There was no blue wave for Democrats in the 2018 elections, but the party’s pickups were a respectable swell by historic standards.

On the numbers alone, voters’ split decision Tuesday — Democratic House control offset by an expanded Republican Senate majority — doesn’t match up to GOP midterm triumphs over the past quarter-century. They look set to gain at least 29 House seats but appeared to be on course to lose a net two seats in the Senate.