Midterm Election Watch: Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho

Editor’s Note: With so much heat rather than light in the media world today, Liberty Nation presents the following series on the crucial midterm elections that will be taking place. These elections will likely determine the course of the Trump presidency and as such should be looked at with in-depth analysis. Thus, each week LN author Graham Noble will be giving our readers a state-by-state look at the upcoming elections. This week, he covers House and Senate Races in Georgia, Hawaii, and Idaho.

The state of Georgia has voted Republican by a margin of five or more percentage points in each of the last five presidential elections. In 2016, President Donald Trump received 50.8% of the vote to Hillary Clinton’s 45.6%. Hawaii has voted Democrat by large margins in each of those contests. 61% of Hawaiian voters chose Clinton in 2016, with just 29.4% voting for Trump. In Idaho, the voters chose the Republican candidate in the past five races. In 2016, Trump received the lowest percentage of votes for a Republican in any of the last five general elections; winning the state with 59.3%. Interestingly, Hillary Clinton received the lowest percentage of votes for a Democrat, with 27.5%.

Georgia

Neither of Georgia’s two Republican Senators, Johnny Isakson and David Perdue, are up for re-election in the November midterms. Perdue’s current term ends in January 2021 and Isakson’s in January 2023.

The Peach State has 14 congressional districts. Republicans represent 10 of those districts and Democrats, four. The state was very much in the national spotlight in 2017 when a special election was held for its 6th district, just north of Atlanta. Hoping to steal a normally safe Republican seat, Democrats poured huge amounts of money into the race in support of their candidate, Jon Ossoff. Republican Karen Handel won the election by a comfortable margin,

however.

Although not considered a totally safe seat for Republicans this November, Handel is likely to win a second term. Ossoff’s defeat in 2017 was a crushing disappointment for Democrats and it would seem unlikely that they would again expend so much money on another attempt to win the seat. The Democratic Party - needing to flip 24 House seats to become the majority – will certainly focus its time and money on other, more likely potential wins across the country. No other House seats for Georgia are considered likely to flip in November.

Hawaii

Represented in the Senate by two Democrats, Hawaii is a solidly blue state. There will likely be no surprises, come the midterms. Senator Mazie K. Hirono will be running for re-election. Senator Brian Schatz will not face a re-election race until November 2021. The island state has two congressional districts, both safe Democrat seats.

Idaho

Two Republicans represent Idaho in the U.S. Senate. Mike Crapo’s current term ends in January 2023 and James Risch ends his term in January 2021. Like Hawaii, Idaho has just two congressional districts and they are both safe seats but, in this case, for the Republicans.

None of the three states covered this week are likely to affect the balance of power on Capitol Hill. Of the three, Georgia would be the state to watch but it would seem unlikely that either the Democrats or Republicans will flip any House seats there; both parties will almost certainly be focusing their attention elsewhere.

Join us next week as our series focuses on House and Senate Races in Illinois and Indiana.