Who knew, the Republicans actually did it. They did not blow any races as they had in both 2010 (a couple) and 2012 (all of them). Despite early worries that the GOP would alienate their base or accidentally sabotage their own candidacies, Republicans managed to stay both scandal-less and foot-in-mouth disease-free. In a relieving twist, it was the Democrats who were left tripping over their tongues, avoiding the President like a Walker in The Walking Dead, and running on tired themes.


Tight contests wound up being not so tight and the GOP became a lot younger and more diverse than they were the day before. It's a blueprint for the future. Here's how they did it, and this should become the new gold standard for Republican success.

 

Happy Warriors

When a mostly-unknown Joni Ernst (R-IA) released a television ad in which she compared castrating pigs to cutting pork in Washington, liberals mostly scoffed. A week before the election, the New York Times mocked the country "bumpkinificaton" of politics. But the Happy Warriorism of Ernst, the "Iowa nice" if you will, came in sharp contrast to the bitter smugness of her Democratic opponent. And gosh darn it, people liked her. In the end, the once "safe" Democratic seat went easily to Ernst and she won the state by a larger margin than President Obama did in 2012. In Colorado, Cory Gardner pushed back on the over-baked War on Women charges with both a smile and a game-plan. Both candidates came off as likable and turned two states that Obama carried in 2008 and 2012 into Republican pick-ups.

More Happy Warriors, please.

 

Military Politicians

Politics was once dominated by members of the military. Recently, it has been dominated by lawyers. Some of that changed this year and veterans made a bit of a rebound. Army Ranger Tom Cotton, Iowa National Guard Lieutenant Colonel Joni Ernst, and Marine Dan Sullivan will all now represent our service-members in the US Senate. In the House, Barry Loudermilk (Air Force), Ryan Zinke (Navy SEAL), Lee Zeldin (US Army), and Steve Russell (US Army) help beef up the Republican ranks. Martha McSally (Air Force), the first female fighter pilot in combat, is currently leading a close count in Arizona. Democrats added Seth Mouton, a former Marine.

Amnesty Opponents

Most of the Senate victors made opposition to amnesty a major theme in their campaign. David Brat, who upended Eric Cantor over the issue, won the district by a wider margin than Cantor himself did in 2012. This was after many in the establishment mocked that the tea party-backed Brat could lose the seat. Scott Brown made illegal immigration  central theme in his campaign and he almost pulled off an upset. As Oregon voters were voting in favor of marijuana legalization and an "equal rights amendment" they rejected, by a 2-1 margin, an initiative to grant driver licenses to illegal immigrants. Deep. Blue. Oregon.

Minority Republicans

In South Carolina, Tim Scott won 80% of white voters while Governor Haley (Indian descent) took 75%. Meanwhile, long-time Senator Lindsey Graham took just 72% of the white vote. If southern Republicans are as racist as Mary Landrieu would have us believe, they have a weird way of showing it. Mia Love won UT-04 with 50% of the vote. The district is almost 90% white and Love is one of the few minority members to represent a non-gerrymandered, majority-white congressional district. Texan Will Hurd also won in a largely Latino congressional district.

Young Republicans

In the 113th Congress, the average age of a sitting US Senator is 62. Incoming freshman Republican members are about to drag that average down, and they include Joni Ernst (44 years old), Tom Cotton (37), Cory Gardner (40), Dan Sullivan (49), Ben Sasse (42), James Lankford (46), and Tim Scott (49). In the US House, where the average age is currently 57, Elise Stefanik (30) became the youngest woman elected to Congress. Will Hurd (37), Carlos Curbelo (34), Mia Love (38), Lee Zeldin (34), and David Rouzer (42) were also elected to help add some youth to the GOP and Congress. In West Virginia, 18 year old Saira Blair made headlines when the college freshman became the youngest legislator in the country after winning a Delegate seat.

Republican Women

In the US Senate, Republican women gained seats in West Virginia and Iowa. Both Ernst and Shelley Moore Capito became the first women to do so. Republican Governor Nikki Haley (SC), Susana Martinez (NM), and Mary Fallin (OK) all won re-election with ease. Mia Love won a congressional seat in Utah while Elise Stefanik won the competitive NY-21 by almost 20 points. Other new Republican women in the US House include Barbara Comstock (VA-10), Mimi Walters (CA-45), while a race in AZ-02 has Martha McSally in a tight, TBD race.

Republican Governors in Deep Blue (and some purple) States

Scott Walker won re-election in Wisconsin, while Republicans pulled off upsets in Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, and Maryland. Connecticut and Vermont are still on the table. Rick Scott topped every-man Charlie Crist in Florida while Governors in Iowa, New Mexico, and Ohio won by large margins. That's a minimum of 9 states won by Obama that Republicans won last night.

Tea Party and Establishment Unity

When it came time to turn out and vote, both factions of the GOP put their big pants on. David Brat, who may have single-handily prevented the GOP from committing suicide-by-amnesty when he upset House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, won his seat with 61% of the vote. For the record, that was a bigger win than Cantor's 2012 effort (58%). Candidates liked by both factions excelled, including Ernst, Gardner, Cotton, and Sullivan. Few voters were happy with Tillis in North Carolina, but the Tea Party and Establishment got it done. Even though they tried to topple Pat Roberts in Kansas and Mitch McConnell in Kentucky during primary season, the tea party turned out and delivered double-digit victories for both. For McConnell, it was actually a big improvement over his previous effort.

Today, the Republican Party is younger, happier, and more diverse than they were a week ago. It's one big step to letting America know that the big tent is once again open for business.