Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Monday predicted there will be a “red wave” in the midterms on Tuesday, comparing it to the 2016 presidential election.
“In 2016, when we went in that final day, everybody was predicting gloom and doom,” Rubio recalled during a campaign event for Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis. “They didn’t realize how many people out there were waiting for Election Day.”
{mosads}He said people went to the polls in person because they were so excited to vote that year.
“Forget about a blue wave,” Rubio added. “A red wave of votes started coming in. That’s what’s gonna happen again now.”
“But we have to make sure it happens,” he said. “That’s what we have to do now. Today is about making sure that everyone turns out and votes.”
Democrats are widely expected to take back the House while the Senate appears poised to remain in Republican hands. Polling analysis website FiveThirtyEight gives Democrats a 7 in 8 chance of winning back control of the House, while Republicans have a 5 in 6 chance of keeping the Senate.
Progressive activists and Democrats for months have predicted a “blue wave” in 2018, meaning widespread Democratic electoral victories from voters galvanized against the Trump administration.
President Trump and some Republicans, in turn, have predicted that November’s midterms will deliver a “red wave,” with Republicans gaining seats in the Senate and retaining control of the House.
Rubio was in Jacksonville, Fla., on Monday stumping for DeSantis, who is neck and neck in the polls with Democrat Andrew Gillum. Some polls have shown Gillum pulling ahead, while others indicate a statistical tie.
Both Gillum and DeSantis are backed by their party’s heavy hitters, with Trump throwing his full weight behind DeSantis while Gillum is endorsed by former President Obama and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).