I’ve never seen an election like this one. It’s bittersweet; I’m back in Idaho, and my home state is one of the most conservative in the country. Indicative of its priorities, our state legislature requested Idahoans vote on a “state gun” this year (only 28% of ballots opted to leave this section blank). Proposition 1, a ballot initiative meant to secure basic rights related to reproductive healthcare only received approval from 44% of voters.
Outside of Idaho, there’s more to be hopeful about.
I don’t think I can overstate how much of an earthquake Tuesday was. Hours ago, “Blexas” was just a meme, mere hopium. Results are still being compiled, but in every map that I’ve seen mapping swings from 2024 to 2026, almost every county shifted left. Mississippi has (possibly, hopefully) elected its first Black senator since Blanche Bruce in 1881. Texas has elected a Democratic senator for the first time since 1988, and elected its first Latina governor. Not only has the Democratic party claimed control of the US House and Senate, but they’ve also gained trifectas in multiple state governments. There’s a real possibility that multiple states could choose to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, effectively bypassing the US electoral college.
In particular, I have feelings of vicarious joy for the Michiganders celebrating Abdul El-Seyed’s victory. I donated and canvassed for El-Seyed during the 2018 gubernatorial primary; El-Seyed inspired me, but his campaign always felt like a long-shot against Whitmer. I wouldn’t have imagined he’d be the state’s senator-elect 6 years later.
In the weeks before election night, it was impossible to avoid seeing polls for various races; most of them were very clearly pointing towards a large wave. A portrait of our present moment almost makes the result feel obvious: a disastrous war we initiated, concomitant inflation (gasoline in particular), a deeply unpopular president hanging around the neck of his party, and the list goes on. Even with all of this being true, I’m still not used to trusting my instincts. I was waiting for the ground to fall out from underneath us.
I still have a sort of vertigo from 2016. Over the past 10 years, something has been stolen from us, I think. We’ve been trapped in a deeply stupid era, marked by cruelty. Yes, there have been inspiring moments of resistance, but the backlog of damage to be repaired is immense. I don’t even know how to properly acknowledge the all the damage that can’t be repaired.
Alex Pretti memorial today in the rain ❤️.
— Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl (@deardara.bsky.social) November 3, 2026 at 10:00 PM
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For the last 5 years, I’ve lived with a gnawing desperation in my gut for what I can only describe as national accountability. We witnessed an attempted coup and an uncomfortable number of its perpetrators are walking free. An unelected billionaire was allowed to personally dismantle sections of our government he found distasteful or threatening. Appointed officials deployed militarized forces to intimidate and kidnap residents of our cities. Our military has been murdering people in open water via drone strike, abducted a foreign head of state, and started an unwinnable war. Corruption and self-dealing is rampant. There are simply too many examples for me to list.
We have such a narrow window to start addressing these harms. Our public has a frighteningly short memory, and I fear that the leadership of the Democratic party is still unprepared to meet this moment, despite having lived through the past decade with the rest of us. We cannot outrun these problems, and trying to outwait them has proven extremely dangerous. The new class of senators and representatives will have to fight to ensure the party doesn’t lose sight of what propelled them into office.