Reducing turnout: The most obvious way in which storms can affect elections is by depressing turnout. A study by Rice University professor Robert M. Stein in 2015 found turnout declined on average 2.8 percent between 2008 and 2012 in counties in which disaster declarations were issued for Hurricane Sandy. Voter turnout declined only 0.8 percent in all other U.S. counties. The government's response: Storm responses can have massive impacts on how the politicians who handle them are viewed. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie became the most popular governor in the country in 2012 after his response to Sandy was praised. A contrasting example is George W. Bush and Hurricane Katrina. Americans had just reelected Bush as president the year before and were about evenly split on him before the storm; afterward, his approval rating dropped to around 40 percent, and it spent much of 2006 in the 30s. Gamesmanship and the political response: For both Clinton and Trump, their words in the face of tragedy can have an impact on how they're viewed — even if they're not being graded on the actual response.
