DEMS/ELECTION/GOP/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “The Ohio special election for a House seat that’s been in Republican hands for three decades was too close to call Tuesday [8-7-18] night. But that it was close at all shows just how daunting the political landscape facing Republicans is headed into November’s midterm elections. Republicans spent millions of dollars to avoid an embarrassing loss, and President Donald Trump visited the district just days before the election. With early and election day votes counted, Republican Troy Balderson has a 0.9-percentage-point edge over Democrat Danny O’Connor, with absentee and provisional ballots remaining. The other closely watched race where Trump was involved, the Kansas GOP gubernatorial primary, continued into the early Wednesday morning hours. The result there will be a test of Trump’s endorsement and should Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach prevail, Democrats believe they could win in the deep-red state (Note: We’ll update this piece as results are finalized)…The neck-and-neck race in a ruby red Ohio district was the latest evidence that the Republican majority in the House is in peril. Why? Look at the makeup of the district. Trump in 2016 and Mitt Romney in 2012 each won there by 11 percentage points. There are 68 Republican-held House districts that are more favorable for Democrats, per the Cook Political Report’s ‘Partisan Voter Index,’ which factors in recent election results — and Democrats only need a net gain of 23 seats to take control.”
–Eric Bradner and Gregory Krieg, “Republicans should panic about the House, and other takeaways from Tuesday’s elections,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, August 8, 2018 11:55 am