Tuesday’s Elections: Cautious optimism for Democrats

By Robert A. Vella

Yesterday’s round of primary and special elections continued to show generally strong support for Democratic Party candidates nationwide.  Whether it will be enough, and can be sustained long enough, for Dems to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives in this year’s pivotal midterm elections remains to be seen.  November is still three months away and much can happen in the interim.  However, it is reasonable for Americans opposed to President Trump and his Republican supporters to be cautiously optimistic.  A key race in Ohio tells the story.

From:  Winners and losers from Tuesday’s elections

Almost any way you slice the numbers, Ohio’s 12th Congressional District in the northern Columbus suburbs wasn’t supposed to be competitive for Democrats. And yet their candidate, Danny O’Connor, still has Republicans biting their nails in this special election. With thousands of provisional ballots left to be counted, Balderson is ahead, but O’Connor has not conceded.

Democrats and some independent observers think that the fact that Democrats got this close in such a Republican-leaning district underscores two dynamics trending their way nationally:

1. Voters in Republican-leaning suburban districts are souring on Trump.
2. Largely because of that, a wave that will sweep Republicans out of power appears to be building.

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