With most midterm results finalized and the majority of races concluded, we can finally ask the question: what changed?

The largest changes occurred in the house and governor’s races. From the 2020 margin of 222 – 213 favoring Democrats, to the current results being 213 to 220 favoring Republicans, there are few races yet to be called. All in all, Democrats in the House of Representatives lost a total of 9 seats, and Republicans gained 9 seats, giving them a majority and therefore flipping the House of Representatives to the Republicans.

Governor’s races on the other hand went largely to the Democratic party. As the margin went from 28 – 22 (favoring Republicans) to 26 – 24 (still favoring Republicans). Although this might seem insignificant, governor’s races, much like senate and unlike house, are not dependent on population, and since states vary drastically in their populations, a 26 – 24 split could have Democrats, although holding less states, holding a greater population. Not only did these governor races shift control of many states, but there were also many historic races. In Maryland, Wes Moore as elected as their first black governor; in Massachusetts, Maura Healy became the first openly lesbian governor in the entire country.

In the Senate, Democrats will likely hold a 50 – 50 split, with VP Kamala Harris often casting the deciding vote, which is the status quo. If they win the Georgia runoff election, they could have a 51 – 49 split with one more seat than they currently hold.

Not much will most likely change for students at Towson High, but these races have changed many things. Something that will more directly impact us will be the election of Wes Moore, making a large change in the state’s policies. Something that will directly affect us less will be the flipping of the house, though it will cause many changes in the US and around the world. A good example of this is the change in speakers, from the current speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, to a Republican speaker (most likely Kevin McCarthy). This, among other changes in the house will change things like government spending, and most likely stop many new bills from getting passed, like a proposed ban on automatic and possibly even semi automatic weapons, and as Kevin McCarthy and many other representatives have threatened, aid to Ukraine could greatly be reduced, or even ceased entirely.

All in all, no matter which party you affiliate with, and which candidates you prefer, many changes have occurred, providing benefits and disadvantages to both parties. We can look forward to finally being part of these changes as many of us will be able to vote for the first time in upcoming elections.