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Although there are still several unknowns about the distribution of seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate, some significant seats in Congress have been confirmed, as well as key governorships and the response in several states to referendums on issues such as the abortion, recreational marijuana use, and slavery. We tell them.
One of the confirmed and most emblematic victories in the midterm elections in the United States is that of the seat in the Senate for the state of Pennsylvania.
That position was won by the Democrat John Fetterman against Republican Mehmet Oz, which after a close campaign changes the key position that was held by the conservatives.
“We jam them. We held the line. I never expected that we would turn these red counties into blue, but we did what we had to do and we had that conversation in each of those counties, ”Fetterman said in the early hours of this Wednesday, November 9, before a cheering crowd, in a room concert in Pittsburgh, where he decided to deliver his victory speech.
Fetterman, the current lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, thus defeated the candidate endorsed at several campaign rallies by former President Donald Trump, the wealthy heart surgeon, known for his appearances on television shows such as Dr. Oz.
This also becomes a significant win for Fetterman after earning it just six months after suffering a stroke. It happened just days before the primary election, so his opponent had questioned the Democrat’s fitness for office.
While Oz largely won the same rural counties Trump won in 2020, Fetterman outperformed President Joe Biden in those areas, helping him win the state.
This seat is key to the Democratic Party’s hopes of maintaining control of the upper house.
Meanwhile, in the House of Representatives the picture is different. Republicans won six seats previously held by Democrats, according to projections by Edison Research.
Snatching five positions from the progressives is enough for the red caucus to become a majority in the Lower House, if at the same time it maintains the positions it held in the last legislature.
What is known about the contests for governorships
The Democratic Party snatched from the Republican Party two governorships of the country: that of Massachusetts and of Maryland.
Although these are two progressive-leaning states, for the last few years they had been governed by Republicans, which means they will return to Democratic control.
Also, in New York, Democrat Kathy Hochul managed to maintain the governorship at the polls. In 2021, when she was serving as lieutenant governor, she rose to the highest office in the state following the resignation of Andrew Cuomo.
The Democrat thus became the first woman elected in the voting to lead that state.
Hochul survived a challenge from Republican Lee Zeldin, who campaigned hard on security.
In general, women from both political parties fared well, as a record number of them will serve as governors when they are sworn in. There could be as many as 12 female governors, surpassing the current mark of nine.
The blue bench was also successful in the governor races, winning in Wisconsin, Michigan Y Pennsylvaniabattlegrounds that were critical to Biden’s 2020 victory over former President Donald Trump.
For their part, the Republicans clung to the governorship in Florida, Texas Y Georgiaanother state Biden narrowly won two years ago.
One of the outstanding victories in this scenario is the re-election of Ron DeSantis as governor of Florida, facing Democrat Charlie Crist.
His victory provides him with a powerful argument if he finally confirms that he is seeking a candidacy for the Presidency by the conservative party, whose internal contest he would assume against Trump, who in recent days has suggested that he would run for the White House again.
The confirmed results on the referendums
In at least 36 states, citizens voted in referendums on abortion, recreational marijuana use and slavery.
Last June’s decision by the Supreme Court to reverse the landmark ruling known as ‘Roe versus Wade’ was a central issue in which voters overwhelmingly sided with the Democrats and in favor of the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy.
In MichiganAfter an intense campaign, citizens approved a sweeping amendment to the state Constitution guaranteeing the right to abortion and other reproductive health services.
The governor of that state, the Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, was re-elected after betting her campaign for re-election in great defense of the right to abortion. Whitmer prevailed over the Republican, Tudor Dixon, who had waged a campaign focused on cultural battles.
The voters of California Y Vermont they also gave the green light to constitutional amendments enshrining the right to abortion.
Meanwhile, the rejection of slavery at the polls has been confirmed in some states.
Although the US Constitution prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude, exceptions exist as a form of criminal punishment.
More than 150 years after enslaved Africans and their descendants were freed from oppression through the ratification of the 13th Amendment, the exploitation of low-cost labor by incarcerated people is permitted.
According to the results of the consultations, the use of prison labor is eliminated in at least three states: Alabama, Tennessee and Vermont.
The initiatives won’t force immediate changes in state prisons, but may invite legal challenges over the practice of forcing prisoners to work under the threat of sanctions or loss of privileges.
With Reuters, AP and local media
