AMHERST, N.Y. (WKBW) — A panel of University at Buffalo political science experts says Tuesday's midterm election results are considered “seismic," as a "blue wave" swept through the U.S.
Democrats won big — both locally and nationally — taking control of both the House and the Senate. As of the latest count, Democrats won 250 House seats and 54 Senate seats.
"It's really hard to find any bright spots for Republicans last night," said Jacob Neiheisel, professor of Political Science at UB.
WATCH: UB experts unpack the Democratic 'blue wave' in historic midterms
The experts described the outcome as a sweeping rejection of the current administration's agenda.
"This was a complete and total repudiation of the Trump administration's policies," said Manoj Mate, professor of Law at UB.
Mate said the party's broad coalition strategy was key to its success.
"Big tent approach that Democrats adopted was critical, recognizing that you can't have a one-size-fits-all solution or approach to elections," Mate said.
The experts say the economy, higher costs and inflation were major issues at the polls. But exit polls also showed voters were deeply concerned about corruption and democracy.
"People were pushing for greater transparency and for democratically held elections," said Conor Dowling, professor of Political Science at UB.
"But President Trump signaling accepted results, I think, is a big thing for democracy, and probably consistent with what maybe the Republican party was seeing in some of the exit polls," said Dowling.
Neiheisel offered a more cautious take on how voters interpret those issues.
"As somebody who studies political extremism, I may be less hopeful that the electorate is seeing things like democracy and things like corruption in precisely the same way. I think that both Republicans and Democrats are saying those things, but I think they mean very different things when they are saying those things," Neiheisel said.
The panel says it was a historic night, with a record number of African American governors elected.
"We have the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate from New Hampshire, Senator-elect Pappas," Dowling said.
Here in New York State, Gov. Kathy Hochul pulled out a big landslide win against Republican opponent Bruce Blakeman, with 60% of the vote. I asked the experts about Hochul's campaign strategy of fighting Trump policies.
"I would venture to say that her number one aired ad was one putting Donald Trump and Bruce Blakeman on the same page. So, yeah, she correctly sussed out that this is a wave election and it's a referendum," Neiheisel said.
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