The midterm elections are over, and the news is good and bad. In some states, voters defeated Republicans and right-wing legislation. In others, though, the GQP gained or maintained the upper hand.
Here in Georgia, record turnout made me hopeful that the Peach State would remain blue, and we would elect the USA’s first black female governor. Nope. Also, I hoped that Marcus Flowers would upset the bitterly hated Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is an embarrassment to this state. I spent weeks encouraging people to register, support Progressive candidates, and get their arses to the polls. Unfortunately, Georgia has backslid horribly, with Repubs voted or re-elected in several important positions.
The news is not all bad in Georgia, though – several important Democrats hung on to their seats in both national and state positions, and in the Georgia legislature Democrats flipped one seat each in the House and Senate. Nikema Williams and Lucy McBath both won handily. Raphael Warnock still has a chance to beat Herschel Walker in next month’s runoff.
Texas was another site of bad news, as Democrats got burned and voter turnout was sadly low. Three more Texas towns became “sanctuary cities for the unborn,” meaning that residents can become citizen bounty hunters and bring lawsuits against anybody who has or performs an abortion, or transports a womb-bearer out of state for the procedure. On the other hand, every incumbent in Texas who received an endorsement from Planned Parenthood won.
Georgia and Texas, as well as Florida, may remain strongly red; but they are not the entire country. The MAGAs can gloat all they like – in other states Democrats, and Democracy, triumphed. John Letterman held off the notorious mountebank Dr Oz. Four states, at last count, have protected the right to abortion, by either adding reproductive rights to their state constitutions or rejecting abortion bans. We are far from getting the last laugh at the expense of the forced-birth horde, but at least we can giggle. And as I was writing this, I learned that Wisconsin’s voters re-elected Governor Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul, both of whom have pledged to not enforce an anti-abortion state law from 1849. Not only that, Democrats flipped the Michigan state senate, which Republicans have dominated for four decades. On top of all that, Tennessee, Alabama, Vermont and Oregon all voted to abolish involuntary servitude and slavery as punishment for crime.
This is no time to rest on our laurels, though! We still have a lot of work to do. In the states where Democrats won, you can be sure the tRump chumps will start hollering “Election fraud!” Remember when some bug-eating knuckle-walkers plotted to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan? Not only that, a few races are still not decided, so there will be runoffs. Ranked-choice voting would have prevented these, but that is the subject of another essay entirely.
Republicans continue to use dirty tactics to suppress the votes of population segments that tend to support Democrats. Gerrymandering, reducing early voting hours, closing polling venues, providing fewer voting machines, not maintaining the ones in “undesirable” areas – these are just some of the tricks they use. And this is to say nothing of the misinformation they spread about voter fraud, or armed vigilantes waiting at polling stations.
Right-wingers hoped for a red wave. What they got was a red ripple. Overall, the midterms were a victory for Democrats and Progressives; more victories may come in the next month as runoffs decide those races that are still in the air.
There is now hope for the United States of America. The results of this midterm election could indicate that the country is indeed turning away from fascism and authoritarianism, and back towards its true roots and spirit.
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