Following an election year where Democrats regained power in the Senate and the presidency and retained a majority in the House, Republicans in several states seized the opportunity to pass legislation around restrictions on voter and election laws. In this Election Report,, voting and elections expert, Rhodes Cook, discusses how the 2020 general election led to these laws and the response from Democrats.

If the Republican Party is to declare its independence from Donald Trump any time soon, it will likely be GOP members of the U.S. Senate that lead the way. Trump left the White House in January 2021 with a strong hold on the party. His final presidential approval rating in the Gallup Poll was just 34 percent overall, but 82 percent among Republicans. He still appears to have the power to force the allegiance of many Republican officeholders by throwing his weight for or against them in the party primaries. In this Election Report, elections expert Rhodes Cook explores Trump’s hold on the Republican Party and its impact on members of Congress and their reelection chances.

Love him or hate him, Donald Trump was the catalyst this year for the largest voter turnout in the history of American presidential elections. More than 156 million votes have been counted through November 18, 2020, easily eclipsing the previous record of 136.7 million set four years ago. That represents an increase of more than 19 million votes (and counting) from 2016, and constitutes the largest election-to-election jump ever in the number of presidential votes cast. In this Election Report, elections expert Rhodes Cook discusses the historic voter turnout in the 2020 election.