The Democrats Win Control of the House and Senate in a Stunning Rebuke

We have been discussing the midterms in my 7th grade social studies class for the last two weeks. It’s been a lot more fun for me than it has been for the students who do not care about politics, even in this heavily charged political environment. I actually love that for them — imagine going through your day and never thinking about the current President.

I also had to make slides so that I could present the election results this morning. I had several favorite slides, but my two favorite were: “In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson defeated Republican Susan Collins, ending her 30-year tenure as Senator. More importantly, there will be no more political ads!” No one is more sick of political ads than middle-school students — many adults can avoid them by watching streaming television. Students watch YouTube, where they are so omnipresent that 7th graders can quote ads by memory.

My other favorite slide: “Definition: A lame duck president is a president whose power has faded because he can’t run for office again.”

I will then discuss how politics used to be so boring before they were born that when President Obama wore a brown suit, it was a major controversy. Those were good times.

As for the results: I know this audience. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. The Democrats have retaken the Senate with 54 seats, officially, with a chance to take as many as 56. Fifty-five seats seems likely, as they are still favored to win in Alaska. The 56th seat would be the biggest shock in a decade if the Democrat can somehow pull out a victory in Mississippi, where Scott Colum is currently ahead by around 40 votes. The last time Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith ran for this seat, she won by 10 points. The Republican also won in Louisiana by only 25,000 votes. Those are two of the reddest states in America. That is how well the Democrats did last night. That is how badly the President has been rebuked.

There were also several historic firsts:

— Keisha Lance Bottoms won in Georgia, becoming the first Black woman elected governor of any U.S. state. Democrats now control Georgia two Senate seats and the Governor’s mansion. Georgia. Where Dukes of Hazzard was set. Georgia.

— Deb Haaland won New Mexico, becoming the first Indigenous woman elected governor of a U.S. state.

— Gina Hinojosa will be Texas’s first Latina governor after Greg Abbott conceded, and the first Democrat elected governor there since Ann Richards in 1990. Hinojosa’s victory nearly outshines that of James Talerico, who will be the first Democrat elected to the Senate since 1988.

— Abdul El-Sayed beat Mike Rogers in Michigan, becoming the first Muslim senator.

— Chris Pappas will become the first openly gay man to serve in the Senate after winning in New Hampshire.

— Adam Hamilton becomes the first Democratic Senator in Kansas in nearly a century.

It was an insane night all around. Democrats are likely to not only win all 7 toss-up races in the Senate, but an 8th — South Carolina — which wasn’t expected to be a toss-up until the last week of the election. They are also projected to win between 250 and 260 seats in the House.

Also, the gerrymandering completely backfired. In the seats Republicans redrew to flip from Democrats, early results show them winning roughly one of the 12 contested targets in Texas, Florida, Ohio and North Carolina.

And in Texas, it wasn’t just the Senate and the Governor’s mansion. Every Republican statewide candidate lost, including th lieutenant governor and attorney general. In fact, Democrats are slightly favored to take over the State House (though, Republicans will maintain a hold on the State Senate). If Democrats can turn Texas and Georgia blue in the next Presidential election, Republicans won’t stand a chance (knock on wood).

But let’s not think about two years from now, or even six months from now. Let’s just bask in this victory and the lame-duck presidency that awaits us.