Midterms 2018: Take It To The House

WAMU 88.5

Published October 18, 2018 at 10:06 AM EDT

A woman dressed as a suffragette casts her ballot for the midterm elections at the Polk County Election Office on October 8 in Des Moines, Iowa. Today was the first day of early voting in the state.

No, this year’s elections aren’t presidential. But they’ve taken on a new resonance due to the strong backlash among Democrats to the policies of President Trump and his majority-Republican Congress.

In this show, we’re talking about the House of Representatives. (We know that you really want to talk about the Senate contest between Beto O’Rourke and Ted Cruz … and, okay, we probably will.)

FiveThirtyEight says that Democrats have a five in six chance of being able to take the House.

Democrats need to pick up 24 seats to get control of that chamber.

One toss-up race FiveThirtyEight identified is the Texas 7th, in which incumbent Republican John Culberson is running against Democrat Lizzie Pannill Fletcher.

From The Houston Chronicle:

The Culberson-Fletcher face-off in the Seventh Congressional District is widely considered one of the most competitive in the nation, with control of the U.S. House potentially at stake in the Nov. 6 elections.

The district, which covers much of the west side of Houston and the Harris County suburbs, has traditionally been a strong GOP enclave. But with changing demographics, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton narrowly beat Donald Trump in the 2016 election, making Culberson a target in the upcoming midterm elections.

What are some other races to watch this election cycle? How are candidates aiming to turn their voters out in a political climate of anxiety and fear? And is the election largely a referendum on someone who isn’t running at all — President Trump?

We’re broadcasting live from New Hampshire Public Radio to get you the latest on House races this midterm election season.

Produced by Paige Osburn. Text by Gabrielle Healy.

GUESTS

Casey McDermott, Data and investigations reporter, New Hampshire Public Radio;@caseymcdermott

Domenico Montanaro, Lead political editor, NPR; @DomenicoNPR

Juana Summers, National political reporter, Associated Press; @jmsummers

Katie Sanders, Managing editor, PolitiFact;@KatieLSanders

For more, visit https://the1a.org.