Article by Aida Sall, TPT Staff Writer

From Pennsylvania to New York to Arizona, Democrats secured a vast array of national victories in 2022 congressional, senate, and gubernatorial elections, with the widely predicted “red wave” failing to materialize. The economy, voting rights, abortion rights, and the fundamental premise of American democracy were all on the ballot this election cycle, fueling voters’ decisions at the polls.

We the people overcame countless obstacles — voter suppression, a lack of education around new voting rules, and partisan gerrymandering — to turn out in record numbers. In addition, a number of ballot measures, ranging from legalizing marijuana to codifying abortion into state constitutions, passed with overwhelming support in states like California, Michigan, and Vermont.

The multi-racial, multi-economic coalition that is Gen-Z also played a critical role in the outcome of this election. As people who have grown up in the midst of incompetent leadership, mass shootings, and a global racial reckoning, young voters fueled Democratic midterm success in a massive way, breaking turnout records from both 2018 and 2020.

Not only did Senate Democrats retain a majority in the Senate, but they defied history. For the very first time in American history, not only did all incumbent Senate Democrats win re-election, but they even expanded their majority in the Senate — a remarkable feat and one once thought to be impossible. Republicans won a net gain of 8 seats in the House of Representatives, making this Democrats’ most successful Senate midterm during a Democratic presidency since 1934, when Democrats picked up Senate seats in the first midterm of President Roosevelt’s New Deal era. To underscore how rare it is for a majority party in the White House to pull this off, in the 2010 midterms under former President Obama, Republicans won a net gain of 63 seats — a staggering difference from this midterm cycle.

As previously alluded to, ballot measures were also highly successful, as voters in Michigan, Vermont, and California approved amendments to codify abortion rights in state laws and constitutions after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision this past summer. In addition, Alabama voters approved the ratification of a new state constitution, which removes racist language, as well as other changes. Moreover, Maryland and Missouri voted to legalize recreational marijuana, while Colorado voters decided to decriminalize possession as well as the use of hallucinogens such as psychedelic plants and fungi for consumers over the age of 21. With regard to criminal justice, Tennessee, and Oregon voters decided to remove slavery as a punishment or a crime, while Vermont voted to completely ban slavery.

Also, I would be remiss if I did not mention that the single biggest loser of the night was former President Donald Trump. This midterm election cycle demonstrated that Americans are straying away from candidates who embrace extremism, election denialism, and pro-insurrectionist sentiment, and vote merely along ideological lines due to their unwavering fealty to Trump. Nearly all Trump-endorsed candidates lost their races, compared to a 67% primary election success rate and 89% general election success rate among Biden-endorsed Democrats, according to Ballotpedia. Thus, this cycle was effectively, by and large, a referendum on election deniers. Additionally, with the emergence of many voters who split their tickets, voters elected people who they felt would most effectively serve their communities.

However, there were wins secured for Senate Republicans such as JD Vance (R-OH), who won re-election by a sizable majority, which speaks to the increasingly Republican electorate in Ohio. Nonetheless, I would contend that his opponent, Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH), ran a remarkable campaign and demonstrated a strong model for Democrats running in red states like Ohio. Throughout his campaign, he largely shifted away from establishment Democrats like Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi and ran a truly people-centered campaign, centering issues that were top-of-mind among voters, like the economy and abortion rights, which I believe played a large role in making this race as competitive as it was overall.

Conversely, in more blue states, another model has proven effective: embracing Democratic ideas, as opposed to Ryan’s staunch criticism of the party. This ultimately led to the victory of Wes Moore, Maryland’s first Black governor in history. Throughout his campaign, he emphasized issues such as the economy, education, and social issues such as racial justice and closing the racial wealth gap.

Nonetheless, there were also wins for Republicans in gubernatorial elections in Texas, Georgia, and Florida, as well as Senate races in Florida and Wisconsin. In Texas, Governor Abbott disappointingly defeated Beto O’Rouke, despite a highly well-organized, strategic, and expansive campaign. However, he did so by a very slim margin, especially for a state as red as Texas. Moreover, Charlie Crist and Val Demings were defeated by DeSantis and Rubio, respectively, largely due to a shift in a crucial voting bloc: Hispanic voters, and Latina women in particular, who have been increasingly trending Republican. In Florida, they turned out in record numbers for Governor DeSantis, ultimately leading to his victory. A key bloc that is often overlooked, they were highly instrumental in turning South Florida's Miami-Dade County red — a feat once thought to be impossible by Democrats.

Surprisingly, the red wave actually also hit perhaps the most unexpected state: New York. Due to redistricting, House Democrats lost four seats — in an election where Republicans only needed to take five seats in order to control the House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, in Georgia, Governor Kemp secured a disappointing win against Stacey Abrams. Up and down the Georgia ballot, Republicans overwhelmingly secured wins, from Secretary of State to Attorney General. However, incumbent Senator Warnock pulled off a win against Herschel Walker in the December 6 Georgia Senate runoff election. Youth voter efforts and turnout were highly instrumental in this race, with crucial voting blocs such as youth of color organizing and showing up to the polls overwhelmingly. In addition, this was one of many races that proved candidate quality matters. Not only was Herschel Walker a wholly unqualified candidate burdened by scandals throughout his campaign, but Raphael Warnock has established a reputation as a highly qualified candidate and revered person as well, serving as senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, Martin Luther King Jr.'s former congregation.

Moreover, Warnock’s victory and the Democrats’ subsequent expansion of the Senate majority could quicken the pace of judicial nominations all across the country. “Because Raphael Warnock won and Democrats have 51 Senate seats, Senate commits will no longer be evenly split. There will be Democratic control of committees — meaning no nominees or bills being deadlocked,” explained Kyle Griffin, an executive producer on MSNBC’s The Mehdi Hasan Show, via Twitter.

Overall, throughout these midterm elections, I believe some Democrats placed themselves at a disadvantage in one fundamental way: messaging. Many critics have argued that Democrats did not emphasize top issues such as the economy throughout their campaigns, but rather, focused on more amorphous goals like upholding democracy. For voters across the nation who are struggling to fill up their gas tanks every morning before commuting to work, that did not resonate enough — and it was certainly not sufficient to secure their votes.

Democrats also should have touted their many legislative victories within Joe Biden’s first two years in office, such as the American Rescue Plan, expansion of the Affordable Care Act, the Build Back Better Act, the American Families Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act, just to name a few. Political experts have contended that President Biden has had one of the most legislatively fertile first two years of any president in modern history, and it is incumbent upon Democrats to let the populace know it.

Now that the results have been called — a Democratic-led Senate and Republican-led House — it is crucial that we do not become complicit. The divided government we now have demonstrates that there is still much work to be done in order to fully eradicate Trumpism. Still, with enough organizing and mobilizing, I have no doubt it can certainly come to fruition.

The views articulated in this article are the writer’s own, and do not necessarily reflect the official stances of The Progressive Teen or High School Democrats of America.

What Democrats Can Learn From the 2022 Midterm Results