It's a Numbers Game: The Numbers Behind America’s Shifting Electorate & the 2026 Midterm Outlook

Summary

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Podcast Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Episode: It's a Numbers Game: The Numbers Behind America’s Shifting Electorate & the 2026 Midterm Outlook
Host: Ryan Grusky (Note: The main content is delivered by Ryan Grusky, not Clay or Buck)
Date: December 4, 2025

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Overview

This episode dives deep into recent shifts in the U.S. electorate, examining special election results, turnout trends, and the potential outlook for the 2026 midterms. Using statistics, historical context, and a touch of humor, Ryan Grusky analyzes the numbers behind Democratic and Republican performances, discusses the limits of future “wave” elections, and answers listener questions about key issues such as social inflation and the role of abortion in recent voting patterns.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Special Election Trends and What They Reveal (02:29–09:06)

• Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District Special Election:

  • Republican Matthew Van Epps won by 9 points (54–45) over Democrat Afton Ben.
  • This is notable as Trump previously carried the district by 22 points, signaling a 13-point swing toward Democrats.
  • Ryan Grusky:

    “It spells what's coming up in the future and what's been going on... and where voter sentiment is.” (03:21)

  • Despite traditionally strong Republican advantage, Democrat voter turnout is high and independents are shifting due to economic worries—especially inflation and the job market.

• Broader Special Election Data:

  • Since 2024, Democrats have overperformed by an average of 11 points in 62 special elections—an historic margin.
  • Previous Democratic wave years (2017–2018) showed only a 6-point average swing in special elections.
  • If the midterms were held today, Democrats would likely match or exceed their 2018 performance.
  • However, Republican gerrymandering may help shield many GOP seats from flipping, limiting the true breadth of any “wave.”

2. Gerrymandering and Geographic Patterns (09:06–11:58)

• Ryan emphasizes how effective Republican gerrymandering is at consolidating their hold over certain states (e.g., Texas, North Carolina, Florida).
• Democratic overperformance is concentrated in strongholds like Nashville (which swung 20 points more Democratic than in 2024), but this may not be enough to flip lean-GOP exurbs and suburban districts.
• “If they were fine in Virginia, which was a catastrophic turnout for Republicans, I think they'll be fine nationwide.” (11:20)

3. What Constitutes a “Wave Election”? (15:47–24:39)

• Subjectivity of ‘Wave’ Definition:

  • A wave is defined as a net change of two dozen seats or more.
  • Only four such waves occurred in the last two decades: 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2018.

• Evolving Turnout and Realignments:

  • Trump’s rise increased midterm turnout scale from ~35% to as high as 55% in some states.

  • Traditional understanding of seat swings is hampered by decreased ticket splitting and “settling” of partisanship, making huge waves less likely in future cycles.

    "Those types of elections where parties win dozens of seats... are becoming increasingly rare." (16:14)

• Geographic Realignment:

  • Once-competitive districts in the South and Midwest for Democrats (e.g., Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama) are now solidly GOP, limiting Republican losses and Democratic pickup potential.

    “Most of Arkansas had a Democratic congressman... That was very normal for decades until finally those voters... said, ‘Why do I have a Democratic congressman?’” (18:10)

4. If the 2026 Election Follows Recent Patterns (15:47–24:39)

• Ryan plays out scenarios based on historic “wave” margins:
  • Democratic Wave (+8 margin):
    • Democrats win about 230 seats to GOP’s 204. Gains mainly in the Midwest, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Very few pickups in gerrymandered states like Florida and Texas.
  • Republican Wave (+8 margin):
    • Republicans could theoretically gain up to 53 seats, including in heavily gerrymandered or closely-divided Hispanic districts.
    • “I don’t foresee a Tea Party-style 60-seat wave even in a great year happening again..." (23:40)
  • Limiting Factors:
    • Modern gerrymandering and realignment mean waves affect a narrower band of swing districts; most seats are increasingly locked in for one party.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Spotify Age Guess Humor:
  Ryan opens with a lighthearted anecdote about Spotify estimating his age as 68, due to his classic rock taste.

