'Bloodbath across the board:' Democrats celebrate midterm victories

Ending two years of unified Republican control in Washington. Now this major shift breaks the Republican trifecta and it's forcing the Trump administration into a divided government. Fox reporter Rebecca Castor joining us live from Washington with the latest on all of this. Good morning, Rebecca. Good morning, Dave. A bloodbath across the board is how some GOP operatives here on the Hill are describing last night's results, with Democrats winning comfortable majorities in both the House and Senate. Sweeping nearly every battleground race, Democrats made history last night flipping red seats across the U.S. We just took back Texas. We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas. Democrat James Tallarico defeated Trump-backed Ken Paxton in the Senate race by more than 10 points. And Texans also elected their first Democrat governor in nearly four decades. You know how we do money out of? Money in York, Medicare 4, Michigan, we did it! Democrats also won big in Michigan, electing the first Muslim to the U.S. Senate, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed. In South Carolina, Republican Darlene Graham lost her family's Senate seat to Democrat Annie Andrews. And in Kansas, Democrat Adam Hamilton defeated Republican incumbent Roger Marshall. I'm a little bit surprised. I thought they'd do better. In his first reaction to last night's results, President Trump didn't blame himself for the major Republican losses, but congratulated Democrats and said he'd try to work with them on bipartisan issues. After a couple of months of vetoes, They'll call and they'll say, How do we get this stuff done? And we'll work together. A bright spot for the GOP last night was in Florida with Republicans, Ashley Moody and Byron Donalds winning their Senate in governor's races. But even those margins were close. Mr. President, I want you to hear We're from Florida that we are still ready. Votes are still being counted in Alaska, where there are concerns about two Senate candidates with the same name on the ballot. The Republican incumbent, the so-called real Dan Sullivan, is leading, but even with a GOP win there, Democrats will control the Senate. Dave. All right, Rebecca Castor in Washington. Thank you. And to talk more about this now, we're joined by David Schultz, political science professor from Hamline University in Minnesota. David, good morning. Good morning. Thank you for having me today. Oh, I'm glad you're here. I'm putting a whole bunch of things on your plate this morning. How would you describe what just happened yesterday? You know, I use a political science term. It was a critical realignment of American politics where people shifted, voters shifted, regions of the country in the South shifted, the Midwest. And so if I were to call it that, that would be the political science term. If I were to call it another term, I don't know what, blowout, Armageddon, David versus Goliath. I'm not sure what metaphor, but this is the best. Showing the Democrats have had a midterm election since 1974. And for you, even in Minnesota, there was big news as well. There was because Michelle Tafoya was the best chance that Republicans had for picking up a Senate seat from a Democrats across the country. And in the end, the Democrat Peggy Flanagan prevailed, becoming, if I remember correctly now, she'll be the first Native American U.S. Senator in America. So pretty big here. And the Democrats needed to hold Minnesota to hold the Senate, and the Democrats did their job. Very interesting. I was watching around the country, African-Americans, black candidates were winning in major cases, governors and senators. What are your comments on that? Well, again, this might very well be the best showing for African-Americans since what reconstruction. And we're talking 160 years ago. I mean, across the board, like look at even in Florida, an African-American as a Republican won. And we're looking at Even though the Voting Rights Act has largely been destroyed, I think what's happened is that African-Americans, as well as other persons of color, remain highly motivated and highly engaged and showed up. Two years ago, they did not show up. And... We see the results. This time they did. And again, if we look at not just African-Americans, but look at the Latino vote in Texas, my former home state down there, especially around the Rio Grande Valley, Latinos shifting away in droves from the Republicans. Well, now President Trump, now I know we're running out of time. President Trump extended a hand and said, I'm willing to work with Democrats. But at the same time, he said, expect some vetoes. Not a surprise on this one, but also expect at some point that as of today, he's a lame duck. He was going to be a lame duck anyhow, but now his influence goes down. The question becomes, if the most important rule of politics is survival, what will the Republicans do now that they no longer have to fear Donald Trump? Very interesting. Good question. David Schultz, our political science professor from Hamline University in Minnesota, thank you for being with us again on Mornings on 2.