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Democrats' Midterm Gains Put Electoral College in Jeopardy by 2028
· Confirmed
In Short: Democrats' midterm victories have bolstered efforts to enact the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which could bypass the Electoral College.
United States Capitol Visitor Center (Wikidata P18).
Undersold? How did midterm polling hold up to 'Blue Wave' on election night? | Sunrise. The Hill
Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley discussed criticism of the Electoral College by former Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris on 'America Reports,' highlighting the new front in the fight over how America chooses its president.
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement that would require participating states to award their presidential electors to the candidate who wins the nationwide popular vote, once states representing at least 270 electoral votes join.
Currently, 18 states and Washington, D.C., have enacted the compact, totaling 222 electoral votes.
With Democrats' recent gains, the compact needs only 48 more electoral votes to reach the 270 threshold.
The NPV campaign has identified sponsors in all five potential additions following the midterms, and plans to begin pushing bills before or early in the 2027 legislative sessions.
If the compact takes effect, participating states would award their electors to the candidate who wins the most votes nationwide, leaving the Electoral College formally in place but making the national tally decisive.
Steven Rogers, a political-science professor at Saint Louis University, noted that Democrats were focused on the Electoral College after 2016, but that focus has waned in recent years.
The shift reflects a political calculation: demonstrations can express public dissatisfaction, but electoral participation can change the balance of power in Congress and increase pressure on the administration.
What this adds
The compact could be activated if four additional states join, pushing the total to 272 electoral votes.
Steven Rogers noted that Democrats' focus on the Electoral College has waned in recent years.
Background
The compact could be activated if four additional states join, pushing the total to 272 electoral votes.
Steven Rogers, a political-science professor at Saint Louis University, noted that Democrats were focused on the Electoral College after 2016, but that focus has waned in recent years.
An electoral college is a body of representatives empowered to formally select a candidate for a specific office, most often the head of state. Electoral colleges exist in several countries and may serve to balance regional representation or ensure indirect election mechanisms.
What's confirmed
- Rosenstiel said the compact would apply to the 2028 election only if states representing at least 270 electoral votes join before July 20 of that year.
- If the four states join, their combined 50 electoral votes would push the compact to 272 and activate it.
What's still developing
- The last two presidential elections, with 2024 counting more than 2020.
- Bracing for a highly defensive electoral fight, the GOP currently holds a narrow 218–212 advantage in the House and a 53–45 majority in the Senate.
- The Electoral College, by contrast, was structured to give both populous and smaller states a meaningful role in choosing the president.
- Under the current electoral system, every state except Maine and Nebraska awards its electoral votes to the candidate who wins the statewide vote.
- Moreover, Trump’s attempt to hold onto power on January 6, 2021 by sending a violent mob to stop the certification of the electoral votes could never have happened if the president were chosen by a simple majority.
- The party also scored significant Senate victories in South Carolina and North Carolina and made further gains as voters delivered an electoral setback to President Donald Trump’s Republicans.
- In 2017, the first big electoral test of Trump’s first term, Democrats flipped 15 seats in Virginia’s House of Delegates, and control of the chamber came down to a single district.
- Relations between U.S. President Donald Trump and the Catholic Church have reached a new level of tension after the White House published a video showing 12 bishops praying for him in the Oval Office, shortly before the midterm elections.
- And somehow, despite this flagrant lawlessness, he had won more convincingly than ever before, winning not only the Electoral College but also, for the first time, the popular vote, thanks in part to unprecedented gains with Black, Latino, and young voters, particularly men.
- Donald Trump's electoral setback might give New Delhi and Washington space to reset relations, but there is no guarantee that the US will actually change its approach to India.
- There are leaders remembered for their soaring political rhetoric, others for electoral victories, and some for the institutions they leave behind.
- Smiley had already voted early and encouraged others to participate in the electoral process, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Sources
- Fox Newslink
- Mother Joneslink
- Newsweeklink
- Politicalwirelink
- Snopeslink
- Warpbeatlink
- Washingtonexaminerlink
- Kyivpostlink
- Talkingpointsmemolink
- Informatlink
- Newrepubliclink
- DWlink
- Middleeasteyelink
- Kmphlink
- The Indian Expresslink
- Tehrantimeslink
- The Hill — video link
- NewsNation — video link
- Lincoln Square — video link