  "68 was kind of rough to get... I might need to just spruce it up with some Taylor Swift or Sabrina Carpenter... but 68 was kind of rough." (02:29)

• On the Democratic Surge:

  "Democrats have overperformed in 62 special elections by an average of 11 points. That's historic..." (04:48)
  "No amount of mid-decade gerrymandering is going to fix it unless—the VRA Section 2 is overturned...even then, it's not enough to stop a Democratic wave from taking the House." (05:23)

• On Realignment and Ticket Splitting:

  "Ticket splitting really slowed down immensely and Republicans made gigantic gains throughout the entire prairie states, throughout the Midwest and throughout the South." (18:24)

• On Future Prospects for Each Party:

  "Democrats have a lot less to work with than they used to...I don't foresee a Tea Party style 60-seat wave even in a great year kind of happening again for the foreseeable future." (23:32)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Special Elections Analysis & Voter Sentiment: 02:29–09:06
• Gerrymandering and District Geography: 09:06–11:58
• Defining Wave Elections & Turnout Changes: 15:47–18:10
• Realignments and Political History: 18:10–24:39
• Exploring What 2026 Could Look Like: 19:50–24:39

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Ask Me Anything Segment (28:45–32:37)

Social Inflation and Insurance Increases

• Listener question from Jeffrey Dean: Asks about "social inflation" as a driver of insurance premium hikes.
• Ryan’s response:
  • First time hearing the term; researched and found it refers to claims growing faster than expected due to larger jury verdicts, litigation funding, and negative sentiment toward corporations.

    “Attorney tactics of litigation funding...[are] causing all of our rates to go up. I did not know about the social inflation. I'm going to look deeper into this...” (29:40)

Abortion as a 2025 Motivator

• Listener question from Andrew Zimmerman: Asks whether abortion was a top turnout issue for Democrats.
• Ryan’s response:
  • Deep dive into exit polls and public data shows abortion did not emerge as a main issue in 2025, though some voters are always motivated by it.

    “Abortion never made it as a top issue anywhere...it was cost of living, government shutdown, and just hating Trump and excessive Democratic turnout.” (31:40)

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Overall Tone & Style

The show features a data-driven yet conversational tone, mixing hard statistics with anecdote and humor. Ryan addresses listener questions with research-backed answers, aiming for clarity and engagement without partisan bombast.

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Conclusion

This episode provides a comprehensive, numbers-focused overview of where the American electorate is headed, showing why big midterm “waves” are harder to come by, how demographic and legal shifts are shaping turnout, and why the 2026 outlook will hinge on just a handful of battleground seats. Ryan emphasizes the power—and the limits—of both parties’ strategies in a nation increasingly sorted by geography and reinforced by redistricting.

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Transcript

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[Ryan Grusky]

