Midterm results should be a warning to Republicans, says polling editor

Morning Consult polling editor Cameron Easley said in an interview that aired Tuesday on Hill.TV’s “What America’s Thinking” that Republican turnout in the 2018 midterms should be a warning sign to Trump and the GOP in 2020. 

Easley said it could be “alarming” to the GOP that, despite having high turnout in November’s midterm elections, the party did not eke out more victories.

“I think it is potentially alarming for Republicans that their own side turned out this well in a midterm, and they still suffered the number of losses that they did in the House,” Easley told Hill.TV’s Joe Concha on Monday. 

Midterm turnout proved to be high on both sides in last month’s midterms with 47.4 million Republicans and 51.7 million Democrats, according to results from The Washington Post taken two days after election day. 

Still, high turnout was not enough to combat Democratic comebacks in historically blue states went for President Trump in 2016. 

“I also think if you look at the results in some of those states, which were very, very important to Trump’s victory in 2016, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, [those are] potential warning signs as well,” Easley said. 

Democratic governors were elected in all three of the states last month, even though those states were responsible for putting Trump over the victory line in the 2016 presidential race. 

— Julia Manchester