Democrats defeated Republicans in the 2026 midterms in what pundits are considering historical results. States like Kansas that haven’t elected a Democratic senator since 1932, nearly 100 years, elected a Democrat. Numerous politicians who made news, either for being Muslim, Democrats in deeply Republican states, gay, Jewish, won election or re-election. And now, the think pieces trying to explain “what it all means” will begin. So here are my thoughts, more or less in the order I’m thinking of them:
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At rallies, Trump asked his supporters to “pretend I’m on the ballot.” Well, it looks like America did.
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Republicans tried to run on the same tired culture war nonsense that they always do. It seems that when groceries are unaffordable, gas prices are rising, and their healthcare is being slashed, being warned that somewhere in America, a trans kid might want to run track isn’t topmost of their concerns.
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And speaking of the culture war, Democrats won with candidates of all genders, religions, ethnicities, orientations, you name it. This doesn’t mean there is no racism in America, there is a disgusting, alarming amount of it. But it does mean that simply trying to appeal to voters by being white, Christian, and male, doesn’t seem to be the free pass that Republicans hoped it would be.
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This was more a situation of Republicans being thrown out than Democrats being beloved for their platform and voted in. This was a repudiation of the economic ruin, violence, and corruption of Trump and his cronies. If the Democrats who find themselves in power want to keep, and possibly expand that power, they’re going to need to spend the next two years delivering the affordability and results that they ran on. Thankfully, it seems like they got the memo. Democratic leaders Hakim Jefferies and Chuck Schumer have both said “now we need to deliver,” “help is on the way,” “affordability won the night,” etc. We’ll see about the follow through but at least there is a public acknowledgement that it was change that won, and if they want to keep winning, they have to be the party that brings real, positive change.
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The election was the first hurdle. Anyone who hasn’t been asleep for the last decade knows that Trump’s tantrum over the results will be extreme. This is far from over. His administration already started lawsuits before the votes were counted. But don’t expect his explosions to be confined to the courts. This is a man who incited a riot to storm the capital and attempt to murder his own sitting vice president in order to usurp power. Don’t think for a second that similar tactics aren’t on the table. These are criminally corrupt individuals with access to both levers of power and Elon Musk’s fortune. Expect things to get extremely ugly before the January 2027 seating of the new congress. (although another possibility is that he just sits in Mar-a-lago throwing dirty diapers at the wall and bossing around his staff, which sucks for them but would be best for the country).
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Speaking of first hurdles, controlling congress does not mean that America is now back to normal. There’s no way to fix everything Trump broke in two years, especially considering that Republicans still control the Executive Branch and the Supreme Court. Expect the cruelty and madness to continue. Expect the SCOTUS to continue eroding the human rights of American citizens. But hopefully the Democratic congress can spend the next two years slowing the worst of Trump’s abuses, trying to enact sensible budgets that will begin helping regular Americans, enacting relief for those who need it, ensuring health care for the vulnerable, and so on. At the very least, if Democratic legislation that can help working Americans is consistently vetoed by Trump, they’ll be able to show both that they tried, and a preview of what they’ll be able to do if re-elected and a Democratic president is elected in 2028.
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It’s nice to feel some hope for America, even if it’s just a flickering candle.
Let’s see what happens from here.