Today’s elections went largely as expected, with incumbents in New York state taking seats back yet again. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) were all re-elected, as predicted.

While I do not endorse Katko’s campaign strategy, I was pleased to see him win, as he’s proven himself a principled voice in the House of Representatives. With Cuomo re-elected, residents should see more of the same from the state’s popular governor. Gillibrand’s win, though, is interesting. Gillibrand has been tossed around as a potential 2020 presidential candidate. From Gillibrand, we can expect to see an aggressive push for her agenda. Her win did seem to be a forgone conclusion, though, especially with Chele Farley’s (R) obvious national ambitions.

The so called “blue wave” should not be pointed to, despite both Senate seats staying blue. Both incumbents were popular, and the majority of voters in the state are Democrats.

But, both Gillibrand and Cuomo won with historically large margins of victory which does seem to show that, at least for popular Democrats, voters mobilized in droves. What’s also revealing is indications of lackluster presidential support from exit polls.

Heading into midterm elections, Trump’s approval rating sat at just about 40 percent.

And, per an NBC exit poll, two-thirds of U.S. voters said Trump was a factor in their 2018 midterm election vote.

The wide disparity in approval ratings and Trump’s relevance in voting suggests an increased unpopularity among more politically engaged citizens.

Harrison Garfinkle is a communication and rhetorical studies major. His column runs biweekly. He can be reached at hgarfink@syr.edu.

Published on November 6, 2018 at 11:05 pm