#voter turnout
Watching the results come in last night, it was pretty clear increased turnout was factor in many of the elections. O’Rourke didn’t win, but he came within about 2 points (which was pretty surprising). Democrats also picked up 12 seats in the Texas House - significantly cutting into the Republican majority.
Total voter turnout for the 2018 midterm elections was: 8,323,954. That’s almost as much as the 2016 turnout (8,969,226) and more than 2012 (7,993,851) - both of which were Presidential election years. And it was almost twice as much as turnout as in previous midterm elections in 2010 and 2014 (Source).
You can see a breakdown of the statewide races by county here.
You can see turnout by county here.
5 Numbers That Say a Lot About the Election
Turnout in the 2016 presidential election, initially characterized as low, actually exceeded that of the 2012 race in which President Barack Obama won re-election. Voter turnout: 60.2 Percent
Minnesotans exercised the franchise more than any other state’s residents, followed by voters in Maine, New Hampshire, Colorado and Wisconsin. The five share a common trait: Each allows same-day voter registration. Highest state turnout: 74.8 Percent
The presidential contest was waged almost entirely in the 14 states that both parties regarded as winnable. Those states were home to barely a third of the electorate. And just four of them — Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania — gobbled up 71 percent of campaign ad spending and 57 percent of candidates’ visits (Trump won them all). States where the big money went: 4
Holding a seat in the House of Representatives, it seems, is the political equivalent of holding municipal bonds: Both are rock-solid safe. Of the 435 House races, 402 were won by a margin of 10 percent or more.Number of close House races: 33
One in 12 voters under 45 spurned the major parties and cast ballots for independent presidential candidates, mostly the Green Party’s Jill Stein and the Libertarian Party’s Gary Johnson. Independents’ share of young voters: 8 percent
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