I worked the polls yesterday here in suburban Philly, just as a greeter. Major problems with the ballots (they printed the wrong ones, indies had to vote provisionally, a mess). BUT the feeling, outside in the cold and then in the cold dark, was different. The people who work the Republican side were friendly to me, and I to them. (Not so last year.) People streaming in were polite—on both sides. (Not so last year.) Given how much we all now must do to help those in need (we were also encouraging food bank donations yesterday), it feels as if we might have the chance not just to surge as Ds but to heal our country. Gosh, I hope so. Haven't slept. Stayed up to watch everything, got up to watch the speeches again.
The outpouring of local governments and community members in support of those affected by withholding of SNAP demonstrates our concerns for the general welfare of our citizens that cannot be dictated by Trump. Basic human rights were on the ballot. Freedom from Want.
There were so many lessons to take to your bed last night. All of them human, sane, and comforting. I had little sleep because I went to bed so late, but waking earlier this morning, I was happier than I have been in a long, long time.
me too. just like that. hardly any sleep, but waking early to watch the beauty unfold all over again. Humanity was at stake. Humanity was the question. And humanity answered.
Beth, do you have any explanation for the greater feelings of friendliness and politeness this year compared to last?
We hear all the time that MAGA is as committed to the cult as ever, so I would have thought the people and emotions at your polling place yesterday would have been little changed from 2024.
What do you think is different? Thanks for any thoughts/guesses!
What a wonderful morning. Voters have clearly had it with the MAGA b.s. Reminding folks of the special election in TN07 next month - help Aftyn Behn’s campaign if you can and flip that House seat blue.
Simon, just thank you. Thank you for highlighting these candidates, for teaching us how to hope and how to fight, for giving us all the opportunity to be a part of the pro-democracy wave last night. Congratulations to you for all you’ve done to get the country here.
Thank you for remaining such a positive and hopeful leader, Simon! Thanks to all of you for your hard work. I went to sleep last night feeling better than I have since May 2024. My fellow Mainers and Americans across this country spoke loud and clear.
I just called Senator King to tell him to hold on the budget. Reading dems might cave. No!!! I also plan to call both minority leaders. Does it make sense for this to be another action? They need to hear from constituents across the country! The Ds are winning the shutdown. We must hold fast.
As I told my friends this morning, no rest for the weary! I’m empowered this morning. Cheers! See you all tonight. Thank you again!!!
I'm still discovering the scope and depth of our wins, including flipping two seats in Mississippi, and how about the Bucks school board kicking out the Moms for Liberty types! That was ground zero for MAGA's big educational takeover, and now poof, gone.
If you're referring to Bucks County, PA, I was really thankful to learn of Danny Ceisler's win as the new sheriff of the county -- replacing/ousting an "uber-MAGA" ICE-loving Fred Harran.
What a great night. It makes hope a lot easier. Time for a short break, but I think we do have to keep working. This is a project that might take a decade or more before we can really stop fascism. Thanks for all you are doing.
Looking forward to "Coffee with the Contrarians". I almost always listen/watch.
Detroit has elected Mary Sheffield, a Black woman, as mayor, the first woman to be the city's mayor. She's a Democrat, of course, as is the current mayor.
I was in tears last night seeing the results coming in for the big elections around our country. Such relief as today begins the 2026 mid-terms. As Simon keeps reminding us, little cracks can become big cracks. In politics you never know when that will happen.
We also need to remember there were local elections around the country. There were lots of flips here in my tiny state of CT including my town where the Republican First Selectman serving six terms who chose not to run again convinced a Democratic member of the Board of Finance to run as a Republican. Both good guys, bad decision. The Democratic candidate won.
Same thing happen in New Britain where the Republican Mayor serving 6 terms decided not to run again since she wants to run for Governor next year. Convinced a Democrat to change to Republican and she lost to a long serving Democratic State Representative by a huge margin.
In Norwich, an open seat and strong turnout helped Singh Swarnjit win election as the first mayor of the Sikh faith in Connecticut. Norwich was one of several places where Democrats used animus towards Trump and his insistence that SNAP food benefits would not be fully restored in defiance of two court orders in mailings and text messages aimed at turning out the elements of the Democratic base attuned only to presidential politics.
