This decade has been missing its big-impact midterm

Despite the turbulence of recent years, the 2020s have not yet produced a midterm election with lasting national consequences, NPR reports. Every other decade of the past century has had at least one that reshaped Congress, statehouses and the broader political landscape. With only two midterms in a decade that holds three presidential races, the November 3 vote is widely expected to be pivotal.

The 2022 contest fell short of that standard. Forecasts of a Republican wave against President Joe Biden's congressional majorities did not pan out. Democrats kept the Senate, while the House flipped by a slim margin to the Republicans, ending Nancy Pelosi's second stint as speaker. Republicans then spent much of two years unable to settle on a leader of their own.

Earlier decades offer sharper examples. The 1930 election, after the stock market crash, cost Republicans eight Senate seats and 52 House seats and ended their dominance. In 1946 they surged back into control of both chambers. Dwight Eisenhower lost the House in 1954, and the 1958 midterms left his party with just 35 Senate seats. In 1966, Lyndon Johnson's Democrats lost 47 House seats as the Vietnam War drained his political energy.

Summarized by PolitiKool from NPR’s reporting. Read the full story at NPR →