Lesson Plan: Candidates and Campaigns
Grades 9-12
Midterm elections are often overlooked by voters because presidential candidates are not on the ballot. However, midterm elections are also viewed as a referendum vote on the first two years of a president’s term. This lesson provides a case study on the importance of midterm elections by examining the 1994 midterms. The Republican Party used the 1994 elections as a referendum on the presidency of Bill Clinton and used the Contract with America to nationalize the election, a change from the conventional focus on state and local issues. The 1994 midterm results gave the Republican Party control of both houses of Congress for the first time since 1954, and ushered in an era of divisive politics that is still present today.
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