Other towns have flipped back to Democrats sending a message to the CTGOP that next year's Governor's & State Legislative race could mean they lose even more seats in the Legislature. They're already skating on thin ice as the minority. We're still waiting for Gov. Lamont to announce his 3rd term run for office. Should be soon now that the election is over.
Rest up, keep the faith as we get to work for the next year to save our democracy and government.
I could barely sleep last night. After a long day of door knocking, working hotline, then my "real" job, I came home to Spanberger victory speech and not long after, Mikie's speech. I will admit I was confident we would win but the margin was larger than expected. As AOC said last night, though, the voters understood the assignment!
I am going to switch my monthly Mikie donation over to some of our other funds to close out the year. Mikie's platform of reform, lowering cost of living through consolidation of services and expanding energy capacity is playing my song! And locally, our two fantastic state assembly members were re-elected--the first female doctor and first out lesbian (and former judge) in a pretty red area (of course it didn't hurt that their state senate colleague was Mikie's campaign chair lol).
Also, not for nothing, the gun safety measure passed in Maine that mandates extreme risk protections for those who may be a harm to selves or others- BFD!
Thanks to those who worked the polls, made the calls, knocked the doors, etc. As master organizer Shannon Watts (founder of Moms Demand) always used to say, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon - the slow, unglamorous work of grassroots organizing--WORKS!
i have family in lewiston maine, near bates college. been there a million times. so glad they passed the red flag law; lots of guns up there, people always bragging about how low gun deaths are, and then the lewiston massacre happened.
Thank you Lisa, for working SO hard. You're a rock star. Get some rest. And of course... then we have more work to do. You inspire me. Thanks for your detailed reporting. I am always uplifted!
What a beautiful night. I was heartened to watch Fox “News” last night off and on. Even on a good night they are so awful!
But I couldn’t get over some of their “final thoughts” from the night. The one big take away from one of the male commentators was that the Dems just spent more than the R’s. I laughed so hard. I thought he was doing a comedy bit. He said Dems put so much money into these elections and Trump wasn’t even on the ballot. He was very dour looking. They all were.
Poor guy. Nobody could take a moment and tell him to read the country. All this shit going on now and his best answer on Fox was Dems spent more money! Ok.
Then the female commentators all rang in with some form of “if you live in a big city, you’re going to be getting a Mamdani soon.” And that “we’ll see if Mamdani becomes the new face of the Dem party.” All of them were so sad looking. I guess because they are sad people. I hate to tell them that Mamdani is not even really a Socialist.
Let’s carry this momentum straight on into 2026. With results like this, you better believe the Senate is very much in play.
takeaways: gavin says "dont agonize, organize". we did! latinos came back. maga pollsters are disinformation. we have a big tent. youth voters can be got with a smile & positive message. hard work payed off. voters hate trumpism. our hopium contributions helped carry us over the line. we are all winners today! maybe its the beginning of the end.
even in miami, we have a dem woman (highest vote getter last nite in 15 candidates) in the run off (miami has never had a female mayor) against a repub supported by de santis, scott, moody and pretty sure satan will now put his thumb on the scales since miami, unfortunately, will be the site of his library (which is a $60M property gift to satan w/o strings (which is now in court) where he will build a hotel/condo project with a "pres" library of lies in the lobby.
as gavin says, the dem party is not on its heels, we are on our toes!!! enjoy the wins!! they were numerous.
Contacted my reps (all Dems) to celebrate D wins all over. Exhorted them to seize the advantage, no relenting on the shutdown, push back on Trumps dreadful agendas.
I’m also helping with local friends to do our bit for food pantries, donating food and money. A local pantry that used to have about 350 regular patrons now has over 750! The need is profound.
I am so very happy with the results and hope that the win in VA was partially due to my writing of postcards urging people to vote! (I wasn't the only one!! 😀)
What the wins show to me is that the Democratic Party welcomes views by different Dems so I hope we can continue down that path. We may not always agree with each other but can find ways to do so.
You did your part! This is your win, just as it belongs to everyone who did their part. None of us can do it alone, but together it sure adds up! Congratulations everyone!
