Understanding the 2022 U.S. Midterm Congressional Elections

This book brings together a group of respected congressional election scholars to explore how and why the 2022 midterm congressional elections unfolded as they did.

The 2022 midterm congressional elections were full of surprises. Most political observers expected the Republicans to gain substantial majority in House of Representatives, but instead, they secured a narrow majority in the House and lost control of the Senate. So, what happened? Did former President Donald Trump have a negative effect on Republican prospects in both the House and Senate? What was the role of recent abortion decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court in shaping outcomes in House and Senate elections? Did redistricting play a major part in shaping the electoral context in a way that favoured one party or the other? What about candidate quality— that is, did variation in the quality of congressional candidates matter? What was the role of social media in the 2022 congressional elections? In this book, the authors explore these important questions.

This book will appeal to scholars, students, and political analysts interested in U.S. elections, contemporary U.S. politics, public policy, and political behaviour.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Political Marketing.