# 2022 Midterm Elections [[Joe Biden]] administration midterm. Republicans gained ~9 House seats and took the House by a narrow margin (~222-213); Democrats gained 1 Senate seat and expanded Senate majority. The widely-anticipated "**red wave**" did not materialize — Republicans substantially underperformed expectations, particularly in Senate races and in competitive House districts. The drivers: **post-*Dobbs*** abortion-rights backlash (*Dobbs* decided June 24, 2022), **January 6 / election-denial** backlash against MAGA-aligned candidates, and Biden-era inflation as a partial Republican advantage. ## Result - **House:** Republicans gained ~9 seats; took narrow majority (~222 of 435 Republicans vs. ~213 Democrats in the 118th Congress) - **Senate:** Democrats gained ~1 seat; expanded majority (~51 of 100 Democrats and Independents vs. ~49 Republicans) - **Chambers flipped:** House — flipped to Republican (narrowly) - **Net change:** Modest Republican House gain; Democratic Senate strengthening — "red ripple" rather than "red wave" ## Notable - ***[[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization]]*** (decided June 24, 2022) overturning *[[Roe v. Wade]]* produced sustained Democratic political-mobilization energy that substantially shaped down-ballot outcomes - **Election-deniers** running in 2022 — candidates who had endorsed [[Donald Trump]]'s 2020 stolen-election framing — disproportionately lost competitive races, particularly in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan - **[[John Fetterman]]** (D-PA) defeated Dr. [[Mehmet Oz]] for an open Senate seat; **[[Raphael Warnock]]** (D-GA) won his runoff against [[Herschel Walker]] - **[[Kevin McCarthy]]**'s January 2023 election as Speaker required **15 ballots** — the longest Speaker election since 1856 — reflecting MAGA-aligned [[House Freedom Caucus]] members' demands; McCarthy was ousted by his own caucus October 3, 2023 - **[[Mike Johnson]]** (LA) ultimately took the Speakership October 25, 2023 after [[Steve Scalise]] and [[Jim Jordan]] failed to assemble majority support ## Connections - [[Joe Biden]] — Sitting president; his agenda substantially blocked by the Republican House. - [[Donald Trump]] — Out of office; the 2020 election-denial framing damaged Republican candidates. - [[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization]] — June 2022 SCOTUS ruling; substantial driver of Democratic political mobilization.