Welcome back to A Numbers Game with Brian Grusky. Thank you guys for being here. Happy Thursday. Remember how I mentioned to you in my last episode that we're coming to the end of the year, so Spotify and Apple playlist where it's going to put their end of the year numbers? Well, I said that on Monday and it came out on Wednesday that they said, you know, your number one podcast and song and singer and all of us artists were. And they had an interesting. Spotify had an interesting thing this year they've never done before was they guessed your age by what music you listen to. They guess my age was 68 years old. I am not hip. I guess, like I am. I am. I guess I need to diversify. There's a lot of classic rock on my playlist from Ozzy Osbourne and Linda Ronstan and Fleetwood Mac and the Carpenters and Bruce Springsteen. Like, there's a lot of that going on. I might need to like just spruce it up with some Taylor Swift or Sabrina Carpenter, I don't know. But 68 was kind of rough to get the Social Security numbers thrown at you. That that's where you're. That's where your mind is. So thought it was funny. Hopefully my podcast came into your top five list. If it hasn't, please like and subscribe to this podcast in the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get this podcast. I love to be in your top five come next year. We have a lot of great end of the year episodes. I'm so excited about. Big announcement coming next year at the end of the end of this month rather, and the game next year. Big announcement. But we have a lot of fun episodes because it's December, there's only so much politics people can really sit there and take. So we're going to do a lot of politics. But we have an episode with a priest right around Christmas time. My priest, actually. So that'll be a fun, interesting conversation. We'll have one of my consultant friends who are going to come on to talk about what it's like to run a campaign, to be part of a campaign, what it's like to win. We have questions from the audience that we're going to ask for them. And also I'm going to have. This is so great. I'm so excited. This. I have a lot of. Not a lot of a few Gen Z employees. I think I have like seven Gen Z employees. So I'm actually going to hold a contest on this podcast with three of them. I'm going to offer them cash to quiz them about millennial and Gen X culture and to see if who can get it right. And we're going to. It's going to be great. I'm so excited for it. Let the public roasting begin. They know what they're involved with like this, so it's only too hard. It's going to be very basic stuff, but I'm very much looking forward to seeing how much they know about the world that, you know, existed before streaming. So I'm very, very excited. Anyway, let's talk about politics for a second. There was a special election in the Tennessee's 7th congressional district where Republican Matthew Van Epps won by a nine point margin against Democrat Afton Ben I think is how I pronounce her name. She was a little bit crazy. Anyway, he won 54 to 45. So congratulations to the F future Congressman Matt Van Epps. Now, it was a solid victory. Nine points is a decent margin. But remember, it's a district that Trump won by 22 points last November. It's not a great place where you want to be for Republicans in this one special election, but it also is not where you want to be when you look at the overall change that's been happening in all these special elections throughout this year. This was just a 13 point swing towards the Democrats, but it spells what's coming up in the future and what's been going on the past and where voter sentimen now here's the thing of why now? Normally, listen, you shouldn't put too much emphasis in any one special election. This election was different because it had a midterm turnout in 2022. Congressman Mark Green, the Republican, won his seat by 22 points. It was 180,822 votes. In this election where Matthew Van EPPS won by 9 points, there was 179, 899 votes. One almost basically a 1000 vote difference. It was a midterm turnout for a special election. The Democrat candidate, who was very far left, received 81,000 votes. That's 66% of all the votes Kamala Harris won, while Van EPPS got about 49, 48% of all the votes that Trump received in the district. Not great. And it's just not a turnout thing. A turnout is very, very high for Democrats. Right. Democrats are super engaged, but there's clearly movement among independent voters who are very worried about the economy and dealing with the aftermaths of Biden's Inflation. It is like, you know, bad smell that's lingering after a couple days of having food left out or spoiled milk. Like it's, it's. I think voters really believe Trump was going to reduce overall prices, not just slow inflation down, which he's been successful at, but reduce prices and go to maybe a deflationary period for a little while. That clearly hasn't happened. The job market is very worrisome for young people. We've had tons of episodes about this kind of content. Now, there have been 62 special elections in the last year, both for state House, state Senate and Congress. Right. State legislative and congressional. And Democrats have overperformed in 2024, 62 special elections by an average of 11 points. That is historic by any single party in recent history. Right. That is a lot. And no amount of mid decade gerrymandering is going to fix it. You know, unless I guess, if the VRA section 12 is over, section 2 rather is overturned and we have states like Georgia and Alabama, Mississippi, all jumping in, in Florida, redistrict all their states. Unless that happens. And I still think even if that happens, it's not enough to sit there and stop a Democratic way from taking the House. I didn't think it was going to be this extreme a couple, like a couple weeks ago or even a couple months ago. But I looked at the 2017-2018 special elections and Democrats that year and that gigantic wave only led in specials by 6 points. Remember right now it's by 11 points. If the midterm elections were to happen today, it is almost guaranteed the Democrats will perform at nearly the same percentage, if not greater than they received in performed in 2018. The good thing for Republicans is that the election isn't tomorrow and things can change. Now, let me make a point about the recent past. The year 2023, there were dozens of special elections for both state legislature and Congress. And Democrats overperformed by almost four points, right, four points from where they had performed in 2020, which was already a very good year for Democrats. The following year in 2024, there were also dozens of special elections ahead of the presidential election and Republicans outperformed their performance in 20.

