DEMS/ELECTION/HOUSE OF REPS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Democrats have won back control of the House of Representatives, slicing through Republican-held suburbs where President Donald Trump has proven toxic to undo a Republican majority once thought to be impervious until the next round of redistricting. From Florida to Texas to Illinois, Republican incumbents who survived reelection in 2016 even as Trump lost their districts fell decisively to Democratic challengers who linked them to the president and attacked their votes on health care and taxes last year, delivering a check-and-balance message to the president. The results sprang from a fundamental realignment of the Republican Party, which has withdrawn from its old suburban bastions under Trump and established new strength in rural areas. The GOP base ‘has migrated from the country club to the country,’ said former Rep. Tom Davis, who once led the National Republican Congressional Committee. The first flip of the night, in Northern Virginia, proved emblematic: Democrat Jennifer Wexton, a state senator, beat Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock, who won reelection in 2016 even as Trump lost badly in the district.”
–Elena Schneider, “Democrats carve through GOP suburbs to take House,” Politico, November 6, 2018 5:54 pm