After Democrats’ “beyond our wildest dreams” victory in the November 3, 2026, midterm elections, headlines shared a common word: “Rebuke.”
“Democrats
win control of US Congress in rebuke of Trump” (New York Times)
“Voters
give Democrats control of Congress in rebuke to Trump” (Washington Post)
“Midterm
elections deliver rebuke to Trump and GOP”
(Dallas Morning News)
“Midterm
results deliver a rebuke to Trump” (USA Today)
And
on and on.
What
an inadequate word! You rebuke a child for deliberately peeing in his pajamas.
You rebuke a child who knows better yet spills her juice on the carpet.
What
Americans did Tuesday night was deliver a ferocious punch to Trump’s gut, the
Republican Party’s gut, the MAGA mob’s gut, and the gut of Trump’s assorted
invertebrate enablers and sycophants, leaving them gasping for air. It was shellacking, a rout, a wipeout, a blue wave that turned into a blue tsunami. It was
voters collectively saying from sea to shining sea, “Enough with the
corruption, the destruction of institutions, the coddling of dictators, the cruelty of tariffs imposed on friendly nations and the runaway costs of food, and gas and healthcare and life’s basic
necessities, the senselessness of an illegitimate war, the murder, arrests and deportations of Americans by ICE in the streets of our cities, the shenanigans of the Department of Injustice, the
hollowing out of the legislative and judicial branches by the executive branch,
and more, more and more. We are sick and tired of Trump’s thuggery, indecency,
and profanity, and of his bottomless avarice and narcissism. We are taking charge because
power lies with us, the people. The Rule of Law begins now, along with
accountability and punishment.”
There
were so many transcendent and cathartic moments Tuesday night that it is difficult,
if not impossible, to list them all. Here are some:
The
first Muslim senator from Michigan (he beat Republican Mike Rogers by 7
percentage points: 52.5% to 45.5%) began his victory speech with this: “My name
is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed (shortened by the media to Abdul El-Sayed), and
I am proud and honored to be the Senator-elect from the great state of
Michigan. Up until this moment, you might have noticed that I always say Insha
Allah or “God Willing” whenever the outcome of this race is mentioned. Today,
we turn that Insha Allah into Alhamdulillah, “Praise be to God.” This is
ALL yours. Michigan, I can’t wait to serve you with the same big-heartedness,
open-mindedness, grit, and earnestness you’ve shown me.”
Sayed
won despite the ad hominem attacks on his Islamic faith and his
characterization as a terrorist and a jihadist by President Trump and Mike
Rogers, by the despicable turncoat Haley Stevens, and by some Democratic lawmakers. The millions that AIPAC and Republicans spent to ensure his defeat turned out be in vain. This is
how Sayed summed it up: “To the Super PACs and special interests that tried
to beat us, we’re coming for your system of politics. To AIPAC, who spent $42
million dollars against us, thank you for giving me the opportunity to beat you
twice. They try to call you hateful if you believe that Palestinian kids should
get to grow up in the land of their forefathers without being murdered by our
tax dollars. If you believe in equal rights to peace, dignity, and self-determination,
that’s not hate. It’s love … Michigan, we beat a machine. And we proved once
again how big America really is. Because where else but in America can a doctor
named Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, a child of immigrants, get elected senator
from America’s greatest state?”
I am still trying to process the tectonic shift in Texan politics. James Talarico, a state legislator and former middle-school teacher, became the first Democrat to win a Texas Senate race in more than a generation. At 37, he will be the youngest member of the Senate when he is sworn in on January 3, 2027. Despite hundreds of millions of dollars Republicans spent, including more than $200 million from Elon Musk to keep Texas red, Talarico proved that money matters far less than principles and that voters listen when you convince them you will ease their pain with genuine, practical policies. Elon Musk moved from California to Texas in 2020 and displayed insufferable arrogance, believing his millions would maintain the status quo. He was wrong, very wrong. Talarico beat the vile and corrupt Ken Paxton by 55.1% to 43%. This is how Talarico summed up Elon Musk in a rally before the midterm: "The reason poverty exists in the wealthiest country on earth is not because we can't feed the poor. It's because we can't satisfy the rich. But what we can do is tax trillionaires out of existence."
But if Talarico’s victory lifted our
hearts, Latina Gina Hinojosa’s stunning victory over incumbent Greg Abbott, one of
America’s most powerful Republicans, astounded us. Seemingly out of nowhere and
outspent at least 6 to 1, she became the first Democrat to win statewide office
in more than 30 years and the first Latina elected governor of Texas. Abbott
had served three consecutive terms as governor of Texas, but as Senator
Talarico said in his victory speech, “never underestimate the underdog.”
