The 2024 election cycle has brought major changes to American politics, with the Republican party winning control of the Presidency, Senate, and House of Representatives. This marks the first time since 2016 that the GOP has held both houses of Congress and the White House, opening the door for potentially massive political moves in Washington DC.
Former President Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris winning 312 electoral vote and winning all battleground states. Trump has also won the nationwide popular vote by 1.5%. Trump won certain states by larger margins than previously expected. Trump carried Florida by a staggering 13% and Texas by 14%. Harris did not flip any state or county in the country with most data showing the country shifting towards the Republican party. Many voters in this year’s election responded more frequently to issues such as abortion rights, cost of living, and inflation.
In the House of Representatives, the GOP maintained their majority but Democrats in the 2024 House elections had a net gain of two seats compared to the 2022 Midterm elections. In the Senate, the GOP won a majority by gaining four seats in Montana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. The GOP now have 53 out of 100 seats in the US Senate and 220 out of 435 seats in the House of Representatives. While the majority in the Senate is fairly sizeable, the Republican majority in the House is very slim, just two seats above the threshold of 218 to hold a majority. These slimmer majorities could lead to issues with moderate Republicans choosing to side with Democrats on a few bills. In Trump’s first year in office in 2017, Republicans in Congress proposed to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Moderate Republicans, notably Arizona Senator John McCain, sided with Democrats and voted to keep the Affordable Care Act alongside other moderate Republicans.
Abortion was a massive issue in this election with ten states having abortion legality on the ballot. Three out of ten states failed to pass abortion rights measures including Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Florida’s ballot measure generated controversy due to the 60% rule where ballot measures cannot pass unless they reach 60% of the vote. Nebraska’s statewide ballot featured two abortion measures, one to create a state constitutional right to abortion and another to limit abortion after the first trimester. The measure to create a constitutional right did not pass while the measure to restrict abortions will pass.
This year’s Senate elections saw a few larger-than-expected victories for Republicans. Republicans in Ohio and Pennsylvania unseated Democratic incumbent Senators Sherrod Brown and Bob Casey. Republican incumbents in Florida and Texas won with larger margins than expected. Texas Senator Ted Cruz defeated Colin Allred by 9%, and Florida Senator Rick Scott defeated Debbie Murcasel-Powell by 13%.
The 2024 elections have potential to mark a turning point in American politics, with Republicans expected to hold significant power across the federal government. The GOP trifecta is likely to impact legislative priorities. Many issues surrounding this election cycle include abortion rights, inflation, foreign policy such as Russian invasion of Ukraine, and cost of living.
