The midterm elections turned out to be a wave, but not the all-GOP story in the headlines. No, the wave was ridden by incumbents, who bested the already high historical percentage of victory.
Typically about 92 percent of House incumbents win re-election, but this year 96 percent won — 372 of 389 seats. In the Senate, 80 percent usually win, but it hit 85 percent this year — 23 of 27 senators were re-elected. And governors led the way with 89 percent winning re-election, besting the typical rate of 73 percent.
“Incumbents had another good year, outperforming their post-World War II batting averages in all three categories,” said election analysts Kyle Kondik and Geoffrey Skelley of the University of Virginia.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
