up winning many House seats in formerly Republican ares such as Orange County.

Wasserman tweeted:

“So, let’s get this straight: Rohrabacher & Knight are done in #CA48 & #CA25. Dems already picked up open #CA49. Denham now well behind in #CA10. Walters & Kim hanging on for dear life in #CA45 & #CA39. This could easily turn into a six seat bloodbath for CA Republicans.”

“Btw, if all of these races go Dems’ way, CA would go from 39D-14R to 45D-8R, a delegation so lopsided it could capsize into the Pacific.”

This means that of 53 congressional seats in California, 45 of them may end up in the hands of Democrats. In California, at least, there was a Blue Tsunami, and it resulted in a real disaster for Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.