Students Give Opinions on the Midterms

Three candidates faced off as the race for governor of Iowa came to a close. Students give their opinion on the gubernatorial race and the midterms as a whole.

On Tuesday, November 6, Iowans got out and voted at the 2018 midterms. All 4 of Iowa’s house of representatives seats were open as well as state senate elections. The race for governor was between incumbent, but not elected governor Kim Reynolds, against Businessman Fred Hubbell, who had never held an office position.

With Reynolds win against Hubbell, she is the first ever elected female governor of iowa.

Students, who have been very politically active in the past few years, have opinions on the midterm turnout and the gubernatorial race that took place. We talked to them on the days leading up to the midterms, and the days following.

Mr. Aitken, an AP United States History teacher said,  “The midterms don’t get enough attention. The voter turnout is usually low.” He thinks that  “Students should be interested, because even if they can’t vote, they can influence representatives, and they will be able to vote soon.” 

Parker McBride 22’, who identifies as a conservative stands with Reynolds.  “She’s been a very good governor, and generous to the people. If Fred Hubbell wins, well, good for him, but that will be s*** on our state.”

Mallika Huynh 21’, a liberal, has a clear opinion on the matter of the problems that are facing the midterms “I’d say the divisiveness, it’s not so much any certain issue (of) the president, and congress and the supreme court, instead of fixing these problems their just creating the parties to move further and further apart, you should just have the United States of America united.”  Huynh is very pleased with the results of the election “ I am really happy that the Democrats got the house because now there’s at least some level of balance in our government, I wish the Democrats got the senate too, but that’s always a bit of a stretch.”

With the midterm results now out, we can see the clear outcome. History has been made in Iowa, with three women, namely Kim Reynolds, Cindy Axne, and Abby Finkenauer elected into office by Iowa voters.

The Republicans won the Senate while the Democrats won the house. 97/100 Senate seats have been declared, and 418/435 House seats have been declared.

“I was expecting a blue (democratic) wave, but I thought it would be bigger. The democrats still gained steady footing in Iowa with 2 flipped seats,” Mr. Aitken stated.

“Overall, I was happy with the results, but Blum getting beat was a big downfall to the Republicans,” McBride said about the results.