Amy Liu, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, addresses issues in gubernatorial and local races in the 2018 midterms, including the challenges of job growth, new technologies, and state preemption of local decision-making. Liu also addresses the urban-rural divide, which she says is “primarily a political and cultural one … being fanned by President Trump and his administration.” For more analysis on the 2018 midterm elections, visit .  Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is a part of the .