So there was a six point swing between just one year in favor of Republicans ahead of the presidential election, a five to six point swing. If it happened next year ahead of the midterms, it wouldn't be enough to save the House Republicans, but it would definitely move off Democrats from winning seats that are just lean Republican or seats that Trump won by 8 or 9 points, and maybe not by 20 points. Right. It wouldn't be as bad. They wouldn't have to sit there and defend as many seats. If this swing starts coming into next year, we will have to sit there and see. Republicans have been very effective at gerrymandering as well. This is what, something that this race really put me in touch with. It's just how effective. Now, in the Tennessee 7 race, which was part of Nashville and then a lot of exurb suburbs and rural communities, the average, the parts of Nashville, right. Nashville went 61 points for the Democrats. Nashville itself swung 20 points more from where it was in 2024. The rural and exurb and suburb areas swung a little less than 10 points. So there's clearly heavy concentration and energy among Democrats in Democratic strongholds. Which means. Which means you'll see, you know, in a state like New York or New Jersey, places that are super Democratic, having crazy high turnout, affecting statewide elections, but not necessarily changing the course of some swing districts or some lean Republican districts who are mostly comprised of the exurbs and suburbs. I think that because the gerrymandering has been so effective in places like North Carolina, in Texas, in Florida, I don't think Republicans are going to be dealing with that big of a calamity where they're going to see Trump plus 10 seats flipping. I just don't, I don't see that's in the cars. I think that this is, you know, where we're looking at. What seats are in danger is district that Trump won by 5.6 points. Those kinds of seats, which is still quite a few. Right. And you're gonna have to really depend on Republican congressmen having deep loyalties into those seats and into those districts and into those areas they've been in for hopefully a long time. They've been working their constituents. I think that's a really, really important part. Now, part of the reason I believe that this has happened, that that those seats will be protected is not just from this one special in Virginia. In the state legislative for and during the governor's races, Republicans won every seat that Trump won by more than 10 points. So if they were fine in Virginia, which was a catastrophic turnout for Republicans, I think they'll be fine nationwide. That's what I think. I know many people are sitting there and saying, what? So what? What does my seat look like? What would change what's going to happen? I have spent time sitting there and breaking down the map, as I see would happen if next year looked a lot like 2018. That's going to come up.

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[Ryan Grusky]

