The following article by Lisa Hagen, Max Greenwood and Reid Wilson was posted on the Hill website September 7, 2018:
Two months before voters head to the polls in a midterm election increasingly shaped by President Trump, the political landscape is far different than it was when he took office.
Democrats are showing up to vote in record numbers, but so are Republicans. Trump’s approval rating has remained dismal, but consistent. And the states and districts in which the two parties are fighting for control of Congress are markedly different than what strategists on both sides expected.
Here are the five biggest surprises defining the 2018 midterm elections: