The early results of the 2018 midterm elections are in, and while not every race has been finalized, results so far confirm the predictions of many pollsters. At the national level, Democrats were able to take back the House while sustaining loses in the Senate.
But the “blue wave” that the Democratic leadership foresaw – a reckoning after almost two years of Trump’s presidency filled with what Democrats and their voters see as transgressions and attacks on the very fabric of democracy – never materialized.
Many of the races across the nation proved to be extremely close, challenging some of the traditional wisdom about American politics, the most prominent of which may be the Texas Senate race, where the incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz barely escaped defeat to a fresh Democratic face in Beto O’Rourke.
Appalachia went primarily red, with most of the GOP incumbents, who were already in the majority, keeping their respective seats. Overall, however, incumbents across the region – regardless of party affiliation – had a good Tuesday.
Among the more surprising results were races for the Governor of Georgia, where as of Tuesday morning, the race is still deemed too close to call.
There, Democrat Stacey Abrams managed to generate a powerful momentum through traditional grassroots campaigning and with the aid of some top names in Hollywood (including Oprah), but it seems that the GOP’s final push for Brian Kemp in the race has kept the tally close. That push included a rally led by Pres. Donald Trump in Macon, Georgia, last Sunday and Kemp’s last minute accusation and investigation into hacking of the Georgia voter registration system, which he blamed Democrats for. Kemp currently serves as Georgia’s secretary of state.
Also Richard Ojeda, an unlikely contender for the House seat out of West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District, fell short on Tuesday. Despite the great enthusiasm Ojeda was able to generate among important voter blocks like teachers’ and workers’ unions, he lost by a significant margin of around 12 percent.
Below you will find all the results for Appalachian races we have followed and highlighted ahead of voting Tuesday.
The candidates bolded in the below chart have been declared winners in their races.
Alabama
| U.S. House | Governor | |
| GOP |
D2–Martha Roby (incumbent) D3–Mike Rogers (incumbent) D4–Robert Aderholt (incumbent) D5–Mo Brooks (incumbent) D6–Gary Palmer (incumbent) |
Kay Ivey (incumbent) |
| DEM |
D2–Tabitha Isner D3–Mallory Hagan D4–Lee Auman D5–Peter Joffrion D6–Danner Kline D7–Terri Sewell (incumbent) D7–Terri Sewell (incumbent) |
Walter Maddox |
Georgia
| U.S. House | Governor | |
| GOP |
D3–Drew Ferguson (incumbent) D6–Karen Handel (incumbent) D7–Rob Woodall (incumbent) D9–Doug Collins (incumbent) D10–Jody Hice (incumbent) D11–Barry Loudermilk (incumbent) D14–Tom Graves (incumbent) |
Brian Kemp |
| DEM |
D3–Chuck Enderlin D6–Lucy McBath D7–Carolyn Bourdeaux D9–Josh McCall D10–Tabitha Johnson-Green D11–Flynn Broady Jr. D14–Steven Foster |
Stacey Abrams |
Kentucky
| U.S. House | |
| GOP |
D1–James Comer (incumbent) D2–Brett Guthrie (incumbent) D4–Thomas Massie (incumbent) D5–Hal Rogers (incumbent) D6–Andy Barr (incumbent) |
