In the wake of 2016, we went through the bright spots that happened despite a devastating election outcome. This year, the good news is there are way too many bright spots to mention here!
The HOUSE
Despite being a bit overshadowed on election night due to the gaudier Senate and governor’s races, the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives is an amazing and game-changing result. Two years ago, this victory seemed impossible, with gerrymandering and well-ensconced Republican incumbents making an impenetrable wall. But two years of hard work, great candidates, and an unpopular president achieved it!
Now Democrats can put a stop to GOP attempts to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. They can secure funding increases, or at least prevent further cuts, to important social welfare programs like food stamps as well as many other government programs. And they can investigate the many, many wrong-doings of the Trump administration and bring some of this corruption into the light of day.
Democratic Trifectas
Democrats gained complete control of six state governments, including Illinois, New York, Maine, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico. All of these states should be able to start passing progressive legislation that had been held up at one stage or another, including improvements to voting, Medicaid expansions, and more.
Breaking GOP Control
Democrats won governors races in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Kansas and won both houses of the state legislature in New Hampshire. They also ended the supermajority in North Carolina that allowed the legislature to bypass Governor Cooper’s vetoes. In some cases, that means progressive legislation like Medicaid expansion in Kansas will pass, but it will also ensure many Republican priorities will be stopped. For example, Scott Walker had gotten approval from the Trump administration to add work requirements to Medicaid in Wisconsin just last week, which Tony Evers should now be able to stop.
Progressive Ballot Measures
When progressive policies are put in front of voters, they pass! We saw that all over the country on a whole host of measures:
- Medicaid expansion in Idaho and Nebraska passed and is leading in Utah
- Minimum wage increases passed in Missouri and Arkansas
- Independent redistricting measures passed in Michigan, Missouri, and Colorado and is leading in Utah
- New gun control measures passed in Washington state
- Massachusetts kept its law banning discrimination based on gender identity in public places
- Medical marijuana passed in Missouri and recreational marijuana passed in Michigan
- Automatic voter registration passed in Nevada and Michigan, and Michigan also passed no-excuse absentee voting
Criminal Justice Reform
Criminal justice reform continued taking steps forward at the state and local level, both through ballot measures and elected officials
- Florida will now automatically restore voting rights to most felons thanks Amendment 4 passing (ending a Jim Crow era law)
- Louisiana will now require unanimous jury verdicts (also ending a Jim Crow era law)
- Jefferson County (Birmingham), Alabama will have its first black sheriff (Mark Pettway) and first black district attorney (Danny Carr) in the county’s history
- Hennepin County (Minneapolis), MN, Orange County, CA, Dona Ana County, NM, Dallas, TX, Wake County (Raleigh), NC, and Rensselaer County, NY, all defeated either incumbent sheriffs or district attorneys and replaced them with more progressive opponents.
And More
There are still so many more items to cover, but here are a few more:
- Many, many, many diverse firsts, where women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community won office for the first time. The Democratic party continues to elect folks who more and more reflect the diverse country in which we live.
- Watershed changes in many urban areas of Texas, including Democrats defeating mostly incumbent GOP judges across the board in Harris County (Houston), TX, and defeating the long-serving county judge (county executive)
- Significant increases in voter turnout across the country, resulting in likely the highest midterm turnout in decades
Please share any additional good news from your area in the comments!