If Donald Trump were not a cruel bully who delights in humiliating people who cannot fight back, you almost could have felt sorry for him at the thought of him watching reports of one Democratic victory after another; nobody would be able to dismiss them as fake news.
And he could not have been taking comfort from the sycophants who have been telling him how wonderful he is, only for the truth to come in the form of a debacle for which he ultimately bears sole responsibility. He told everybody to pretend he was on the ballot, and they did, and he lost big.
At 10 p.m. E.T., the Democrats achieved a majority in the House of Representatives. The Senate was still teetering as that news was immediately followed by word that Sen. Darline Graham had been defeated by Democrat Dr. Annie Andrews, whom Trump called “Trannie Annie.”
An hour later, word came that James Talarico, whom Trump mocked as “Talafreako,” had defeated Republican state attorney general Ken Paxton to become the first Democrat from Texas elected to the U.S. Senate in 38 years.
Moments later, it was announced that incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott had conceded to Democrat Gina Hinojosa in Texas.
Texas?
Yes, Texas!
“Unbelievable!” exclaimed Adrienne Quinn Martin, Democratic chair of deep red Hood County.
And that was despite Elon Musk spending nearly half a billion dollars—much of it in Texas—to support Republicans in the midterms.
The next call was that Democrat Adam Hamilton had defeated incumbent Kansas U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall. There was still the question of who would control the U.S. Senate. The answer came at 11:37 p.m., with word from Iowa that Democrat Josh Turek had defeated Republican Ashley Hinson in the Senate race.
The Democrats will now have a majority in both houses.
The Republicans did sweep Alabama. Dim bulb Trump buddy Tommy Tuberville beat Democrat Doug Jones to become governor. The Senate seat Tuberville had vacated went to Trump-backed Barry Moore.
But Alabamians who voted against them included 33-year-old Gold Star widow Libby Klinner. Her husband, 33-year-old U.S. Air Force pilot Maj. Alex Klinner, was killed on March 12 along with five fellow service members when their KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq during a mission connected to the Iran war. Libby Klinner was left to raise their three children on her own: 7-month-old twins and a 2-year-old son.
“Today I voted for Alex,” Libby Klinner announced on Instagram on Election Day. “He and I talked a lot about politics because it affected us significantly as a military family and as parents. This morning I voted for candidates that he would have supported if he were voting today.”
She continued: “I voted for candidates that promise to stop this illegal war, who accept everyone, whether they look and pray like you or not, who prioritize people over profit (no thank you data centers), who advocate for public schools, who treat the military with dignity and respect and not as political leverage, who are willing to work with both sides of the aisle and not just for their own party, who want to be a check on this administration’s abuse of power, who believe healthcare should be affordable, who think no child should go hungry.”
She added: “I voted for Doug Jones (Alex was not a Tommy Tuberville fan 🙃) and other candidates that uphold these values.
“Alex struggled serving under an administration that so blatantly views our military members as expendable. And I hate that he died because of it.”
She concluded: “I hope that his death causes people to rethink the candidates they vote for and choose to vote like Alex would if he were able to.
“Please get out and vote!”
A prime factor in explaining the midterm results was the hike in fuel prices following Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran. An America anywhere near great understands that the far greater cost of the conflict is the death of 23 U.S. service members.
Now the new Democratic majority in both houses of Congress can do something to end the war in Iran and implement the principles that Libby Klinner voted for when her hero husband could not.
