You might have noticed that the midterm elections were Tuesday. Millions of Americans exercised their constitutional right to vote, which should ensure that they maintain most of their other constitutional rights.
Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens wore her Judas Brand Floppy Sun Hat on her way to cast a career-torching vote for Republican Mike Rogers. It is November. Actual Democrat Abdul El-Sayed still prevailed, posting Assad-like margins in Detroit, where Stevens had her gross stunt with Rogers on Sunday.
Although everyone warns about reading too much into early, unadjusted exit polls — usually before posting the results — it was clear that midterm voters really hate Donald Trump and correctly blame him for tanking the economy and getting the U.S. embroiled in a seemingly no-win war with Iran. According to NBC News, Trump’s disapproval numbers were a whopping 61 percent in Michigan, 60 percent in Georgia, and a dismal 57 percent in Texas and Ohio. These are all states Trump carried in 2024, and Texas and Ohio are considered solidly Republican.
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When polls closed in my home state of South Carolina, the Senate race was reported as “too close to call,” which was the GOP version of when New York was “too close to call” when polls closed in 2024. Democrats didn’t have that problem this year. Gov. Kathy Hochul put belt to ass in her race against Bruce Blakeman. The spread was so massive that it took down the odious Mike Lawler.
Decision Desk called the Senate race in Georgia for Democrat Jon Ossoff about 15 minutes after polls closed. It wasn’t close. The projected margin was 10 points … in Georgia, y’all. Meanwhile, Keisha Lance Bottoms was elected as the first Black woman governor ever when she defeated Republican Rick Jackson. I’d been concerned about this race so was delighted to see history made.
Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper easily flipped the Senate seat in North Carolina, which was open in the first place because Trump harangued Thom Tillis into retirement. Trump’s ego-driven stupidity was an ongoing theme of the evening. Cooper’s margin was an estimated 16.9 points! This wipeout helped Democrats win races down ballot that could restore actual democracy to North Carolina.
I admit that I was skeptical of her chances, but Democrat Annie Andrews pulled off the unthinkable in South Carolina. Andrews — who I repeat is a Democrat — actually defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Darline Graham, a true disaster in nepotism. Andrews was estimated to win by four points, when normally Democrats are lucky to get four points total in a statewide race.
As a South Carolina native, I’ll have more to say about this later. It is a stunning upset. This wasn’t just Lindsey Graham’s former seat. It was Strom Thurmond’s. I think this is the first time my family has voted for a winning candidate in 30 years.
In Texas, James Talarico defeated perpetual corruption machine Ken Paxton, who Trump endorsed over incumbent James Cornyn. (Cornyn congratulated Talarico on social media.)
Abbott called to concede the governor’s race to Gina Hinojosa, who delivered a political miracle. She ran with far less money and resources, and now she’s set to become the first Democratic governor in Texas since my beloved Ann Richards. Trump characteristically blamed Abbott for his loss, not his inhumane immigration policies, for instance: “If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn’t become a RINO in the last six months of his Political Life, he wouldn’t have lost. He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Abbott was hardly a RINO. He became so desperate at the end there that he claimed Hinojosa would deliberately punish white men. Talarico and Hinojosa did lead a wave that wiped out Republicans up and down the state ballot.
Democrat Adam Hamilton defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas, a state that has not elected a Democrat since 1932, but Marshall was possibly a worse candidate than even Ken Paxton. Josh Turek defeated Ashley Hinson in the Iowa Senate race. This was the win that put the Senate back in Democratic control. This only happens when voters are fully rebuking a wholly corrupt political party.
Dr. Amy Acton absolutely crushed scumbag Vivek Ramaswamy in the Ohio governor’s race. (She did not take Ramaswamy’s concession call because he’s scum.) Sherrod Brown kicked incumbent Jon Husted’s Trump-approved posterior and flipped the Senate seat briefly held by Vice President JD Vance. This post-Vance wipeout in his home state is delightful to witness.
The blue tsunami was so massive it even took out the political road runner Susan Collins, who conceded her Senate race to Democrat Troy Jackson shortly after midnight Maine time. Collins still managed to hold Jackson to a single digit margin in a year when Democrats were flipping Texas, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina. Collins has held this seat for decades but finally her “very concerned” faux moderate act has ended.
The House of Representatives was called for Democrats by 5:40 p.m. PT. And we’re not talking about some piddly narrow majority of about half dozen seats. No, they’ll boast an estimated 255 seats — the largest majority since 2008.
Trump had begun his predictable crash out shortly before polls closed, whining on social media: “The FoxNews Poll, always the worst, is so insulting with the questions they ask. Every question is a hit job, and every answer is ‘BULLSHIT!’ This has been going on for years.” He continued rage-posting about Fox News, because he doesn’t actually have a real job. He’s the first Retired Grumpy Racist Old Man President.
As Republicans were routed, Trump reportedly remained “defiant” (a media euphemism for “deranged”). The White House released a characteristically self-centered statement. “President Trump was not on the ballot, and it’s proven that Trump voters show up when he is on the ballot. Also, candidate quality matters, and President Trump did a better job promoting many of the candidates on the ballot than the candidates did themselves.”
Trump, imitating Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, posted on social media, “I wasn’t on the ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
This is obviously not true because Trump told his supporters at his hate rallies to vote as if he were on the ballot, and they did. Yet, Trump has shifted into blaming Republicans completely for the crushing loss he delivered to them.
“Congratulations to the Democrats,” Trump said when he called into the Fox News wake. “They did a good job. But I don’t view it as a hit on me. We’ve had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency.”
Of course, Trump warned that Americans should “buckle up” as he prepares to fight Democrats. He’ll try, but for now, let’s enjoy this victory. (As I write this, Democrat Scott Colom could possibly flip the Mississippi Senate seat. What a night.)
I am over the Carolina moon that my native state, NC, has turned blue - not just Cooper for the Senate, but Dem wins for the US House, and Dems have taken the NC House and Senate. Here in SC, where I grew up, and now live, after living in NC after I got married, Andrews has won the Senate seat that once belonged to Strom Thurmond. It's been 20 years since a Dem has won statewide here. It's a start!
Over here in England, I stayed up until 3:30 a.m. (10:30 p.m. Eastern) and for the first time in a long time went to bed without a feeling of election night dread. My husband gets up earlier than I do, and when I rounded the corner into the kitchen this morning he was sitting at his computer with a little grin on his face. "Well," he said, "trump still isn't dead [it's the first question I ask him most mornings] but he may as well be." He started going over all the results he knew I would make my day as I made my coffee and, despite it being typically gray and rainy here, it's feeling like a great day! The comparison to how I felt the morning after the 2024 election is incalculable.