Midterm Congressional Results Analysis

Our voice is heard. Now the focus turns to what is next. Let's bring in Washington Sun politics and policy reporter Oriana Gonzalez with how the election is reshaping the political conversation. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm curious based on what we saw yesterday and there were some surprises and some realized expectations. Who do you think political stock rose the most and who do you think maybe fell the most based on last night? I mean, the basic answer to that question is political stock that rose was Democrats, and the one that went down was Republicans. But one thing that we have to consider here is that the number of seats in the House at the very least that Democrats got is so large that what we're looking at is just a huge win for Hakeem Jeffries here. Because it's not necessarily just that he has the majority that he needs to go party line if he wanted to. But he also has a majority that he needs to prevent any sort of faction division. He will not go through what Mike Johnson is going through right now, which is he has such a narrow majority that just a few Republicans can ruin a vote for him. That's probably not gonna be the case for King Jeffrey starting in January, and that's huge. And that's the key there is starting in January. They'll have time to put the plan together, but we have to get there first. So what happens in these couple of months now between now, November 4th, and when the next Congress is sworn in in January? We know that the lame duck session is going to be incredibly busy. I mean, they're looking at funding. There might be maybe a reconciliation bill if Republicans are thinking that way. But what I heard from Democrats last night, essentially, after all these election results started to come in, was essentially saying that the Republicans can't resume governance After this election, the way. That they have so far. The voters spoke really loud here. They gave Democrats wins that I don't think anybody really expected to see in this way. And so when we're looking at what happens at the lame duck, Republicans and particularly because they're gonna have to consider they're running for reelection in 2028. Do they want to be aligned with President Trump for the next couple of months until this new Congress takes over? Or are they listening to what the voters are telling them right now? You know, it's interesting, and we can go back a couple of years now, and each respective party, you seem to be pushed more toward the fringe, right? Either you want more conservative or you want more progressive. Do you see any of that changing now as we look forward to two years now of presidential campaigning? Yeah, the first thing that I will say when I was looking at the results, again, I'm very focused on the House, it is, in my opinion, the best chamber, was that moderate Democrats in particular had big, massive wins, right? They continue to be kind of the majority of the Democratic caucus in the House. And even if we extend to the Senate, I mean, we're looking at South Carolina. We're looking at potentially Mississippi. I mean, Texas, these are states that were wins, not for progressives, but for moderate Democrats, those Democrats in the middle that appeal. To Democrats, to independents, and to moderate Republicans. So, yes, we're in an era where, you know, the base kind of seems to lean maybe progressive or conservative in one way or the other. But what we saw last night is that there is this interest in this kind of middle ground of both. And that's where these moderate Democrats are seeing massive, massive wins. Yeah, the political cycle, as you and everybody else is aware, is so short sometimes. We'll see if, you know, if that is still the mindset now. After we get this new Congress installed at the beginning of the year. Oriana, thanks for joining us this morning. I appreciate your patience as we were listening to the Maryland governor speak there for a while. But Washington Sun's politics and policy reporter, Oriana Gonzalez, joining us. You can find out more information, of course, at the Washington Sun. Follow them for your political headlines as well as right here on Fox 5.