Roundtable: What are your takeaways from the 2022 general election?

Voters showed knee-jerk anger doesn't rule day

Actually, I feel pretty good about the American people after this election (even though I lost my own bid for re-election to the County Board). We’re still deeply divided politically, but in state after state, voters showed that knee-jerk anger doesn’t rule the day. Despite tough times economically, voters chose to reject anti-abortion extremism and to knock down the loudest election deniers.

Republicans may be starting to realize that Trump and his egomaniacal fixations are losers rather than winners.  We’ve stepped away from the brink, at least temporarily.  And perhaps that step was a slight shift to the left.  There will be somewhat fewer Trumpistas in Congress in January and more progressives, even as the Democrats lose the House.  Of course, Marjorie Taylor Green will still be there stirring the pot, and Wall Street will still exercise too much influence on the Congressional leadership, so we can’t just go back to sleep after casting our votes.  We need to stay engaged, keeping pressure on our elected representatives from Congress down to City Hall to address the monumental challenges we face to transition to a just, sustainable society. — David Amor

Maybe we'll see a loosening of Trump's grip on GOP

It is surprising that when 75% of voters say they are dissatisfied with the country’s direction, over 95% of incumbents were re-elected — a great tribute to gerrymandering.

The Democrats and Donald Trump worked to nominate a number of poor Republican candidates who failed as expected.

Apparently voters are convinced of Joe Biden’s competence, are not worried about crime or immigration and are more concerned with abortion than inflation. Pennsylvanians seem sure that John Fetterman will make an effective senator.

If the Republicans gain a majority in the House, they can at least tap the brakes to slow the runaway one-party crazy train of the last two years.

Given the poor performance of many of Trump’s candidates and the success of DeSantis and Kemp, maybe we will see a loosening of the grip The Donald holds on the party.

If the economy tanks next year, perhaps some sanity will return in 2024. — Harry Bulkeley

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Work invested by local candidates did equal results

My general overview of the election is that in some races no matter how much someone worked on their campaign, they lost badly. No amount of door knocking, palm cards, signs, or showing up seemed to make much difference. In other campaigns almost nothing was done and the candidate won. Some signs got put up and the candidate showed up at a couple of events and they prevailed. A few candidates received the expected results proportional to the work invested. Most of the time, work put in did NOT equal results.

Some people call elections a “numbers game”, which is often viewed as a derogatory phrase. The key word is “game”. Like other games and competitions, it is only fun if you win and there is a winner and a loser in each race. There is already strategizing going on from both sides for next time. — Jeannette Chernin

Voters wanted candidates who offer real solutions

Clearly, voters during these midterms were motivated by the SCOTUS overturning Roe vs. Wade and the economy. The results in Florida show the GOP making inroads with Latinos but not at the overall levels they hoped. Somehow Herschel Walker, a deeply flawed candidate who embodies every negative stereotype of a Black man, forced a runoff election with Sen. Warnock in Georgia. MAGA candidates didn't have a stellar night, and Democrats avoided the traditional midterm shellacking. Voters sent the message that they want candidates who offer real solutions.

The local races produced some surprising results. David Amor's re-election bid will be a setback to the county board. David earned the board members' respect with his leadership on the finance committee and contract negotiations. Dave Hansen's bid for Circuit Judge was an unexpected upset. He ran an incredible campaign and would have made an excellent judge. If Republicans spend the next two years on revenge investigations, the result of the midterms is an indicator they will pay a heavy price in 2024. — John Hunigan

Expect more decline in Illinois with Dems in charge

Once-upon-a-time it was reasonable to expect that the election results would be available by the morning after the election. Now, I anticipate that many of the results, nationally, may not be available until the end of the week at best and challenges to various races may delay some final outcomes for most of the rest of the month.

In Illinois specifically, the majority of our voters appear to want to continue increasing crime, violence, corruption, state debt, unfunded state pensions, inflation, and a dictatorial Governor. We can expect to see more companies/jobs fleeing our state, reducing tax revenue even more, switching the burden to the citizens who remain and those who can leave and will pay their taxes in other states.

No single corporation or individual taxpayer who leaves Illinois will break the state. In aggregate, however, the loss becomes significant. Who will be left to pick up the difference?  — Charlie Gruner

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Polling places were pleasant, election officials helpful, friendly

Of course, there were some outcomes I was happier about than others — the less extreme choices of Mike Halpin representing us in the state senate and Eric Sorenson in the House of Representatives, for example. But my main positive take-away was the election itself. At my polling place there were four different precincts voting. Each of their tables was fully staffed, the atmosphere was cordial and businesslike. The election officials were friendly and helpful and the voting proceeded as it should.

My surmise is that all the polling places in Galesburg and the county were similarly pleasant, welcoming and efficiently run. Those poll workers arrived at 5:30 in the morning and finished at 7:30 to 8 p.m., having put in a long day doing the peoples’ business. We all owe them a debt of gratitude. And, based on the more balanced news reports from around the country, these scenes were repeated nationwide, which is why some exit polling showed more than 80% of us reasonably confident that the elections were fair and cleanly run. — Laurie Muelder

Republicans lacked truth, Dems lacked clear messaging

The great Yogi Berra quotes come to mind: “It ain’t over till it’s over” and “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” Both quotes have midterm election merits. The biggest takeaways? The lack of principles by the Republican party (like truth) and lack of clearer messaging by the Democrats. The biggest losers? The Republicans living too close to Trump and The Big Lie. Then the New York Democrats who overreached on political gerrymandering (along with poor messaging). The Democrats of New York got slapped back into reality by a judge which eventually aided in congressional house losses. Locally, in most respects, the better candidates won. Esther Joy-King is now a two-time loser.  She actually played it smarter than most Trump endorsed candidates. After getting anointed by Trump, she distanced herself from him rather quickly. Her Trump “Thank you” postcard disappeared from her website after she won the primary. In summation, Yogi Berra was great at oxymoronic statements. I leave you with one by Trump regarding Republican chances in the midterms with emphasis on the moronic: “I think if they win, I should get all of the credit, and if they lose, I should not be blamed at all.” — Stephen Podwojski

Republicans finally have excuse to seek leader who can win

This was a nasty election, with attack ads that could have been flagged as “misleading information.” Nobody should be proud of the process.

It reminded me of Kennedy’s last year, when even his supporters were unhappy. Right after the assassination, I collected as much of the hate literature as I could, figuring that it would be a reminder of how dirty the politics had been. I put it into a box, then eventually lost the box. That’s probably the best thing with 2022.

Biden comes out the winner. He did no rigorous campaigning, his poll numbers were bad, and few Democratic candidates wanted his help, but this is a great midterm outcome for a sitting president.

The GOP may have won, too. Add Trump’s losing candidates to the two Georgia senate seats lost in 2020, and the party has an excuse to look for a leader who can win in 2024. — William Urban

The Community Roundtable runs each Sunday and is made up of local writers. Community writers answer one question each week in 150 words or fewer. 

This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Roundtable: What are your takeaways from the 2022 general election?