For the past 10 years, Chelan and Douglas county voters have mostly favored Republican candidates. There are pockets of blue in places like Leavenworth, south Wenatchee and Rock Island, but the two counties are mostly red.

Whether the trend continues remains to be seen until Tuesday’s election, which includes federal, state and local races.

Cornell Clayton.
Clayton

I think the fundamentals suggest that you’re going to see a significant shift in favor of Democratic candidates” nationwide, said Cornell Clayton, director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at Washington State University.

According to a Gallup poll for the week ending Sunday, President Donald Trump’s approval rating nationally was 40 percent.

Between that and successful fundraising efforts by Democrats, it looks like the odds are in that party’s favor, Clayton said. The party holding the presidency typically does worse in mid-term elections, he added.

Now, in many ways, it’s hard to predict just because we’re in sort of uncharted political waters with the Trump presidency and his intense base strategy, which he’s cranking up now,” he said.

That is clearly having some impact in terms of increasing motivation on the Republican side. If you look at the results so far of ballots cast to date … Republicans have a slight advantage there. And you would expect that, especially in red states. In a state like Washington where we’re so divided, it’s hard to tell how that will play out.”

Clayton said he’s noticed an increase in “purple” districts since the last mid-term election.

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