Trump’s party held onto the Senate. But in many ways McConnell will be playing defense for the next two years.A record 260 female candidates ran in 2018. Bush takes blame for GOP election losses ... chamber for the first time since the Republican sweep in the 1994 midterm elections. But he’s still several votes short of the filibuster-proof 60-vote majority the Democrats enjoyed when the party passed Obamacare with the help of then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in 2010. Can Pelosi, assuming she wins the election for speaker, continue to rule the House Democratic caucus with an iron grip?Pelosi will get to call the shots once she has the gavel, which will help. ... No Republican incumbent lost in the midterm election. That group includes many first-time candidates who won in 2018 largely by running on a strong anti-Trump message, who will also likely shift the caucus further to the left. And the House had under 300 seats in those years, compared with the 435 we have today. But the it-could-have-been-worse argument belies the fact that Democrats will now have an even harder time blocking the Senate GOP agenda.Senator-Elect Josh Hawley delivers his victory speech at the University Plaza Hotel and Conference Center on November 6, 2018 in Springfield, Missouri. Evangelicals were an important group within the electorate and a significant voting block in the Republican party. Those are key demographic groups in a presidential election. ... Other major … Gun Control Laws Weren't Primary Reason Dems Lost in 1994 In years past, the GOP has held gun control over Democratic lawmakers' heads. That was less true in some House races, where moderate GOP lawmakers who criticized Trump lost. Voter support for women and minority candidates offered a clear rebuke of Trump’s oftentimes offensive statements on race and gender. Many Republican House members who embraced President Donald Trump lost, but some Republican Senate and gubernatorial candidates who backed the president won. Please check your inbox to confirm.Learn more about what other countries have done to improve health.The 2018 midterm election results offered a series of contrasts. Since the GOP’s House takeover in 1994, Democrats have only controlled the House for four years (2007 to 2011). And even Democrats seemed unsure of their ability to sustain the energy. The Republican party, which had split in 1912, reunited. Since the GOP’s House takeover in 1994, Democrats have only controlled the House for four years (2007 to 2011). The 2018 midterms signaled they don’t have an answer yet.Daniel Bush is PBS NewsHour's Senior Political Reporter.© 1996 - 2020 NewsHour Productions LLC. Clearly they did, and for now it has translated into real political change.President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally at Middle Georgia Regional Airport in Macon, Georgia, on November 4. But plenty of possible developments before the 2020 election — including a potential impeachment battle, which Pelosi told the PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff would depend on the outcome of the Mueller investigation — will test the House Democrats’ willingness to stick together.The Democrats will face internal divisions between the leadership, likely led by Pelosi, and a younger generation of progressive Democrats. Hawley defeated incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill. She’ll control the legislative agenda and can avoid forcing her caucus to take politically risky votes. Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters.Barack Obama famously described the 2010 midterms as a “shellacking” for the Democratic Party. 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