Spring 2022 23 6-7% right now,” Sims said. “Prices are still rising, and the supply chain further complicates that. Currently, we have anywhere from 50 to 70 ships sitting off the coast of California just waiting to unload, and some of them have been there for over two months.” These are pressing issues Sims believes Republicans want to work to address. State elections are also a major focus in the 2022 midterms, with several governorships open, including Ohio’s. Just as American voters are evaluating President Biden and the Democratic Party to determine their loyalties in the midterm elections, voters from Ohio and elsewhere are analyzing their governors’ past decisions. Incumbent Ohio governor Mike DeWine is eligible to run for reelection, and there are also several new faces on the scene, including U.S. representative Jim Renacci and political unknown Joe Blystone. According to Sims, the results of this race will be difficult to predict. However, it’s no secret Gov. DeWine has struggled to find support from many within his own party, similar to President Biden. “Ohio is pretty much a Republican state, so on the face of it, Gov. DeWine should have an easy time getting reelected,” Sims said. “But he hasn’t been very popular. He’s been pretty hard-nosed on the vaccine, the mask mandates, closing down schools and lockdowns. It hasn’t played out well for a lot of people. A lot of Republicans are pretty mad at him.” While Ohio’s state elections remain up in the air at this point, it’s worth noting that other recent state election results align with predictions for a national Republican takeover. “Last year, a Republican governor was elected in Virginia for the first time in 10 years,” Sims said. “In New Jersey, the incumbent Democrat governor ran against a relatively unknown Republican and only barely won. This tells me the voters are looking for change.” Both on a state and national level, the 2022 elections have strong implications for America’s future. As previously mentioned, if this Republican turnover plays out the way many Americans predict, newly elected representatives are likely to address issues such as inflation and supply chain concerns. Given differences of opinion between the parties regarding issues such as vaccine mandates and welfare spending, it will be interesting to potentially see more Republicans working with the president. While this may be helpful in achieving the president’s goals for bipartisan legislation and cooperation, it’s also possible these differences in opinion will hinder progress toward any constructive goals. “In more recent decades, since the Clinton era, there’s been increasing animosity that leads to government gridlock when you have a president of a different party than Congress or when the houses of Congress are controlled by opposite parties,” Clark said. “If that happens, it’s not going to bode well for the next election cycle. It’s going to be a rancorous election cycle again.” Esther Fultz is a sophomore Social Work major and an Off-Campus and On-Campus writer for Cedars. She enjoys writing songs, spending time outdoors, drinking coffee and hanging with friends. A breakdown of the Senate currently: 48 Democrats, 50 Republicans, and 2 Independents.
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