Republicans get wiped out
Up and down the ballot, from Michigan and New Hampshire to formerly ruby-red Texas and Georgia, Democrats sailed to a stunning midterm victory. A bare handful of races remain to be called, but Democrats already have a rock-solid majority in the U.S. Senate with 54 seats and the largest House majority this decade with 231 seats and more expected. Democrats won Senate races in Georgia, Texas, Kansas (the first time since 1932), Maine, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, and North and South Carolina. Similarly, they flipped gubernatorial seats in Georgia, Texas, Nevada, Iowa, and Ohio. Democrats hoped for a blue wave, but they got a blue tsunami. Republicans will need to do serious soul-searching to determine the way forward for 2028 and beyond.

Many critical gubernatorial races flipped
While most attention typically goes to congressional contests, the races for governor will likely have the most immediate impact. Georgia, Texas, Ohio, Iowa, and Nevada all elected Democrat governors. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Rick Jackson, making her Georgia’s first Democrat governor in nearly 30 years. Three-term Texas Governor Greg Abbott was defeated by Gina Hinojosa, a state representative who likely would have lost to Abbott any other year. Vivek Ramaswamy, long considered to be a rising star in the GOP, lost to Amy Acton in Ohio. Iowa will see a Democrat governor for the first time since 2006, as Democrat Rob Sand defeated Republican Zach Lahn. Lastly, Nevada’s GOP incumbent Joe Lombardo lost his reelection bid to challenger Aaron Ford. All five of these states may feel the immediate impact of new left-wing leadership.

Top voter priorities included affordability, democracy
An Election Day poll asked more than 79,000 voters what their top issue was this midterm. The survey broke down demographics by age, gender, and education. Only the 65+ age bracket and the White race category voted primarily Republican. The economy ranked first at 39%, followed by the state of democracy at 32%. Immigration, healthcare, and foreign policy trailed behind at 14%, 8%, and 4%, respectively. Voters still feel the pressure of inflation even though the job market has flourished under the Trump administration. Furthermore, 63% said the U.S. made the wrong decision in Iran; 75% said the economy was in a “not so good or poor” condition; 65% said Trump’s policies worsened the U.S. economy; and 43% said opposing Trump was one reason for their vote. Three-quarters said they were angry or dissatisfied with current events.

GOP blames election woes on Iran war
Many in the GOP note that last night’s beatdown boils down to one thing: the Iran war. One simply texted, “It’s the war, stupid.” Another lamented, “This is 100% because of Iran. It’s all in the data and has been since a week after the war started. The economic anxiety is directly correlated with the war. We got our [butts] kicked because of it.” Despite the wins of this administration, like a secure border, deportations, and re-industrialization, some view the midterm election results as proof that the Iran war was a political mistake. Other GOP operatives have suggested that President Donald Trump needs to move on, saying he should “quickly end the war on our terms, declare victory, and return to a laser focus on the issues facing American families here at home.”

Idaho abortion ban survives
Voters in the state of Idaho decided against a resolution that would have legalized abortion until fetal viability — the point in development where a preborn child can survive outside the womb. Typically, that starts at around 23-24 weeks into pregnancy. Given that Idaho currently has a total abortion ban in place, a measure like this would drastically increase access to the evil practice in the state. However, roughly 56% of voters rejected the measure, successfully defending the right to life within state lines. Democrats have made attempts to fight back against states with abortion bans in place. Many states, such as Missouri and Nevada, have been locked in their own struggles in the abortion fight. Considering the poor election results nationwide yesterday, this is a rare positive.

California billionaire wealth tax (likely) fails to pass
Another glimmer of silver lining this midterm election is that California appears to have rejected a measure to force billionaires to pay a 5% tax on their net worth. California is infamously among the world’s slowest democratic bodies to count votes, so Proposition 40 likely won’t be called for weeks, but it’s currently down by more than 800,000 votes. One proponent of the measure, Rep. Ro Khanna, is already admitting defeat this cycle and is promising to try again in the future. Unsurprisingly, Silicon Valley billionaire and Google cofounder Sergey Brin strongly opposed the measure and donated $102 million to a PAC opposed to it. Had Prop. 40 passed, Brin’s tax bill would have been over $10 billion.

Update on California illegal voters
Monday night, a three-judge panel allowed the DOJ’s appeal to overturn the restraining order issued by a San Francisco federal judge, keeping the DOJ from setting aside the noncitizen ballots. However, hours later, that was reversed, forcing the case to be reheard in the Ninth Circuit Court. The panel said that the government is likely to prevail because its requests and investigation are functions of the executive branch, not the judiciary. The case against the DOJ’s investigation of noncitizen voting was brought by labor unions and civil rights groups, including the League of United Latin American Citizens. They argue that the letters to election officials flagging the ballots as potentially illegal amounted to intimidation. This comes after the Supreme Court refused the Trump administration’s request to require California to segregate the 20,000 mail ballots until they are determined to be U.S. citizens.

Pardon the contrast
During a recent interview with the New York Post’s Miranda Devine, President Trump responded to the observation that a number of Democrat lawmakers have said they intend to target and prosecute members of his administration, saying, “They won’t; it’s talk. But if it is talk, we’ll have to protect them.” Devine asked, “Can you preemptively pardon them?” Trump noted that Joe Biden had done so, and when pressed about preemptively pardoning, he answered, “I would if I needed to, sure.” Meanwhile, California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, who many see as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, also recently made headlines surrounding the issue of pardons — except in Newsom’s case, it’s not over potential politically motivated prosecutions. Instead, he’s mulling over commuting all of the state’s current death row inmates — some 563 prisoners. So, Newsom’s looking out for murderers, while Trump is looking to counter Democrat lawfare.

AI stocks fall amid Democrat victory
AI and data centers may be the future, but it may not be coming as quickly as some hope given Texas’s election results. With Democrat gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa defeating Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, and Democrats taking control of the U.S. Congress, the prospect of expanded AI development and data centers in the Lone Star State has dimmed significantly. Hinojosa campaigned on imposing a moratorium on data centers. As a result, shares of Elon Musk’s SpaceX dropped 7%. Dan Ives, partner at Yorkville Ives & Co., observed, “There is no way to sugarcoat that Democrats taking control, especially over the Senate, will create some major hurdles for AI and tech legislation in the Beltway over the next 2 years.” Other Big Tech companies also felt the negative impact. Blocking data centers, while bad for the country, is good for local and state officials.

Headlines

  • Mike Johnson not running to lead House GOP after historic midterm losses (Fox News)
  • Democrats immediately threaten enemies after winning election (Not the Bee)
  • Socialist wins DC mayoral race (Washington Examiner)
  • Big night for Democrats hides conservative victories on ballot measures (Daily Signal)

The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, Jacob Geoffrey, Hudson Baldwin, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.