Blue Tsunami and the End of MAGA?

Addendum by ELLIOT AVE-LALLEMANT and VIVIAN KOPKA

Millions of Americans went to the polls in the highly-anticipated midterm election on Nov. 3. The election brought forward what sources such as The New York Times, NPR, and ABC News have called a “blue tsunami,” going beyond the expectations of even the most ambitious predictions.

The Democrats won a clear majority in the House and the Senate, and now hold 30 out of the 50 governorships in the country.

Locally, Wisconsin Dems flipped the governorship, with David Crowley beating Republican Tom Tiffany by more than eight points, according to MultiState Elections. In Beloit’s congressional district, incumbent Bryan Steil was defeated by Democratic challenger Mitchell Berman by more than 10,000 votes.

The major talking points have been the flip of longtime red Texas, with James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa winning their respective Senate and gubernatorial elections. In addition to Texas, reporting from the Associated Press shows that Democrats have flipped Senate seats in Kansas, Iowa, Ohio, South Carolina, North Carolina and Maine — almost all of which were “red states” in 2024.

At the time of writing, the AP has not yet called the Senate elections in Alaska and Mississippi.  However, the Democratic candidates in both races hold a narrow majority. If the Democrats manage to flip Alaska and Mississippi, they will hold 56 seats, a major victory over their current minority of 47.

Major progressive and democratic socialist candidates also saw a boost in popularity in swing states and deep red states. Progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed beat Republican Mike Rogers in a highly nationalized race in Michigan by 8 points, with the AP calling the race in the early morning of Nov. 4. Democratic socialist candidate Melat Kiros won Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, becoming the first Gen-Z woman to become a representative.

Although the Democrats got a major success, the night was not without Republican victories. Angie Nixon, a democratic socialist candidate for Senate in Florida, lost to Republican incumbent Ashley Moody by four points, with 50.9% of the vote as currently counted by the Associated Press.

The election showed the mood of the electorate on the actions of the second Trump administration. An unpopular war against Iran, continued support for Israel, increasing cost of living, alleged corruption, partisan gerrymandering by both parties, and more have been at the forefront of American politics since 2024.

With this large of a majority for Democrats, Republicans have found themselves in a crisis. “The reason we lost is the war,” wrote Vice President JD Vance on X. His tweet has been seen as an attempt to distance himself from President Trump, as Vice President Vance has been considered the top Republican for the 2028 nomination. Along with public doubt of the President by the Vice President, rumors of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio getting possibly fired were circulating, although the White House has denied these rumors.

In a night-of interview with The New York Times, President Trump expressed that he is willing to work with Democrats. “I consider it to be the most successful two-year period in the history of any president,” he said of his presidency preceding the midterm.

Although they won big, the Democrats are also gearing up for a factional struggle between the establishment, progressive, and democratic socialist wings of the party. El-Sayed stated in an interview with CNN that he will not support New York Senator Chuck Schumer as majority leader in January, opting for Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, while establishment Democrats continue support for Schumer and current House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

With such a crushing defeat, many political analysts and news organizations have been discussing whether or not this election is “the end of MAGA” and “Trumpism.” Although we will not know the answer to this question for many years, it is clear that the American electorate has rejected the actions of the president, giving Democrats a wide mandate to bring stability into a highly unstable administration.

Following the midterm elections on Tuesday, Nov. 3, Beloit Votes, the Weissberg Program, and the Political Science program hosted an election watch party in the Science Center. Pizza, chips, deserts, and soda were provided. The students at the watch party kept track of all the midterm races happening nationwide on a whiteboard.

“It was very inspiring to see students come together to watch such a historical election and eat yummy food,” said Rachel Lubar’28, President of Beloit Votes.

_{Featured image: AP News}