An amazing night! Woke up feeling excited about the direction. And then I read in WaPo:
"A handful of moderate Senate Democrats are considering voting to end what has now become the country’s longest government shutdown, splitting the caucus as some colleagues to their left urge them to hold out."
Supposedly 12 Dem Senators are willing to cave on a promise to talk later.
WILL SCHUMER EVER LEARN ANYTHING? WHAT FECKLESS "LEADERS" WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN.
Friends, please do not focus on this today. We need to stay focused on spreading the joy, happiness, success of our resounding and hard fought win last night. If you want to call your Senators and Reps - as we do each day - and advocate for our agenda, and for them to keep fighting, do it. But it would an enormous mistake for our family to spend our day doing anything but radiating out our wins to our networks without reservation.
The corporate media has been spinning this story for a few days now. Notice how vague the details are.
If your senators are team blue, you can call them and point to last night’s blowout results which demonstrate that they have huge momentum and support behind them to continue holding the line on the shutdown.
I just called my two moderate Dem senators (NH) to celebrate our wins, thank them for their hard work, and tell them NOT to cave to maga on the shutdown.
It’s so typical that Trump blames the shutdown for GOP loss, when he’s the instigator of the shutdown. I know tonight’s meeting will be a recap of the election. But I’m curious about the tension between Trump’s demand that the Senate end the filibuster to end the shutdown and the Republican senators. I suspect there just aren’t enough votes for that but wondered if Simon could address that in q and a.
I worked the polls yesterday here in suburban Philly, just as a greeter. Major problems with the ballots (they printed the wrong ones, indies had to vote provisionally, a mess). BUT the feeling, outside in the cold and then in the cold dark, was different. The people who work the Republican side were friendly to me, and I to them. (Not so last year.) People streaming in were polite—on both sides. (Not so last year.) Given how much we all now must do to help those in need (we were also encouraging food bank donations yesterday), it feels as if we might have the chance not just to surge as Ds but to heal our country. Gosh, I hope so. Haven't slept. Stayed up to watch everything, got up to watch the speeches again.
The outpouring of local governments and community members in support of those affected by withholding of SNAP demonstrates our concerns for the general welfare of our citizens that cannot be dictated by Trump. Basic human rights were on the ballot. Freedom from Want.
So much so.
There were so many lessons to take to your bed last night. All of them human, sane, and comforting. I had little sleep because I went to bed so late, but waking earlier this morning, I was happier than I have been in a long, long time.
me too. just like that. hardly any sleep, but waking early to watch the beauty unfold all over again. Humanity was at stake. Humanity was the question. And humanity answered.
Felt the same. This is one hell of an accomplishment for all, and am so relieved.
Beth, do you have any explanation for the greater feelings of friendliness and politeness this year compared to last?
We hear all the time that MAGA is as committed to the cult as ever, so I would have thought the people and emotions at your polling place yesterday would have been little changed from 2024.
What do you think is different? Thanks for any thoughts/guesses!
What a wonderful morning. Voters have clearly had it with the MAGA b.s. Reminding folks of the special election in TN07 next month - help Aftyn Behn’s campaign if you can and flip that House seat blue.
Simon, just thank you. Thank you for highlighting these candidates, for teaching us how to hope and how to fight, for giving us all the opportunity to be a part of the pro-democracy wave last night. Congratulations to you for all you’ve done to get the country here.
Hear, hear!
Thank you for remaining such a positive and hopeful leader, Simon! Thanks to all of you for your hard work. I went to sleep last night feeling better than I have since May 2024. My fellow Mainers and Americans across this country spoke loud and clear.
I just called Senator King to tell him to hold on the budget. Reading dems might cave. No!!! I also plan to call both minority leaders. Does it make sense for this to be another action? They need to hear from constituents across the country! The Ds are winning the shutdown. We must hold fast.
As I told my friends this morning, no rest for the weary! I’m empowered this morning. Cheers! See you all tonight. Thank you again!!!
Maine is on the front line in the battle to preserve our democracy.
