In the recent midterm elections, the social discontent boiling beneath the surface finally found a way to break through on a national scale, as well on the state and local levels, in grassroots campaigns.
The $2 billion that the wealthy poured into the elections was overcome with a voter turnout that was through the roof – the second-highest turnout in a midterm since 1914, exceeded only by the 2018 midterms. Turnout was especially high in counties that are majority minority, the Brennan Center for Justice reported. Hundreds of students in North Carolina, denied polling places on their campus, marched an hour to the polls to vote. In Ohio, thousands stood in line for hours to vote early, rejecting voter suppression efforts. In Florida, people braved floods to cast their ballots. Women, especially Black and Brown women, and young people played powerful roles nationally as organizers, voters and candidates.
Gina Hinojosa, elected the first Latina governor of Texas on Nov. 3, summed up the thinking of many voters in her victory speech when she said, “Hear what Texas said today, loud and clear: Your government belongs to you. There will be no special set of rules for the wealthy and powerful, no looking the other way when someone in my own party does wrong.”
There were many other “firsts” in this election. In Michigan’s Senate race, Abdul El-Sayed became the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. He rejected corporate money and promised to fight for Medicare for all.
In Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman elected governor of a U.S. state and the first Black governor of Georgia. She promised to support every community and to expand Medicaid.
Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota became the first Native female US senator.
In Mississippi, votes were still being counted as this article was published, but Democrat Scott Colom was leading in the US Senate race and will become the first Black senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction if he wins. See more firsts.
People voted across party lines to demand, among other things, that the cost of living come down, to have healthcare, to stop data centers, to stop the genocide and the war, to halt the brutal attacks on immigrants, to end tariffs, to reject racism, and to reject the domination of the billionaires, especially the tech giants. They acted to defend their right to vote, coming out in force particularly in those congressional districts that had been gerrymandered to favor Republicans.
This election victory was not so much an endorsement of the Democrats as it was a social revolt against the billionaires, particularly the tech giants. The people demanded that their voices be heard and their needs be addressed, and the Democrats simply got out in front of the wave.
Now we have to hold those elected responsible.
“I want the officials in office to do what they said they were going to do and not back out,” said a young Black woman voter.
As Bernie Sanders noted recently, polls show 80% of registered voters want “either complete and total upheaval or substantial change in how this country is run.” The midterms was the first upheaval. There are no doubt more to come.