In
the gorgeous state of Georgia, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first
Black woman to be elected as governor in the United States' 250-year history. Her
defeat of Republican billionaire health care executive Rick Jackson, 54.3% to
45.7%, made Bottoms the first Democrat to win a Georgia governor's race in
more than two decades. Remember, however, that Keisha Lance Bottoms’
victory did not happen in a vacuum. Stacey Adams, a Georgia legend, ran for
governor in 2018 and 2022 and lost both times. But the grassroots organization
she built over the years to inspire Black voters to vote was key to Bottoms’
2026 success. Behind every success is the story of others who sowed the
seeds, even if they did not see the fruits in their lifetime.
New
Mexico Democrat Deb Haaland, of Pueblo Indian descent, is America’s first Native
American woman governor. Haaland defeated Republican Gregg Hull, winning
57.2% to 42.8%.
Democrat
Xavier Becerra will be the first Latino elected governor of California when he
takes office. He beat the clueless Republican Steve Hilton 64.2% to 35.8%. This
was no surprise. I am proud to live in a state that is as blue as it gets and
unlikely to ever turn red.
Want
more pleasant surprises? The Rev. Adam Hamilton made history as the first
Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in Kansas in 94 years, (that was back in 1932!) defeating Republican incumbent Sen. Roger Marshal, 53% to 47%.
More?
Democrat Amy Acton defeated the loathsome, gutter-dwelling Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in the Ohio gubernatorial race by nearly 8 percentage points, 52.3% to 44.4%. In the traditionally conservative state of South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews defeated the incompetent and foul-mouthed Republican Sen. Darline Graham, appointed to fill the Senate seat of her late brother Lindsey Graham, 51.1% to 46.7%.
Nevada and Wisconsin elected their first Black governors. In the Silver State, Aaron Ford (D) beat Joe Lombardo (R) 51.4% to 44.9%. In the Badger State, David Crowley (D) beat Tom Tiffany 54.1% to 45.9%.
For
me, one of the most heartbreaking results came in Florida, the Sunshine State,
where Republican Byron Donalds defeated Democrat David Jolly by a slim margin
of 1.3 percentage points, 50.0% to 48.7%. Jolly is a former Republican who
served in the House of Representatives from 2014 to 2017. He became a Democrat
after being turned off by the corruption, nepotism, and immorality of Trump. It is beyond me how an African American like Donalds can suck up to
someone like Trump, whose documented history of bigotry and racism against
Black people is universally known. But we must not despair. As Stacey Abrams's
work helped elect Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia, David Jolly's defeat in 2026
could translate into electing Democratic candidates in Florida in the
years to come.
My
Florida heartbreak faded when I learned that a logger from Maine, a Democrat,
had toppled a Republican giant in the Senate. Troy Jackson defeated Republican
Susan Collins, who served in the U.S. Senate for 5 full terms spanning nearly
30 years, starting on January 3, 1997. Jackson, who entered the race late and looked like a political washout, became a giant-slayer of a seemingly invulnerable Republican “pillar” and lifted the spirits of Americans across the country.
Democrats
have won a majority in both chambers of the House. As of now, Democrats hold 54
Senate seats and 240 House seats (44 in the Senate and 147 in the House for Republicans). Two Senate seats and 48 House seats are still being counted. With
this commanding majority, turncoats like Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman
have become irrelevant.
Democrats must remain focused on holding Trump, including his family, his cronies, his vandal, the tech titans, the billionaires, the legal powerhouses that bowed to him in violation of the Law of the Land, the DOJ, and the insurrectionists, accountable for their corruption and misdeeds. Trump may wield the veto power, but Republicans will now think twice before continuing as Trump’s sycophants. Yes, despite their huge margins in both houses of Congress, Democrats won’t have enough votes to override his vetoes, but that is unlikely to matter. Democrats will now hold committee gavels, enabling them to conduct investigations and hearings backed by subpoena power. They must bring to light the full scope of Trump's and his vandals' looting of the American treasury. Americans, given their rage and outrage against Trump, will also not forgive servile and spineless Republicans who continue to genuflect before the increasingly deranged President and are likely to face crushing defeats in future elections, especially in the coming 2028 election. The end of Trumpism and the Trump cult are in sight. Character, it turns out, is indeed destiny, something the MAGA mob will never get. The blame game and the circular firing squad of Republicans are in full swing. A long-overdue generational realignment is also in full swing, thank God.
As I write this, I miss the 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter (1924-2024). He is not physically here, but I sense his spirit rejoicing in the Democrats' resounding victory in the 2026 midterm election.
One
hundred sixty-three years ago, on November 19, 1863, the 16th President of the
United States, Abraham Lincoln, delivered his timeless 272-word Gettysburg Address. Lincoln concluded his address with these words: “…that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people,
shall not perish from the earth.”
As
an American, I ask: Do we have what it takes to forge a “new birth of freedom”
in 21st-century America, one grounded as much in loving our neighbors and those
different from us as in protecting our democracy?
Only
time will tell but the signs are hopeful and assuring. May God bless America.
