Post Election Analysis: Governors Strong on Immigration Win Races, Despite No Red Wave

The 2022 midterm elections are over and while a week later the dust hasn’t quite cleared, it seems like we have a strong indication of where things stand.

While many pundits, pollsters, and political prognosticators had predicted a sweeping red wave across the country, the reality on Election Day was much different.

Some of the more interesting races were at the state level for governor, particularly for those of us in CAPS who have been closely tracking the immigration issue.

It appears immigration stalwart Kari Lake is poised to lose her gubernatorial bid in Arizona, although under state law it will potentially go to a recount due to the close nature of the vote.

Lake had promised to declare an invasion if elected. Despite this setback, two other governors with extremely strong immigration records registered decisive wins.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, both scored resounding victories in their races. As chronicled on CAPS, DeSantis had shipped illegal aliens from Florida to Martha’s Vineyard, and Abbott had sent illegal aliens from the Texas border to cities like New York and Washington, D.C.

This is a good sign for those who want stronger border enforcement that two of the governors with the best records on that issue will both remain in power.

At the federal level, Republicans cannot take control of the United States Senate.

A report in Fox News breaks everything down.

“Democrats now hold 50 seats compared to the 49 seats held by Republicans with one seat yet to be decided in Georgia where a runoff election will be held between Republican Herschel Walker and Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock on December 6th. Even if Walker were to win in Georgia, Democrats would still have control with Vice President Kamala Harris’s tie-breaking vote.” 

According to a report from Reuters, the Republicans do seem poised to take control of the House of Representatives. 

“Republicans so far have won 215 seats in the 435-member chamber, Edison Research projected, with 218 needed for a majority. Calls in tight races in states including California and Colorado later on Tuesday would likely allow Republicans to wrest control of the House from President Joe Biden’s Democrats, who trail with 204 seats.”

Due to the small margin of victory, Kevin McCarthy, the current minority leader who would be the natural successor to Speaker Pelosi, faces a potential fight for leadership. According to an article in CNN, Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona seems to be up for a longshot challenge.

The election may be over, but the border crisis is raging on. We can only hope that those in political power start paying attention to this issue and take action on this crisis.

CAPS will have a new blog up later this week with an update on the October border numbers.