Kevin Yoder

OVERLAND PARK, Kansas — Sharice Davids became one of the biggest stars of the 2018 midterms when she flipped a House seat in Kansas from red to blue. But when the Democrat passed through a suburban shopping mall here, with an entourage of aides one afternoon this summer, almost no one recognized her.

Davids didn’t seem to mind.

Kansas GOP Sen. Pat Roberts announced Friday that he would not run for re-election in 2020, launching what is expected to be a competitive Republican primary for his seat. 

“I have had the honor and privilege of representing Kansas for 16 years in the House, 22 years so far in the Senate,” Roberts said at an event in Manhattan, Kansas, on Friday. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would become the longest serving member of Congress in Kansas history.”

Texas Rep. Kay Granger will likely take over as the House Republicans’ lead appropriator in January after the GOP Steering Committee recommended her on Thursday.

The full House GOP Conference is expected to ratify the decision Friday. While it’s possible the conference could overrule the Steering panel recommendation, conference approval is typically a formality.

Every campaign season is defined by moments when the big picture starts to come into focus. A parade outside Kansas City where Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder is confronted about gun violence. A pizza parlor in New Jersey becomes an overflow town hall. Roll Call politics reporters Simone Pathé and Bridget Bowman and elections analyst Nathan Gonzales discuss such moments during the 2018 midterms, as well as how to address the dreaded election hangover we’re all suffering.

Both parties had something to celebrate after Tuesday’s midterm elections, depending on where they looked. But that split outcome — with Democrats winning the House, and Republicans gaining seats in the Senate — underscores the extent to which opinions about President Donald Trump shape today’s politics.

Republicans largely prevailed at the Senate level because they were running in red states where President Donald Trump performed well in 2016. The House saw the opposite outcome, but the reason was the same. Republicans largely struggled because they were running in places where Trump was unpopular.

The 116th Congress is on track to be one of the most diverse in history, but the legislature will still be overwhelmingly white and male compared to the overall U.S. population. Historic numbers of women won seats in the midterm contests, but the number of veterans is likely to fall or stay flat. 

At least 96 women running for the House have won their races, shattering the previous record of 84 women in the House. Eighty-three of the women who won were Democrats.

Updated Wednesday, 3:06 p.m. | Democrats have won a House majority, boosted by several key pickups of Republican-held districts that backed Hillary Clinton two years ago. 

The party needed a net of 23 seats to take over the chamber. 

The defeat of Virginia Republican Barbara Comstock is a bad sign for other Republicans trying to hang on in well-educated, suburban districts where President Donald Trump is unpopular. 

Democratic state Sen. Jennifer Wexton unseated the two-term Republican congresswoman Tuesday night. With 83 percent of precincts reporting, Wexton led Comstock 54 percent to 45 percent when The Associated Press called the race.

Heading into Election Day, Republicans once again occupy all 10 spots of Roll Call’s list of most vulnerable House incumbents, but for the first time this cycle, Iowa Rep. Rod Blum is not leading the pack.

While President Donald Trump won Blum’s 1st District in 2016, operatives from both parties have consistently identified the two-term congressman as the incumbent most likely to lose this cycle — until the past month.

First there was the shock of Donald Trump’s election. Then came the marches and protests. Next came the outraged phone calls to Congress.

Now comes the hard part: Getting people elected.