Donald Trump and his allies didn’t suffer the rout that pollsters and commentators had predicted in the 2018 mid-term elections. But Democrats made significant gains across the US; and the victory of several rising progressive stars in particular suggests the beginning of a new era.
No ‘blue wave’
Up for grabs in the 6 November mid-terms were all House of Representative seats, a third of Senate seats, and countless state governorships and state legislature seats across the country. And due to the unpopular and highly divisive presidency of Donald Trump, many commentators were predicting a ‘blue wave’ – a Democratic Party landslide victory. But that didn’t happen.