So there's no definition of what a wave election is like. It's not like if you do this percentage or that percentage or this many seats, it's considered a wave. It's very subjective to really what people sit there and insist as a wave. In my opinion, you have to win about two dozen seats or more for it to be considered a wave, right? I don't think winning nine seats is a wave election. I think winning 20 to 60 seats is a wave election, right? And since in the last two decades there have been four wave elections, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2018. In those elections, Democrats had three waves. In 2006, 2008 and 2018, Republicans had won in 2010. In the Republican wave year in 2010, Republicans netted 63 House seats, which is absurdly high, right? It doesn't happen in the subsequent house elections. In 2018, Democrats won about 40 seats and in 2006 and 2008 they won, I think 21 and 25. So they want to combine about 4,748 seats. Those types of elections where candidates win, or parties rather win dozens of seats, 30, 40, 50, 60 are becoming increasingly rare, which is why you saw them cluster together in 2006, 2008, 2010, and then it takes another decade for it to even really happen again. Part of the reason it was able to happen again was because when Donald Trump showed up on the scene, turnout in midterms spiked through the roof. And they've been spiking through the roof ever since. Midterms used to have like 35% turnout from where they were in the presidential elections, and now they're closer towards 50, 55% in some states north of 55%. There's also been a settling as terms of realignments. Now there are still some realignments happening. In 2024, you saw Trump's surge in with Hispanic voters, and they were very concentrated in very, very blue areas, which didn't result in many seats flipping, but they got a lot closer in 2010. Southern seats. Right. You may not even remember this. Most of Arkansas had a Democratic congressman. Three out of the four seats was Democratic congressmen. States like Tennessee had tons of Democratic congressmen. Mississippi had three of their four seats were Democratic congressmen. Alabama had more, Georgia had more. Texas had tons or not tons, but they had a handful of white southern middle sent rural Democrats that represented those areas. That was very normal for decades until finally those voters who had voted for Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and George W. Bush finally said, you know what, why do I have a Democratic congressman? Ticket splitting really slowed down immensely and Republicans made gigantic gains throughout the entire prairie states, throughout the Midwest and throughout the South. Likewise in 06 and 08 Democrats, they gained seats in Connecticut where Republicans used to have three seats. They gained seats in New Hampshire and in Maine, they gained seats in areas that you would thought I didn't know. There were Republicans there as recently as 2006, 2008, as well as seats in Northern California where Republicans still held seats like in the suburbs, not too far away from San Francisco, not directly San Francisco, but more like towards Sacramento. But those areas had Republican congressmen that don't exist anymore. So that kind of settling has already happened. And I think that because of that has already happened, it is unlikely to happen again. Which is why I said we're not going to see an effect where, you know, Republicans lose, you know, Montana or, or Wyoming, you know, that's just, it's not really in the cards. And because there are not any Republicans in Connecticut or any Republicans in Rhode island or other deep blue areas, there's limitations to how much their gains can really manifest in these House elections. So I played a game for, you know, this podcast where I sat there and said what would a election like 2010, if it happened for Republicans look like in terms of turnout and victories? What would it look like for Democrats if it was 2018? Because 2006-2000-2006-2008, 2010 and 2018 had about the same exact margin, right? It was very, very close in favor of both Republicans and Democrats. It was about eight points. So what would happen if Democrats won the election by 8 points? How many seats could they possibly gain? What would happen for Republicans if they had won an election by 8 points? I think because of how both gerrymandered, some Republican states are like Texas, like North Carolina. There are serious limitations to Republican to Democratic gains. But I think if the election my prediction and the map is on the YouTube page. So if you're listening to this, you can turn on YouTube and I will show you what I think the map would look like if the election were held and it was a Democrat plus eight year. I think Democrats would win about 230 seats to Republicans, 204 seats. Their gains would come in a lot of Midwestern places like, you know, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa. They would all see Democrat gains. Likewise, they'd also see gains. We're going to get gains because of California because of gerrymandering. But you'll see gains in New York, definitely. In Pennsylvania they would see some gains. And, and those. And Virginia. Virginia is another area I think Democrats have the right option of making gains. Florida, the only seat that I could think of them even coming close to is Annalina Pauloon. Anna Luna. Anna Paulina Luna. That's her name. Sorry, no, no offense to Congressman Anna Paulina Luna, but that is the only seat that I could see. If I can say if they have a phenomenal year and an incredible election turnout that I would say she could be in trouble. But probably not even her. I put her as a possible Democrat pickup if it was an incredible year. But she's really the only one from, from, from Florida, Texas. I don't see them winning any Republican members of Texas no matter what how they're licking their chops and saying they over gerrymandered. I just don't see how that's possible. Arizona would have a few Democratic congressman pickups and Democrats would protect their incumbents. Comets. In most seats there could be one or two surprises. Someone gets indicted, somebody you know, gets sick or somebody says something on the campaign trail that Affects them. I can't count for that. But, but if that happened, certainly those changes would happen. The most interesting thing is if it was a Republican plus eight year Republicans would have the chance to pick up 53 seats. Now you're like Ryan, that is so crazy. That's not possible. That's even more than the Tea Party wave. Here's why I think it is. I think Republicans would one hold on to all their incumbents and they would make gains in specifically Hispanic districts that they were. That's only going to get to a Trump Republican plus eight year makings and in Hispanic districts that Trump did very well and exceed those numbers. Remember Trump won by two so this would be an excess of six more. You would see some gerrymandering on the Democratic side which would over over which wouldn't do enough to protect them. Right. So like Nevada, Nevada is a perfect example. Nevada has four seats. Three of them are gerrymandered to protect Democrats and Republicans came close to picking up two of those four seats last term. If it was a Trump or Republican plus eight year all three of those seats would swing Republican. Likewise, Oregon would probably lose two of their Democratic seats because they just gerrymandered a little too much and spread themselves a little too thin. That's where I would see Republicans make those gains to get to such a high number because I don't think that Democrats did enough to. I think the Democrats took for granted that certain populations could Never move and 2024 obviously proved that they are moving. So that's where have that estimate from. If it was a Tea party like wave. 53 seats for Republicans and I think it's a 2018 year, it's about 231 seats for Democrats, majorities for both parties. But I think that Democrats have a lot less to work with than I think that they, that they used to. And I don't foresee a tea party style 60 seat wave even in a great year kind of happening again for the foreseeable future. And for Democrats I think they're kind of stuck in a position where they're maybe looking at 20 seats if it's an incredible year. But they're not going to get to where they used to which is 40 seats anyway. I think it's fascinating and I think that's really where we're, where we're looking at limitations and why there's such heavy concentration going into next year on certain House seats because there's fewer and fewer which are swing seats. People are voting, you know, fewer, fewer ticker splitting and less swing seats. And I think that there'll be immense concentration, effort in just a few dozen and then the other 3, 3, 400. They it'll be in the bag one way or the other. Everyone can, you know, spend the night, you know, hanging out, not worrying about the election. Maybe for statewide elections, but not necessarily these independent house seats. All right, next up is Ask Me Anything. Stay tuned.

