In governors races...
In the Senate...
So far in Alaska (The results are not official yet)...
Does it meet the defining of a Shellacking? Believe it or not... it doesn't. The election fits the pattern of a normal mid-term election but,
I will say yes.
Early Voting & Total Ballots:
Record Early Voting Volume: Approximately 54 million Americans cast ballots during the pre-Election Day early voting period, exceeding early voting totals from the 2022 midterm elections by nearly 9 million.
State Highs: In Texas, over 7.7 million voters cast ballots during the early voting window—a 40.5% turnout of registered voters before Election Day.
Break down by age groups:
| Demographic Group |
Electorate Share |
Key Voting Pattern & Alignment |
| Young Voters (Ages 18–29) |
~10% of total voters |
Supported Democratic U.S. House candidates by a +47 margin (71% Democrat vs. 25% Republican). |
| Middle-Aged Voters (Ages 30–44) |
Moderate share |
Favored Democratic House candidates over Republicans (59% to 36%). |
| Older Adults (Ages 65+) |
High proportion of voters |
Slightly preferred Republican candidates (51% Republican vs. 47% Democrat). |
| Hispanic Voters |
~16% of eligible voters |
Backed Democratic U.S. House candidates over Republicans by roughly 60% to 33%. |
It is us old fogies that "stood by our man" everyone else saw the light!
Neither major statewide race in Michigan has been officially called yet, as vote counting remains active across the state:
- Gubernatorial Race: Democrat Jocelyn Benson leads Republican John James as ballots continue to be processed.
- U.S. Senate Race: Democrat Abdul El-Sayed leads Republican Mike Rogers as precincts report preliminary totals.
- U.S. House Delegations: In Michigan's congressional districts, 9 of the 13 U.S. House seats have been called so far.
It looks like the Democrats picked up House seats in Michigan.
Historic LGBTQ+ Federal Milestones
- First Openly Gay Man Elected to the U.S. Senate: Democratic Representative Chris Pappas won the U.S. Senate election in New Hampshire, defeating Republican nominee John Sununu. Pappas becomes the first openly gay man elected to serve in the upper chamber of Congress.
House Re-Elections & New Entrants:
- Sarah McBride (D-DE): The nation's first openly transgender member of Congress won re-election to represent Delaware's at-large district.
- Sharice Davids (D-KS): Secured a fifth term representing Kansas's 3rd Congressional District.
- Ritchie Torres (D-NY): Won a fourth term representing New York's 15th Congressional District in the Bronx.
- Mark Pocan (D-WI): Won re-election to extend his tenure as one of the longest-serving LGBTQ+ members of the U.S. House.
- Jeremy Moss (D-MI): Won Michigan's 11th Congressional District, becoming the state's first openly LGBTQ+ member elected to the U.S. House.
- JD Ford (D-IN): Won election to the U.S. House, unseating an incumbent to become the first openly gay member of Congress from Indiana.
Key State Legislative Wins:
Bentley Hudgins (D-GA): Won a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives (District 90), making history as the state's first openly transgender and nonbinary state lawmaker.
Voting Pattern & Demographic Alignment
According to nationwide voter surveys, LGBTQ+ voters turned out heavily for Democratic candidates down the ballot, supporting Democratic House candidates by wide margins as part of the broader surge in young and suburban voting blocs.
Trans Referendums:
In the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, a small number of statewide ballot measures concerning transgender issues were put directly to voters.
Passed Referendums
Nebraska — Initiative Measure 442 (Sex Requirement for School & College Sports): Passed. This initiative constitutionally restricts participation in female athletic teams at public schools and postsecondary institutions strictly to individuals categorized by biological sex at birth.
Defeated Referendums
Missouri — Amendment 3 (Gender Transition Procedures for Minors & Abortion Ban): Rejected. Voters defeated this constitutional amendment, which sought to ban minors from receiving gender transition procedures, cross-sex hormones, or puberty blockers, alongside other provisions.
Still being counted, Colorado (Proposition 134 & Proposition 135), Arizona (Proposition 318), and Washington (Initiative 638)
[Update 4:45PM: Colorado Proposition 134: Voters rejected the measure, with approximately 70.55% voting NO and 29.45% voting YES. It would have required school and college sports teams to be assigned based on biological sex.]
Several openly transgender women won their races in the 2026 U.S. midterm elections across federal and state levels:
Federal Elections:
- Sarah McBride (Delaware — U.S. House of Representatives): Democrat Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender person elected to the U.S. Congress, won reelection to represent Delaware's at-large congressional district.
