‘Our democracy worked.’ Author and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich assesses Democrats’ amazing showing in Tuesday’s elections: “The great sleeping giant of America has awakened, taken a hard look at what’s become of the nation, and roared a thunderous NO!”
■ Columnist Susan Berger: “Cruelty lost. Decency won.”
■ Documentarian and former Donald Trump Homeland Security appointee turned Trump critic Miles Taylor calls the vote “one of the great acts of defiance in American history.”
■ The New York Times: “Democrats Rout GOP … as Voters Deliver Stunning Rebuke to Trump.”
■ Daily Kos: “Democrats deliver a historic ass-whooping” …
■ … handing Republicans what ex-Jezebel editor-in-chief Laura Bassett declares “the biggest shellacking a party has seen since Watergate.”
■ Wired (free link): Democrats swept Republicans “in nearly every race that matters.”
■ Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis calls yesterday an “extinction-level event” for his party.
■ Associated Press analysis: “Trump has defied political consequences for years. The midterms changed that.”
■ Former Politico editor Garrett Graff: “My flabbers are gasted. Voters gave America another chance.”
■ Mother Jones calls it “a blue-nami.”
■ Author, documentarian and Chicago native Jonathan Alter: “Trump can still do a lot of damage, but his cult is dead and we have our democracy.”
■ Chaotic Era columnist Kyle Tharp: “Across the South, Black voters fought back against MAGA’s attempts to strip away their voting rights, while the Latino and young voters who broke for Donald Trump two years ago swung back hard toward Democrats.”
■ Columnist and former Illinois U.S. Rep. Marie Newman: “The transphobic, antisemitic, racist and communist attacks did not work.”
■ Discourse Blog proprietor Jack Mirkinson: “We have spent the last two years … being told, over and over and over again, that fascism was what this country really wanted. … And now everyone who tried to make us believe that … has suffered an unprecedented, historic humiliation.”
■ Grudge Report columnist and Kimmel writer Bess Kalb: “Welcome to the Gay Sharia States of Woke America (she/they)!”
A night of firsts. Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed, son of Egyptian immigrants, will become the nation’s first Muslim senator.
■ Wisconsin’s getting its first Black governor.
■ Kansas is getting its first Democratic senator in 94 years.
■ Senate candidate James Talarico becomes the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas in more than 30 years …
■ … a victory enabled in part by the Trump-controlled FCC’s ultimately counterproductive attempt to keep him from getting a Colbert Bump.
■ Political science professor Kristoffer Ealy thanks Trump: “You gave us James Talarico in the United States Senate AND a Democratic governor in Texas.”
■ The Atlantic declares South Carolina’s Senate race “the unlikeliest Democratic win of all.”
■ Your Local Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina: “More U.S. scientists and physicians ran for state and federal office this cycle than ever before. And many won.”
And, yeah, Illinois is blue all over. Gov. Pritzker’s the first of the state’s governors to win a third term since Jim Thompson in 1982 …
■ … bringing along Christian Mitchell as the state’s first male Black lieutenant governor.
■ Juliana Stratton clobbered Don Tracy to become the state’s next senator.
■ Candidates backed by the Chicago Teachers Union were on track to take half the seats on the newly elected school board—but not the presidency.
■ Chicagoans backed referenda favoring gunshot detection tech, endorsing higher taxes on millionaires and creating a standalone festival ground.
■ Oak Park voters overwhelmingly OK’d an advisory referendum opposing laws that ban state investment in businesses that boycott Israel .
■ Dive into the numbers with updating tables from The Associated Press, the Sun-Times, Block Club and Chalkbeat Chicago.
■ Block Club: “These Chicago politicians just won reelection. Now they want your vote for mayor.”
Now the hard(er) part. The Sun-Times’ Tina Sfondeles: Illinois’ congressional delegation aims to unwind Trump policies “as quickly as possible.”
■ Jonathan Last at The Bulwark: Democratic control of the Senate means “impeachment of cabinet members is a live possibility” …
■ … as some Democrats advise Trump’s family to “lawyer up” …
■ … although he tells CBS he looks forward to working with them “for the good of our country” …
■ Columnist and former Tribune national correspondent Charlie Madigan: “Make a list of cabinet officials you would like to see defenestrated.”
■ Democratic political consultant Julie Roginsky: “First order of business: End the filibuster. Without it, Democrats can’t govern.”
■ Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson says he’s hanging up his leadership hat.
■ Gizmodo: Democrats’ congressional sweep gives them new clout to defend the environment from Trump’s numerous rollbacks.
■ The Onion: “Why Hasn’t Abdul El-Sayed Accomplished Any Of His Campaign Goals Since Winning 2 Minutes Ago?”
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