I'm still discovering the scope and depth of our wins, including flipping two seats in Mississippi, and how about the Bucks school board kicking out the Moms for Liberty types! That was ground zero for MAGA's big educational takeover, and now poof, gone.
Those "Moms for Liberty" takeovers, once people are aware of them and understand, tend to be extremely unpopular. Good to hear.
Yes, the Mississippi, wonderful
No more supermajority in MS. Amazing.
I did not hear about Mississippi. Way to go!
If you're referring to Bucks County, PA, I was really thankful to learn of Danny Ceisler's win as the new sheriff of the county -- replacing/ousting an "uber-MAGA" ICE-loving Fred Harran.
I don't live in PA, but donated to his race.
What a great night. It makes hope a lot easier. Time for a short break, but I think we do have to keep working. This is a project that might take a decade or more before we can really stop fascism. Thanks for all you are doing.
Looking forward to "Coffee with the Contrarians". I almost always listen/watch.
Detroit has elected Mary Sheffield, a Black woman, as mayor, the first woman to be the city's mayor. She's a Democrat, of course, as is the current mayor.
https://michiganadvance.com/2025/11/04/mary-sheffield-makes-history-detroit-elects-first-woman-mayor/
I was in tears last night seeing the results coming in for the big elections around our country. Such relief as today begins the 2026 mid-terms. As Simon keeps reminding us, little cracks can become big cracks. In politics you never know when that will happen.
We also need to remember there were local elections around the country. There were lots of flips here in my tiny state of CT including my town where the Republican First Selectman serving six terms who chose not to run again convinced a Democratic member of the Board of Finance to run as a Republican. Both good guys, bad decision. The Democratic candidate won.
Same thing happen in New Britain where the Republican Mayor serving 6 terms decided not to run again since she wants to run for Governor next year. Convinced a Democrat to change to Republican and she lost to a long serving Democratic State Representative by a huge margin.
In Norwich, an open seat and strong turnout helped Singh Swarnjit win election as the first mayor of the Sikh faith in Connecticut. Norwich was one of several places where Democrats used animus towards Trump and his insistence that SNAP food benefits would not be fully restored in defiance of two court orders in mailings and text messages aimed at turning out the elements of the Democratic base attuned only to presidential politics.
Other towns have flipped back to Democrats sending a message to the CTGOP that next year's Governor's & State Legislative race could mean they lose even more seats in the Legislature. They're already skating on thin ice as the minority. We're still waiting for Gov. Lamont to announce his 3rd term run for office. Should be soon now that the election is over.
Rest up, keep the faith as we get to work for the next year to save our democracy and government.
Well done, Connecticut! Woo hoo, Janet! 🥳🥳🥳
Wow. That's is great news and thank you so much for sharing. I had no idea that all happened in CT. Yay!
I could barely sleep last night. After a long day of door knocking, working hotline, then my "real" job, I came home to Spanberger victory speech and not long after, Mikie's speech. I will admit I was confident we would win but the margin was larger than expected. As AOC said last night, though, the voters understood the assignment!
I am going to switch my monthly Mikie donation over to some of our other funds to close out the year. Mikie's platform of reform, lowering cost of living through consolidation of services and expanding energy capacity is playing my song! And locally, our two fantastic state assembly members were re-elected--the first female doctor and first out lesbian (and former judge) in a pretty red area (of course it didn't hurt that their state senate colleague was Mikie's campaign chair lol).
Also, not for nothing, the gun safety measure passed in Maine that mandates extreme risk protections for those who may be a harm to selves or others- BFD!
Thanks to those who worked the polls, made the calls, knocked the doors, etc. As master organizer Shannon Watts (founder of Moms Demand) always used to say, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon - the slow, unglamorous work of grassroots organizing--WORKS!
Keep going!
i have family in lewiston maine, near bates college. been there a million times. so glad they passed the red flag law; lots of guns up there, people always bragging about how low gun deaths are, and then the lewiston massacre happened.
Thank you Lisa, for working SO hard. You're a rock star. Get some rest. And of course... then we have more work to do. You inspire me. Thanks for your detailed reporting. I am always uplifted!
What a beautiful night. I was heartened to watch Fox “News” last night off and on. Even on a good night they are so awful!
