Rather than regurgitate the particular wins and losses that occurred on Tuesday, I thought it more useful, at this point, to look at the big picture and identify the largest overall winners and losers for the country as a whole.
asserted
it → regurgitate → whole
It’s Donald Trump’s DEI nightmare.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
Georgia voters elected Keisha Lance Bottoms, the first Black female governor in the country.
asserted
voters → elect → country
Texas chose Gina Hinojosa, the state’s first Latina governor and first Democratic governor in more than 30 years.
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Texas → choose → years
California elected Xavier Becerra, the state’s first Latino governor.
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California → elect → Becerra
New Mexico chose Deb Haaland, the country’s first female Native American governor.
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Mexico → choose → Haaland
Florida elected Byron Donalds, the first Black governor in Florida’s history (a Republican).
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Florida → elect → history
For the US Senate, New Hampshire chose Chris Pappas, that chamber’s first out gay member.
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Hampshire → choose → Pappas
Minnesotans picked Peggy Flanagan, the first Native American woman elected to the Senate.
asserted
Minnesotans → pick → Senate
Michiganders chose Abdul El-Sayed, the first Muslim elected to the Senate.
asserted
Michiganders → choose → Senate
Some are attributable to a surge in voting by Black people, many of whom were understandably incensed at efforts to push Black representatives out of Congress through overt racial gerrymandering.
asserted
many → vote → gerrymandering
But many straight white men and women also disagree with Trump’s narrow definition of America.
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men → disagree → America
It turns out that the nation is far more diverse, equitable and inclusive than Trump or his Republican enablers want (or believe) it to be.
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it → turn → ?
They tried to make us fear and hate one another over our many differences.
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us → try → differences
They indubitably failed.
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They → fail → ?
For as long as anyone can remember, the states that comprised the Old Confederacy have been regressive, conservative, intolerant and, at least since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Republican.
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that → remember → 1964
On Tuesday, three of the four most populous southern states (Texas, North Carolina and Georgia) voted for Democrats up and down their tickets.
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three → vote → tickets
Texas Democrats carried every statewide office from governor through lieutenant governor, attorney general, and even railroad commissioner.
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Democrats → carry → governor
North Carolina and Georgia Democrats also scored stunning victories.
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Democrats → score → victories
As I write this, another possible gobsmacker: the Democrat Scott Colom may actually win the Mississippi Senate seat held by the Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith.
uncertain
Democrat → write → Smith
Even Democratic losers in the south came remarkably close to winning: the Democratic Senate candidate Jamie Davis was within a hair’s breadth of victory in Louisiana.
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candidate → come → Louisiana
Florida’s Angie Nixon almost won the Senate seat there.
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Nixon → win → seat
What accounts for this new south?
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What → account → south
Partly a large and growing professional class (in metro Atlanta, North Carolina’s “research triangle”, and Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin) combined with an increasing flow of young workers and their families from other states, seeking more affordable housing.
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class → grow → housing
All told, the new south is more tolerant than the old.
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south → tell → old
Much of it is also more more educated.
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Much → educate → it
During the run-up to the 2026 midterms, American voters were inundated with Republican attack ads, inflamed rhetoric, and personal smears against Democratic rivals.
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voters → inundate → rivals
Those efforts backfired.
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efforts → backfire → ?
Americans soundly rejected the politics of hate and fear, and embraced common decency.
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Americans → reject → decency
Trump, JD Vance and RFK Jr did their worst to fuel Islamophobia against Michigan’s Dr El-Sayed.
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Trump → do → Sayed
Trump claimed if El-Sayed won, he’d “invite hordes of jihadis to our shores”.
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he → claim → shores
RFK Jr baselessly linked El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood.
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Jr → link → Brotherhood
Their fear-mongering obviously didn’t work.
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mongering → work → ?
Vance suggested that the Texas Democratic senatorial candidate James Talarico is gay.
uncertain
candidate → suggest → ?
Ohioans were so turned off by the Trump-endorsed billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy’s attack ad against his Democratic opponent Dr Amy Acton – using Acton’s mother, whom Acton hadn’t seen since she was 12, when her stepfather was accused of raping her – that the ad may have helped fuel Acton’s win, making her the first Democrat to win Ohio’s governorship since 2006.
uncertain
her → turn → 2006
(Trump thought the ad was just fine, and Vance even blasted fellow Republicans who spoke out against the ad, calling their criticism “disgusting” and telling them to “stop whining” because “politics is a tough business.”
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politics → think → them
Since Trump came on the scene, many Republicans have eagerly imitated his scurrilous character assaults.
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Republicans → come → assaults
Such smears have become so common that we tend to forget that most Americans don’t particularly like this form of politics.
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Americans → become → politics
They prefer Barack Obama’s tempered rhetoric and the late John McCain’s dignified and respectful way of disagreeing.
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They → prefer → rhetoric
Besides Trump and his Republican sycophants, the biggest losers are the mega donors and Super Pacs that poured record amounts of money into failed Republican candidacies.
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that → pour → candidacies
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
