BOSTON (WHDH) - Andy Smith, Director of the UNH Survey Center, said his polling showed that the midterms were a referendum on President Trump.
Smith said motivated democrats showed up at the polls and helped drive the results.
“It was a question if those people who are least likely to vote, younger voters, they are the ones who are driving the energy, in the democratic party, it appears they turned out and voted,” Smith said.
This was evident in the Senate race in New Hampshire, where democrat Chris Pappas beat republican John Sununu.
“Among Sununu supporters, about 60 percent had nothing to do with Trump, but among Pappas supporters, 87% said their vote was a vote against Donald Trump,” Smith said.
Smith said that motivation carried down the ballot. Voters often choose candidates from the same party once they enter the voting booth.
“They typically vote straight ticket; the party that gets them to the polls in the first place, they are going to vote for that party all the way down the line,” Smith said.
Smith said republicans will now have to decide what comes next.
“They have to decide if [it is] Trump’s party or a more ideologically conservative republican,” Smith said.
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