Teaching the Midterm Elections

The results of this year's midterm elections. Some states have not yet had Senate and/or gubernatorial races called. Those states have been shaded neither red nor blue.

The midterm elections provide a perfect opportunity to teach about geography! Examine the maps of results of the races. Have your students look for similarities between geographically close states (for example, the South). Explore social and historical connections that could explain the trends in color for certain geographic regions.

Midterm elections and election maps obviously also provide an opportunity to discuss the political system in the United States: the two party system, the Senate (especially term lengths and number of Senators per state), the House of Representatives (same distinguishing factors as the Senate), and the importance of governorships. Last, explain the importance of having a majority in the House and Senate, especially considering the political party of the president.