In various states, Democratic Senate candidates outperformed Kamala Harris, despite her loss in the presidential election.
Notably, Dan Osborn in Nebraska and Jon Tester in Montana had vote shares 7 points higher than Harris's, but still lost their respective races. In Arizona, Ruben Gallego's vote share was 4 points higher than Harris's and is currently leading. Colin Allred in Texas secured a 3-point higher vote share than Harris but failed to unseat Ted Cruz. Other notable performances include Jacky Rosen in Nevada, with a 2-point higher vote share, though the race remains too close to call, and Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, who won with a vote share less than 1 point higher than Harris's. Additionally, Elissa Slotkin in Michigan and Bob Casey in Pennsylvania had vote shares about 1 point higher than Harris' as of Wednesday morning.
According to a report by Vox, these results suggest that voters are distinguishing between the presidential contest and statewide races, with some Democratic Senate candidates performing better than expected.
This distinction raises questions about the nature of the backlash against Democrats. Was it targeted at Harris specifically or reflective of a broader anti-Democratic sentiment?
In U.S. politics, it's common for candidates to hope that a popular presidential nominee will bring success to statewide races. This trickle-down effect can give their party a boost in other contests.
However, the phenomenon of ticket-splitting can sometimes ruin these plans. Ticket-splitting occurs when voters cast ballots for candidates from opposing parties in the same election.
Despite being rare in today's hyper-partisan climate, ticket-splitting still happens. Interestingly, even with a Republican White House victory, some state Democrats are managing to come out on top. This suggests that voters are making deliberate choices, rather than blindly voting along party lines.
In 2012, six states split their tickets in eight races. For example, Montana and Missouri elected Democrats to the governor's office and the Senate but voted for Republican Mitt Romney for president.
In 2016, five states split their tickets, voting for either a Republican governor or a Democratic governor alongside their presidential choice and only three states exhibited split-ticket voting in 2020.
