Power Shift in Washington: Voters Deliver Strong Rebuke to Trump, Approval Ratings Sink Underwater in Multiple Deep Red States

November 4 — CNN Washington Bureau Chief and Political Director David Chalian interpreted the power shift in Washington: a major change has occurred in the U.S. power structure, with Democrats having won both the House and the Senate, and Trump's final two years in office will be starkly different from the first two. Voters delivered a strong rebuke and rejection of Trump in the elections. In key Senate states and even deep-red states, the president's approval ratings were underwater. Democrats won seats in Texas, Ohio, Iowa, South Carolina, and elsewhere — states Trump won by double-digit margins just two years ago and carried in three consecutive presidential campaigns.

Shifting sources include alienation of independent voters, the return of Latino and young voters to the Democratic Party, and Trump's failed economic stewardship and the public's concerns over the cost of living — all of which became important reasons for the Republicans' disastrous midterm defeat.