10 of the most inspirational political events of 2018

2. Midterms had record voter turnout

Midterms are notoriously hard to push. They rarely have the drama of a presidential election, where people have a single person to rally around as they elect someone to the highest office in the nation. But, thanks to varying rules about political terms, there will always be another election in the middle of that president’s four-year term.

In those elections, voters are obliged to pay attention closer to home. They might be asked to focus on the governor’s mansion of their state instead, or on a Senate seat. If they’re going to vote, they must definitely look to the House of Representatives, since people elected there are limited to two-year terms as opposed to the six years a senator gets.

For many people, it’s hard to get engaged. Midterms can be, well, pretty boring. Not this year, though. In 2018, voter turnout went to levels that haven’t been seen in over a century. 50.1 percent of all eligible voters put in a ballot this year. The last time this many people went to the polls between presidential elections was in 1912, when 50.4 percent of voters made an appearance.

People also made more campaign contributions, volunteered more for political causes, and were generally more well informed and vocal than they had been in many years.

Why the stupendously high levels of engagement? The rise of Donald Trump has clearly put the fire under many Democratic and left-leaning people. In the wake of the 2016 elections, quite a few blamed lackadaisical attitudes amongst potential voters for divided votes and Trump’s win.