After a season of harsh campaigning, the nation casts its verdict on Trump

Rendering their verdict after a caustic season of anger and political recrimination, voters poured into polling places across the country on Tuesday in a midterm election offering the first electoral judgment on the tumultuous presidency of Donald Trump.

For Republicans such as Charles Cooke, who cast his ballot in McAllen, Texas, it was a chance to deliver a big thumbs-up for the kind of non-politician he said the country needs.

"The things that have happened in the past two years are good," Cooke said outside the Fireman's Pumphouse polling station in Fireman's Park. "The jobs, the economy is better than ever,