By Mary Alice Miller
When Trump implored Republican voters to vote as if he were on the ballot, registered Democrats and independent voters also heeded his call. But not in the way Trump wanted.
Democrats won big in Tuesday’s midterm election. Pollsters tepidly predicted that democrats could take control of the House and increase their margins in the Senate, but voters dwarfed those predictions and gave the House a strong majority.
So far, Democrats flipped 29 seats in the House. Senate Democrats flipped 7 seats. Those gains may grow with dozens of races yet to be called.
With a Democratic majority, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is poised to become House Speaker in the next Congress. Brooklyn is well aware of Jeffries’ political acumen. But for the past several years, the rest of the country has seen Jeffries’ support for House Democrats as he traveled far and wide in support of Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives.
Reacting to Tuesday’s election results, Jeffries called Democrats’ historic gains in the midterm elections “an American tsunami.”
“We’re going to fight to make sure that we make this country affordable for every single American,” Jeffries said. “This is a change election. And we understand as House Democrats we need to deliver dramatic change. Things are broken. We need a Congress that puts the American people first.”
Jeffries continued, “We’re going to bring accountability to those who have visited unprecedented corruption on this country. Because if you have people in high office who are so focused on enriching themselves, their family members, their friends or their donors, then they are not focusing on making life better for the American people.”
Democrats saw many history-making firsts occur in Tuesday’s election.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was elected the first Black female governor of Georgia. Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s Senate race, becoming the first Muslim to do so. Xavier Becerra made history as California’s first elected Latino governor. Texas elected its first Latina governor, Gina Hinojosa. Deb Haaland, the former U.S. Interior secretary, won her election, becoming the first Native American to be elected New Mexico’s governor.
Chris Pappas became the first openly gay man to be elected to the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire. Minnesota elected Peggy Flanagan to become the first Native American woman in the Senate. Wisconsin and Nevada elected their first Black governors, David Crowley and Aaron Ford.
Amy Acton was elected to become Ohio’s first female governor. Amy Klobuchar became the first woman elected governor in Minnesota.
Republican candidates also made history. Republican Byron Donalds was elected Florida’s first Black governor. And Marsha Blackburn is the first woman elected governor of Tennessee.
The 2026 midterm election saw the second-highest midterm turnout in 100 years.
New York was a good example. Early voting turnout hit record numbers, beating last year’s record numbers.
Candidates who practice a lazy politics of exclusion with disparagement, racism, disrespect for other people’s religions, and outright lies lost big.
Overall, the election is seen as a repudiation of Trump’s unchecked presidential power. Voters reacted strongly to corruption within the Trump administration.
But the economy made the difference. Tariffs, interest rates, grocery prices, and rising gas prices due to the Iran War led voters to turn out in droves.
The Black vote, young men, Latino swing voters, and even rural voters in the heartland issued a decisive mandate. Farmers in states like Iowa voted based on high diesel prices and absent farm workers due to Trump’s immigration policies.
Trump, who has spent the last ten years decrying imaginary election fraud, was subdued by the midterm election results.
Trump told the New York Times that he is “absolutely willing to accept” the results of the election. He added that he would “look forward to working with” the Democrats.
Trump told Fox News that “The Democrats did a good job. They fought hard.”
But Trump added that if Democrats send “insane” legislation to his desk, he would veto it.
Trump, being Trump, continued to make the election about him. “We would have won if I was on the ballot,” Trump said, adding, “But I wasn’t.”
A special shout-out must go to state election officials who took their constitutional mandate to run elections seriously and preemptively fortified their election systems against any potential Trump administration interference.
Trump has threatened federal prosecution in order to intimidate poll workers to invalidate ballots from voters on California’s voter list.
Days before the midterm election, Trump’s Justice Department sent letters to state election officials warning them that they could face criminal prosecution for violating federal election laws. The letters stated that ballots, voter registration records, and other election materials must be preserved for 22 months after a federal election.
Despite years of efforts by Trump and his allies to intimidate, coerce, or threaten frontline poll workers, they played their role in serving voters and facilitating the voting process.