| DEM |
D1–Paul Walker D2–Hank Linderman D4–Seth Hall D5–Kenneth Stepp D6–Amy McGrath |
Maryland
| U.S. Senate | U.S. House | Governor | |
| GOP |
Tony Campbell |
D-6 Amy Hoeber |
Larry Hogan (incumbent) |
| DEM |
Ben Cardin (incumbent)
|
D6–David Trone
|
Ben Jealous
|
Mississippi
| U.S. Senate | U.S. House | |
| GOP |
Roger Wicker (incumbent) |
D1–Trent Kelly (incumbent) D3–Michael Guest
|
| DEM |
David Baria
|
D1- Randy Wadkins D2–Bennie Thompson (incumbent) D3- Michael Evans
|
New York
| U.S. Senate | U.S. House | Governor | |
| GOP |
Chele Farley
|
D19- John Faso (incumbent) D22–Claudia Tenney (incumbent) D23–Tom Reed (incumbent)
|
Marcus Molinaro |
| DEM |
Kirsten Gillibrand (incumbent) |
D19–Antonio Delgado D22–Anthony Brindisi D23–Tracy Mitrano
|
Andrew Cuomo |
North Carolina
| U.S. House | |
| GOP |
D5–Virginia Foxx (incumbent) D10–Patrick McHenry (incumbent) D11–Mark Meadows (incumbent) D13–Ted Budd (incumbent)
|
| DEM |
D5–Denise Adams D10–David Wilson Brown D11–Phillip Price D13–Kathy Manning |
Ohio
| U.S. Senate | U.S. House | Governor | |
| GOP |
Jim Renacci
|
D2–Brad Wenstrup (incumbent) D6–Bill Johnson (incumbent) D7–Bob Gibbs (incumbent) D13–Christopher DePizzo D14–David Joyce (incumbent) D14–David Joyce (incumbent) D15–Steve Stivers (incumbent)
|
Mike DeWine |
| DEM |
Sherrod Brown (incumbent)
|
D2–Jill Schiller D6–Shawna Roberts D7–Ken Harbaugh D13–Tim Ryan (incumbent) D14–Betsy Rader D15–Rick Neal
|
Richard Cordray |
Pennsylvania
| U.S. Senate | U.S. House | Governor | |
| GOP |
Lou Barletta
|
D9–Dan Meuser D10– Scott Perry (incumbent) D12–Tom Marino (incumbent) D13–John Joyce D14–Guy Reschenthaler D15–Glen Thompson (incumbent) D16–Mike Kelly (incumbent)
|
Scott Wagner
|
| DEM |
Bob Casey Jr. (incumbent)
|
D7–Susan Wild D8–Matt Cartwright (incumbent) D17–Conor Lamb (incumbent 18th District) D18–Michael Doyle (incumbent)
|
Tom Wolf (incumbent)
|
South Carolina
| U.S. House | Governor | |
| GOP |
D1–Katie Arrington D2–Joe Wilson (incumbent) D3–Jeff Duncan (incumbent)
|
Henry McMaster (incumbent)
|
| DEM |
D1–Joe Cunnigham D2–Sean Carrigan D3–Mary Geren
|
James Smith
|
Tennessee
| U.S. Senate | U.S. House | Governor | |
| GOP |
Marsha Blackburn
|
D1–Phil Roe (incumbent) D2–Tim Burchett D3–Charles J. Fleischmann (incumbent) D4–Scott DesJarlais (incumbent) D6–John Rose D7–Mark Green
|
Bill Lee |
| DEM |
Phil Bredesen |
D1–Marty Olsen D2–Renee Hoyos D3–Danielle Mitchell D4–Maria Phillips D6–Dawn Barlow D7–Justin Kanew |
Karl Dean |
Virginia
| U.S. Senate | U.S. House | |
| GOP |
Corey Stewart
|
D5–Denver Riggleman D6–Ben Cline D9–Morgan Griffith (incumbent)
|
| DEM |
Tim Kaine (incumbent)
|
D5–Leslie Cockburn D6–Jennifer Lewis D9–Anthony Flaccavento
|
West Virginia
| U.S. Senate | U.S. House | |
| GOP |
Patrick Morrisey
|
D1–David McKinley (incumbent) D2–Alexander Mooney (incumbent) D3–Carol Miller
|
| DEM |
Joe Manchin III (incumbent)
|
D1–Kendra Fershee D2–Talley Sergent D3–Richard Ojeda
|
This article was originally published by 100 Days in Appalachia, a nonprofit, collaborative newsroom telling the complex stories of the region that deserve to be heard. Sign up for their weekly newsletter here.
