(AFP) – Democratic voters across the United States celebrated Wednesday after midterm results that exceeded their most optimistic expectations. After two years of Republican control of the White House and Congress, many described elation, even as they wondered whether those they had just elected could deliver.
**Michigan** – “I think it was outstanding, it was about time,” 55-year-old firearms instructor Dexter Mitchell told AFP in downtown Detroit, citing the price of gasoline, living costs, and health care. Michigan, which went for Donald Trump in 2024, elected Democrat Abdul El-Sayed to become the nation’s first Muslim senator, and Jocelyn Benson as governor. El-Sayed’s race was rancorous after Republicans repeatedly and openly tried to scare voters by painting him as a terrorist sympathizer. “I know that a lot of people asked him to denounce the (Muslim) Brotherhood,” said Mitchell, who is Black. “How come we don’t ask the Republican Party or any other parties to denounce hate groups, denounce the Klan, to denounce white nationalism?”
**Maine** – In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson unseated veteran Republican Susan Collins, a senator since 1997, whose appeal to independents and Democrats had faded as a gap emerged between her moderate rhetoric and her voting record. Reproductive rights were top of mind for many, with Collins’s votes to confirm conservative judges during Trump’s first term key to the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, which upheld the national right to an abortion. “She’s been around for 30 years, and she’s run against some pretty weak opponents in the past, and this was the strongest one she’s come up against in a post-Roe v. Wade era,” said Sean Banks, a 33-year-old bank manager in Portland. “I barely slept last night, woke up today and just felt such a sense of reinvigorated hope and happiness and lightness,” said Emma Dutremble, 26, who works in sales. “I’m actually feeling proud to be an American today.” Jackson entered the race late after oyster farmer Graham Platner’s candidacy ended amid sexual assault allegations, and Dutremble admitted, “my vote was more a vote against Susan than it was for Troy Jackson.”
**Texas** – Texas delivered some of the night’s biggest shocks, with Senator-elect James Talarico and Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa set to become the first Democrats in their offices since the 1990s. Hinojosa, who unseated three-term Republican Greg Abbott, will be the first Latina governor of Texas. The atmosphere in Talarico’s hometown of Round Rock was buzzing. “It’s one of the most exciting and encouraging things I’ve ever seen in my life,” declared Jack Frick, sporting shades, a bushy white mustache, and a black cowboy hat. He recalled the “hundreds of millions of dollars” poured into the race by Elon Musk and others to support the Republican candidate, scandal-plagued attorney-general Ken Paxton.
**Washington** – The US capital, Washington, lacks statehood and elects a non-voting delegate to Congress, making that vote largely symbolic. But the city has chafed under the administration’s actions, which have included National Guard patrols, an attempt to rename the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in honor of Trump, and pressure on the mayor to rename Black Lives Matter Plaza. “I feel amazing, this is just such an incredible day, I am so happy, I’m walking on cloud nine right now, chatting with people on the metro,” enthused Liliana Covington, a 33-year-old executive assistant. But because Trump will be able to veto Democratic legislation, law student Ben Neyer struck a note of caution. “I am hesitant to see how impactful they’ll really be. We’ll have people who can make things change but until results start coming in and things start changing I remain a little skeptical.”
– With Daphne Lemelin and Cecilia Sanchez in Detroit, Diane Desobeau in Portland, Francois Picard in Dallas, and Zina Desmazes in Washington.
© 2024 AFP