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Now I'd like to introduce you to Meaningful Beauty, the famed skincare brand created by iconic supermodel Cindy Crawford. It's her secret to apps and absolutely gorgeous skin. Meaningful beauty makes powerful and effective skin care simple, and it's loved by millions of women. It's formulated for all ages in all skin tones and types, and it's designed to work as a complete skin care system, leaving your skin feeling soft, smooth, and nourished. I recommend starting with Cindy's full regimen which contains all five of her best selling products including the Amazing Youth Activating Melon Serum. This next generation serum has the power of melon leaf stem cell technology. It's melon leaf stem cells encapsulated for freshness and released onto the skin to support a visible reduction in the appearance of wrinkles. With thousands of glowing five star reviews, why not give it a try? Subscribe today and you can get the Amazing Meaningful Beauty system for just $49.95. That includes our introductory five piece system, free gifts, free shipping and a 60 day money back guarantee. All that available at Meaningful Beauty.

[Steffi from Famous Footwear]

Hey I'm Steffi. You may know me from your social feed. I go big for the holidays so I'm going to Famous Footwear because the best gifts are giving famous. My friends and family are gonna love all these styles from Nike, Adidas, Crocs, New Balance, Skechers and more. With over 800 stores, you're never far from the perfect gift. So make your list and make it famous. Come in today for buy one pair. Get one half off at your local famous footwear or famous.com some exclusions apply.

[Samsung TV Advertiser]

Experience Game Day in all its glory with a super big TV from Samsung. It's the best way to watch your favorite team at home. From game winning touchdowns to momentum shifting hits, Samsung TVs are designed to showcase every moment in unbelievable clarity. Even day games look great on select Samsung TVs with glare free technology, it makes sure reflections don't distract you when the sun shines brightly through your window while you're watching. And even on the biggest TVs like 115 inches big, there's no blur. Thanks to super sized Picture enhancer with Samsung TVs you can finally watch your favorite team on an elite screen. So get yourself the ultimate fan worthy [e-mail] super sized picture enhancer utilizes AI based formulas available on 85 inch and larger TVs on models QN70F and above.

[Ryan Grusky]

Now it's time for the Ask Me Anything segment. If you want to be part of the Ask Me Anything segment, email me. Ryan numbers game podcast.com that's ryan@NumberspluralNumbersgame podcast.com Love getting these questions. I answer them every episode. I get to all your questions either privately through email or I answer them on the show. So here's the first one comes from Jeffrey Dean. He writes Ryan, thank you for your great episode with John from Breitbart. Are you familiar with the concept of social inflation It's a big driver of insurance increases you reference in the episode. Several states are looking to mitigate the nuclear verdicts driving the situation. South Carolina has some good examples involving restaurants and liquor liability. Very interesting with more needing to be done. Keep up the great work, Jeff. Okay. I did not know about social inflation before this email. I looked up Social inflation refers to the increase in claim severity above what could be anticipated under the usual scope of economic inflation and claims trend. This is from a website. This is from an insurance website. Here are four factors fueling social inflation. One is desensitization to large verdicts and media impact. Second is negative public sentiment towards corporate accountability. Third is erosion of tort reform. And last, and I didn't even think of this attorney tactics of litigation funding. Basically attorneys, ambulance chaser attorneys, they're spending over a billion dollars a year on advertising and targeting certain areas, certain venues for lawsuits areas they think they can win a lot of money which is causing insurance overall to spike in several parts of our country. If they think they can get this because that's, that's their business, it's causing all of our rates to go up. I did not know about the social inflation. I'm going to look deeper into this and when talking about it, but Jeff, really, really enlightening. So thank you for that. Next question comes from Andrew Zimmerman. He writes, is there any data to suggest abortion was a strong motivating factor for Democrats in the 2025 election or was it just a subset among costs of living and shut down for federal workforce issues in Virginia? The only statewide election we've had since overturning Roe v. Wade was 2023, which according to Public Access Project only had 39 turnout and only gave Democrats a slight majority in the House delegates. I live in District 75, Richmond metro suburb district that does include the city of Hopewell. It swung from R plus 6 in 2023 to D plus 5, D plus 6 in 2025. Okay, so I looked this up. I looked up several different both expert analysis and exit polling and cross tabs and abortion never made it as a top issue in anywhere that I was able to pull data from. About 60% of Virginians support access to abortion in most or all circumstances. 35% would be pro life wanting in wanting, you know, to restrict abortion in most in all circumstances, which is kind of where I thought it would be. Maybe it's a little higher, but it could also be higher because Democrat turnout was higher. The interesting thing was that more pro choice voters voted Republican for governor than pro life voters voted for the Democrat. According to CNN exit poll, 17 of pro choice voters in Virginia voted for winsome Sears, while only 11 of pro lifers voted for Spamber. So I mean that's interesting. But no, I don't think that it was enough of a driver. I mean I'm sure there are some people that it was, you know, a big issue for like abortion is always a big issue for some people. I think that predominantly though it was cost of living, government shutdown and just hating Trump and excessive Democratic turnout. I mean I looked, I looked really hard for it. I couldn't find it. So. But hey, there's always another election in two years, so hopefully your area will swing back towards Republicans. That's it for this episode. Thank you guys for listening to this podcast. If you like this podcast, please like and subscribe on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever. Get your podcast YouTube now. My videos are on YouTube. If you like this episode and you like this show, please give me a five star review. It really helps get the word out. Thank you guys and I will see you all next week.

