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Tags: fivethirtyeight | pollster | house | majority | blue wave | gop

Midterm Final Call: Dems Clear Favorites, But No Sure Thing

california democratic representative nancy pelosi raises her left hand while speaking before a gaggle of mics
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

By    |   Monday, 05 November 2018 10:42 PM EST

Election statistician Nate Silver said Democrats are not certain to take the House in elections Tuesday — but certain factors are working against the GOP to keep their chances "fairly slim" of holding on to the majority.

"Democrats need a couple of things to go wrong to lose [Tuesday] because not very much is going right for Republicans," the FiveThirtyEight founder said in his final projections for the midterms.

Silver gave Democrats a roughly 86 percent chance of winning the majority in the House, which would require the party to pick up at least 23 seats Tuesday.

Silver argued Republicans still stand a chance of retaining the House majority thanks to a strong economy and favorably drawn districts. And Democrats will have to win the popular vote by at least 5 percentage points to secure the necessary House majority, he wrote.

Democrats, however, are aided by President Donald Trump's low approval ratings, the party's strong fundraising, a large number of GOP retirements, and a historical precedent of the president's party losing ground in the midterms.

"There's still a chance — about a 15 percent chance — that their voters won't turn out in the numbers they need, and they'll fall a few seats short," Silver wrote.

Republicans have a more favorable path in the Senate, where the party stands a roughly 80 percent chance of retaining the majority, Silver projected. 

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Politics
Democrats are not certain to take the House in elections Tuesday, but certain factors are working against the GOP to keep their chances "fairly slim" of holding on to the majority, according to election statistician Nate Silver.
fivethirtyeight, pollster, house, majority, blue wave, gop
227
2018-42-05
Monday, 05 November 2018 10:42 PM
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