But I couldn’t get over some of their “final thoughts” from the night. The one big take away from one of the male commentators was that the Dems just spent more than the R’s. I laughed so hard. I thought he was doing a comedy bit. He said Dems put so much money into these elections and Trump wasn’t even on the ballot. He was very dour looking. They all were.
Poor guy. Nobody could take a moment and tell him to read the country. All this shit going on now and his best answer on Fox was Dems spent more money! Ok.
Then the female commentators all rang in with some form of “if you live in a big city, you’re going to be getting a Mamdani soon.” And that “we’ll see if Mamdani becomes the new face of the Dem party.” All of them were so sad looking. I guess because they are sad people. I hate to tell them that Mamdani is not even really a Socialist.
Let’s carry this momentum straight on into 2026. With results like this, you better believe the Senate is very much in play.
"All of them were so sad last night. I guess because they're sad people."
takeaways: gavin says "dont agonize, organize". we did! latinos came back. maga pollsters are disinformation. we have a big tent. youth voters can be got with a smile & positive message. hard work payed off. voters hate trumpism. our hopium contributions helped carry us over the line. we are all winners today! maybe its the beginning of the end.
even in miami, we have a dem woman (highest vote getter last nite in 15 candidates) in the run off (miami has never had a female mayor) against a repub supported by de santis, scott, moody and pretty sure satan will now put his thumb on the scales since miami, unfortunately, will be the site of his library (which is a $60M property gift to satan w/o strings (which is now in court) where he will build a hotel/condo project with a "pres" library of lies in the lobby.
as gavin says, the dem party is not on its heels, we are on our toes!!! enjoy the wins!! they were numerous.
Contacted my reps (all Dems) to celebrate D wins all over. Exhorted them to seize the advantage, no relenting on the shutdown, push back on Trumps dreadful agendas.
I’m also helping with local friends to do our bit for food pantries, donating food and money. A local pantry that used to have about 350 regular patrons now has over 750! The need is profound.
I am so very happy with the results and hope that the win in VA was partially due to my writing of postcards urging people to vote! (I wasn't the only one!! 😀)
What the wins show to me is that the Democratic Party welcomes views by different Dems so I hope we can continue down that path. We may not always agree with each other but can find ways to do so.
You did your part! This is your win, just as it belongs to everyone who did their part. None of us can do it alone, but together it sure adds up! Congratulations everyone!
An amazing night! Woke up feeling excited about the direction. And then I read in WaPo:
"A handful of moderate Senate Democrats are considering voting to end what has now become the country’s longest government shutdown, splitting the caucus as some colleagues to their left urge them to hold out."
Supposedly 12 Dem Senators are willing to cave on a promise to talk later.
WILL SCHUMER EVER LEARN ANYTHING? WHAT FECKLESS "LEADERS" WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN.
IF THEY CAVE, THEY ARE BEYOND STUPID.
Is this really true?. Who? We must call them!
Friends, please do not focus on this today. We need to stay focused on spreading the joy, happiness, success of our resounding and hard fought win last night. If you want to call your Senators and Reps - as we do each day - and advocate for our agenda, and for them to keep fighting, do it. But it would an enormous mistake for our family to spend our day doing anything but radiating out our wins to our networks without reservation.
The corporate media has been spinning this story for a few days now. Notice how vague the details are.
If your senators are team blue, you can call them and point to last night’s blowout results which demonstrate that they have huge momentum and support behind them to continue holding the line on the shutdown.
I just called my two moderate Dem senators (NH) to celebrate our wins, thank them for their hard work, and tell them NOT to cave to maga on the shutdown.
It’s so typical that Trump blames the shutdown for GOP loss, when he’s the instigator of the shutdown. I know tonight’s meeting will be a recap of the election. But I’m curious about the tension between Trump’s demand that the Senate end the filibuster to end the shutdown and the Republican senators. I suspect there just aren’t enough votes for that but wondered if Simon could address that in q and a.
Call your republican Congressmen today! While they have ignored us to date, they should be quaking in their proverbial political boots about now!
Dems won a trifecta last night: house, senate and gov. In Virginia.