wave election

[weyv i-lek-shuhn]

noun

Politics.

1. an election in which one party makes significant gains in Congress, at the state level, or in a parliament.

   a wave election that saw Republicans win control of the House and flip seven Senate seats.

Word History and Origins

Origin of wave election¹

First recorded in 2010–15

Example Sentences

Democratic strategist Paul Begala told CNN the blowback Flood received could be a harbinger for Republicans nationally, comparing it to the voter backlash after the GOP’s 2017 tax cuts, and predicting an “earthquake” and a “wave” election in 2026.

From Salon

In the 2018 “blue wave” election, Democrats won the U.S.

From Salon

Politico quoted Texas state Rep. Julie Johnson, a Democrat, saying, “They are playing a little bit of roulette with these maps. … In a wave election like what we have a potential opportunity for in ‘26 I think it makes these Republicans very vulnerable.”

From Salon

It might have been useful to ask when and where a Republican map has been vulnerable during any wave election.

From Salon

But Swing Left's local grassroots groups didn't go away, and in the wake of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, he said, "We ended up having a really massive 2022. While we had fewer individual people volunteering, the people who were stepping up to volunteer did more," and clearly shifted the momentum of what Republicans expected to be a wave election in their favor.

From Salon