[Jacob Goldstein]

This is Jacob Goldstein from what's yous Problem? Business software is expensive. And when you buy software from lots of different companies, it's not only expensive, it gets confusing. Slow to use, hard to integrate. Odoo solves that because all Odoo software is connected on a single affordable platform. Save money without missing out on the features you need. Odoo has no hidden costs and no limit on features or data. Odoo has over 60 apps available for any needs your business might have, all at no additional charge. Everything from websites to sales to inventory to accounting, all linked and talking to each other. Check out Odoo at o d o o.com, that's o d o o.com Saks.

[Saks Off 5th Advertiser]

Off 5th is revealing the season's most wanted holiday steals. Whether you're gifting someone on your list or treating yourself to a designer score, find deals on McQueen, Valentino, Versace, Stuart Weitzman and more at up to 70% off every day. Outshine at every event and outsmart your budget. From shimmer ready party looks to luxe layers and cozy giftable accessories, Saks Off 5th is your secret source for celebrating in style. Your holiday shopping mission starts [e-mail] or a Saks off 5th store near you.

[Samsung TV Advertiser]

Experience game day in all its glory. With a super big TV from Samsung, it's the best way to watch your favorite team at home. From game winning touchdowns to momentum shifting hits. Samsung TVs are designed to showcase every moment in unbelievable clarity. Even day games look great on select Samsung TVs with glare free technology, it makes sure reflections don't distract you when the sun shines brightly through your window while you're watching. And even on the biggest TVs like 115 inches big, there's no blur. Thanks to supersized picture enhancer with Samsung TVs you can finally watch your favorite team on an elite screen. So get yourself the ultimate fan worthy [e-mail] this super sized picture enhancer utilizes AI based formulas available on 85 inch and larger TVs on models QN70F and above.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Business owners know that getting a loan isn't always easy, but it can be fast if you know where to look. One of the fastest ways to get a business loan is through an online funding marketplace like Lendio. At Lendio, we've built a marketplace of over 75 lenders and funding partners who know what you need and can get it to you quickly. Depending on the type of funding, money could be on its way to your bank account within 24 hours. See what your business can qualify for in just a few [e-mail] that's lendio.

[Meaningful Beauty / Lendio / Purafor Advertiser]

Lendio.Com make your home smell as good as it looks with Purifor, the smart fragrance diffuser that lets you control your scent from anywhere. Choose from hundreds of premium fragrances, schedule your favorites and set the perfect mood for every moment. And right now, get yours free when you subscribe to 2 cents for 12 months. Don't wait. This limited time offer won't last. Try it risk free for 30 days [e-mail].

[Saks Off 5th Advertiser]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Meaningful Beauty / Lendio / Purafor Advertiser]

Guaranteed human.