The Blue wave that many political pundits and prognosticators predicted arrived Tuesday evening with a resounding boom, and a clear rebuke of Donald Trump and his damaging agenda.
For Black Americans, several political firsts made this midterm election particularly eventful: Keisha Lance Bottoms becomes the first Black female governor in the U.S.; Byron Donalds, a Republican, will be Florida’s first Black governor; David Crowley is the first Black governor-elect of Wisconsin; Aaron Ford becomes governor-elect of Nevada; Stacey Plaskett will be governor-elect of the U.S. Virgin Islands; and there’s a possibility that Scott Colom can become the first Black senator from Mississippi since the Reconstruction era. In addition, Hakeem Jeffries is slated to be the first Black Speaker of the House.
We should also note that Abdul El-Sayed is the senator-elect from the hotly contested race in Michigan, making him the first Muslim senator in the nation’s history. Chris Pappas, a representative from New Hampshire, is set to be the first gay man elected to the U.S. Senate. Deb Haaland, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior, was victorious in her bid to be the first Native American governor of New Mexico. Another Native American woman, Peggy Flanagan, who was Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, is now the first to be elected to the Senate.
Plus, two Latin Americans achieved firsts: Xavier Becerra won his race to be California’s governor and Gina Hinojosa accomplished the same feat in Texas, upsetting Greg Abbott and his huge war chest.
Oh, and topping off the stunning results, Democrat Amy Acton defeated Vivek Ramaswamy and will be the first female governor of Ohio, overcoming controversial issues during the final weeks of the campaign.
With such an overwhelming night of victories, gaining control of Congress, and a severe repudiation of President Trump and his inane policies, the Democratic winners now face the daunting task of reversing such critical issues as affordability, putting a check on spiraling inflation, rolling back Trump’s tariff measures — particularly the impact on farmers, and ending the “forever war” with Iran.
During the runup to the election, we placed a lot of emphasis on such key states as Iowa, Ohio, Texas, and Alaska, calling them the IOTA factor, which mostly swung our way, although we are still waiting for the senatorial outcome in Alaska. We were also concerned about the Senate race in Maine, Kansas, and Michigan, and they all flipped in our favor. To a great degree, it seems to be a new political horizon that augurs well for 2028.
How the Democratic Party, especially the Democratic National Committee, marshals the momentum and constructs a platform going forward will continue what has been defined as consequential.
We are also overjoyed that Mayor Mamdani’s slate, so to speak, was exceedingly victorious: Governor Hochul was reelected, and others such as Brad Lander, Claire Valdez, Letitia James, Diana Moreno, Aber Kawas, Illapa Sairitupac, and Darializa Avila Chevalier were all successful.
While it’s no time for the Dems to gloat, they can rejoice and take a breath after delivering a massive blow to the GOP and the billionaires who forked over tons of cash in an attempt to buy the elections across the country and right here at home.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who handily won re-election for a second full term, bringing in former NYC City Council speaker Adrienne Adams with her as lieutenant-governor–elect, probably relished the moment. “Just a few weeks ago, Donald Trump came to New York and told voters to pretend that he was on the ballot,” Hochul said in her victory speech. “Well, Mr. President, you got your wish.”
In an ironic way, the voters made America great again.
