Democrat Beto O'Rourke won 63 percent of Latino voters in Texas, exit polls show, and Latinos seem to have voted in record numbers. But it wasn’t enough to win.
AP Photo/Eric Gay
Record high Latino participation shows this growing voter segment will turn out for parties and politicians who tackle issues they care about. That’s a big lesson for 2020 – and not just for Dems.
Sharice Davids, the first lesbian Native American Congresswoman.
EPA-EFE
New research shows that when ex-offenders are told they’re able to vote, their attitudes about democracy and justice improve.
Ted Cruz held off a spirited challenge from Democratic candidate Beto O'Rourke to help the Republicans hold onto the Senate in a big night for the GOP.
Michael Wyke/EPA
Key victories by pro-Trump, anti-immigrant candidates have confirmed the president’s hold on the Republican Party and his ability to turn out his conservative base.
Has marijuana legalization reached a tipping point?
AP Photo/David Dermer, File
Two-thirds of all US states now have some kind of legal pot, and support for legalization has never been higher. But ballot initiatives can only take legalization so far, researchers say.
House Democrats will finally have a say in economic policy.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Richard Forno, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Protecting democracy requires more than just technical solutions. It includes education, critical thinking and members of society working together to agree on problems and find solutions.
Democrat Kyrsten Sinema (left) and Republican Martha McSally are competing to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Jeff Flake.
AP Photo/Matt York
The Iffy Quotient measured misinformation on social media in the run-up to the recent elections. Facebook has gotten better at combating untrustworthy links, but Twitter still struggles.
Adding bots into an online discussion can definitely affect the views of real people.
Tatiana Shepeleva/Shutterstock.com
The Democrats are favoured to win control of the US House, but it may be closer than expected.
Screenshot from Republican John Rose’s campaign ad ‘Build the Wall,’ which equates all immigration with the Salvadoran gang MS-13.
John Rose For Tennessee via YouTube
Anthony W. Fontes, American University School of International Service
MS-13 is not the biggest or most violent gang in the US. But its grisly murders and Latino membership inflame Americans’ anxiety about immigration. GOP campaign ads stoke those fears to attack Democrats.
Lots of money is spent on campaigns. But is that a problem?
Shutterstock
Congressional midterm election spending will likely hit a record $5 billion. But the spending masks the main problem with US campaign financing: who gives the money and what they may get in return.
Hubert Humphrey, left, and Lyndon Johnson, right.
AP Photo/Charles Harrity, File
In 1968, Lyndon Johnson’s ridicule of presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey as weak and feminine tells us something about how a party of progressives still struggles with the idea of masculinity.
Evangelicals of color are among the fastest growing segments of the American population.
AP Photo/Tina Fineberg
Two of the fastest growing segments of the American population Latino and Asian-American voters - also are part of evangelical America. Their views on immigration are very different.
California’s Katie Porter, seen here with Democratic candidates and former president Barack Obama, is one of just three first-time female congressional candidates in California.
AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu
A record number of women are poised to win public office in 2018. But don’t look to California for help shifting the gender balance in Congress during the ‘year of the woman.’
A protester is arrested by Capitol Hill Police during the Kavanaugh nomination.
AP/Alex Brandon
A polarized electorate is divided into tribal camps that demonize each other. That’s the setting for the upcoming midterm elections. If the US continues down this path, democracy will suffer.