State Legislative Elections:
- Leigh Finke (Minnesota — State House): Representative Leigh Finke, Minnesota’s first openly transgender state legislator, won reelection to her seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
State & Local Races:
- Other historic state legislative victories include Bentley Hudgins in Georgia (winning a seat in the Georgia Assembly as a transgender nonbinary lawmaker). In Alabama Democrat Allison Montgomery won the election for Alabama House District 25. She defeated Republican incumbent Phillip Rigsby in the Huntsville-area district, making her the first openly transgender person elected to the Alabama State Legislature.
We run... we win!
Trump's reaction (The blame game is in full stream):
- Blaming Candidate Quality: Trump distanced himself from the defeats by claiming he had no personal responsibility. On Truth Social, he posted: "I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!" He stated that voters simply didn't like some of the Republican candidates, adding that certain candidates had alienated his MAGA base by fighting him in the past.
- Targeting Specific Republicans: Trump specifically criticized defeated Texas Governor Greg Abbott, calling him a "RINO" (Republican in Name Only). However, he expressed no regrets about endorsing other losing high-profile candidates like Ken Paxton in Texas or Darline Graham in South Carolina.
- Praising Democrats: In a shift from his usual rhetoric, Trump congratulated the Democrats, stating that they "did a good job" and "fought hard".
- Veto Warnings & Bipartisanship: While Trump noted he is prepared to work with the new Democratic majority, he also warned that he holds total veto power and will reject any "insane" legislation they send to his desk.
- The Impact of the Iran War: Trump acknowledged that his decision to go to war with Iran impacted the midterms due to rising gas prices, though he maintained it was a "very wise decision" that he would make again.
8:20AM Overall Spending Breakdown
Total Cycle Advertising: Estimated to reach $11.6 billion.
House Races ($1.5 Billion total):
- Democratic-aligned advertisers: ~$787.3 million
- Republican-aligned advertisers: ~$678.9 million
Senate Races:
Total ad spending in key Senate battlegrounds has seen record levels, led by the Texas Senate race, which alone attracted over $500 million to $573 million in total advertising spend.
10:00 AM: Gerrymandering!
How It Worked for yesterday's Midterms?
The Republican Strategy:
States controlled by Republican legislatures redrew congressional maps to turn previously competitive or Democratic-leaning seats into safer Republican districts. They used cracking (diluting Democratic concentrations) and packing (bundling heavy Democratic voting blocs together) to engineer a favorable baseline map.
The Goal:
Protect their U.S. House majority by picking up a buffer of redrawn seats heading into the midterm cycle.
Did it block the Democrats?
No — yesterday's results showed that the aggressive gerrymandering largely backfired. Because a strong "blue wave" national environment took hold, the defensive buffers Republicans drew were breached:
Dems Surmounted the Maps:
In states like Texas and Florida, Democrats won key seats and held onto competitive Rio Grande Valley and Central Florida districts that Republicans had specifically redrawn to flip.
Gerrymandering Backfire:
When a party stretches district lines too thin to maximize seats (giving themselves modest 5-to-10 point advantages across multiple districts), a larger-than-expected swing by the opposing party can cause all of those newly drawn "safe" seats to collapse simultaneously.
Outcome:
Rather than insulating the GOP, Democrats claimed majorities in the House by winning multiple seats drawn explicitly to favor Republicans.
(I used Gemini AI & ChatGPT AI to organize and tabulate the results and the HTML table)
My analysis:
The Democrats do not have enough votes to overturn a veto... so it is going to be a cantankerous two years. The big question is has any of the Republicans developed backbones? So for the next two years with a divided Congress without a veto-proof majority guarantees a combative, high-friction. environment.
In Maine: it looks like Sen. Collins backed Trump one too many times in critical votes.
A confused voter demanding to know why Donald Trump's name was missing from his ballot has sparked a political talking point, after a video shared on X appeared to show a man complaining that he could not find the US president among the candidates.
According to the footage as described, someone explains that Trump is not running in the midterm election. The exchange serves as a reminder of a basic fact about American politics, even as Trump himself urges voters to treat the November contest as a referendum on his presidency.
Well if it was... Trump lost!
To do list:
- I think that the Democrats need to balance the budget with a "Cut the deficit tax" on those making more than a million dollars a year!
- Investigate fraud & corruption. (I don't think any criminal cases going forward. Because if they find corruption it will be the DOJ to prosecute the case. Do you really think the DOJ will go against Trump family?)
- Impeach cabinet members who put Trump before the Constitution (i.e. DOJ and the Department of Defense)
- Investigate DOGE