“Voter enthusiasm led to a Democratic landslide in the US midterms”

[Financial News] The Democrats’ landslide victory in this year’s US midterm elections appears to have been due to the second-highest voter turnout in more than 100 years.
On the 7th (local time), The Washington Post (WP) reported that, according to a preliminary tally by the University of Florida Election Lab, 49% of Americans eligible to vote participated in this midterm election. Although that falls short of the 50% turnout in the 2018 midterms—the highest since 1914—it is the second-highest turnout on record.
The Democrats’ gains were especially pronounced in areas with high voter turnout. Turnout was 65.7% in Maine, 65.2% in Minnesota and 63.2% in Michigan, and Democratic candidates won all three states’ US Senate races.
Experts said that President Trump’s ability to spur turnout not only among his supporters but also among his opponents was behind the high turnout. Tom Bonier, a former Democratic political strategist, said, “When it comes to turnout, Trump has had a greater impact than anyone over the past 100 years,” adding that “he has the ability to bring both supporters and opponents to the polls.” He also noted, “This time, though, it appears that some Republican voters turned their backs on him and gave up voting.”
Darren Shaw, a Republican pollster and professor at the University of Texas, also noted that “contrary to initial expectations, the high turnout worked in the Democrats’ favor.” He explained, “Voters dissatisfied with economic issues, including rising gasoline prices resulting from the Iran war, had previously been less likely to vote, but this time they came out to the polls in large numbers.” He went on to describe President Trump as “a person with remarkable mobilizing power,” while also calling him “the person who creates the strongest counter-mobilization effect in history.”
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