The midterm elections are for the most part, over. While there are races that still need to be confirmed, it appears that the GOP massively underperformed widespread expectations. For a long time, I had been optimistic regarding this election, but as it got closer, I started seeing more and more pundits that I trust signal that Democrats could be in trouble – especially in the house. 

But to much of everyone’s surprise, Democrats have staved off the traditional midterm reversal – wherein the opposing party will build on the animosity from the previous election to put together a strong performance in the midterms. On average, the party of the sitting president has lost an average of 23 seats since 1974. But this year was markedly different. While control of the house is still up for grabs, it appears that Democrats will at least maintain a 50/50 split in the Senate – with a chance at 51/49 from the Warnock/Walker runoff.

While there were certainly still disappointments, mainly in New York (what the absolute eff, Sean Patrick Maloney) and California, Democrats thwarted the GOP ‘red wave’ which paved the way for the true Red’s – the DSA candidates.

As an active member of the Columbia, SC DSA chapter, I’m more than biased, but seeing socialists elected to office in 2022 gets me downright giddy. While we still have A LOT of work to do here in Columbia, it is nice to see that there is hope. When candidates embrace their community and run issue focused campaigns that directly addresses constituents’ material well-being, they are by and large rewarded.

Ideally, I’d love to dive into different races across the country and talk a bit about the results, but honestly, I don’t have the time for all of that. Having 3 kids, one of whom is an 8-month-old, takes up a ton of time. Currently my daughter is carrying the baby around the house and my son is riding around on his hoverboard and all the while, they’re arguing with each other over little silly stuff.

But anyway, what I will say about the election results is that the Democratic party as a whole, better take this opportunity to truly focus on improving peoples’ lives. Take the child tax credit, that program played a massive role in combatting child poverty – reaching a record low of 5.2%. 

Reenacting it should be pretty obvious victory. But time and time again, the party has shown an eagerness to placate the right and pass over anything that may be seen as progressive. There’s still one more shot at a reconciliation package, so let’s hope we see some worthwhile legislation brought up.

One other thing I need to point out is how Gen Z showed out massively for Democrats. There’s a lot of speculation going around right now as to whether or not young voters ‘saved’ the Democrats. I honestly don’t have a sense of that yet, but it clearly shows that young voters do not have faith in the GOP. With poll results showing up to a 70/30 split in favor of Democrats, it’s safe to assume that Republicans are going to have a big problem going forward.

Lastly, I’d like to briefly speak about IssueVoter. This is a nonpartisan platform that helps people determine where they stand on certain issues while also tracking their representatives voting record on said issues. You will often hear people speak about voters going against their own interests in terms of who they support. IssueVoter combats that by providing a scorecard of their representatives. This works by the user ‘voting’ on legislation and then the scorecard updates as the bills are voted on in Congress.

Another really cool feature is as you go through the bills and mark whether or not you support them, an automated message will be sent to your representatives letting them know how you feel. And if you subscribe to IssueVoter, you can also send a custom message along with your opinion on each bill.  

I truly believe IssueVoter can go a long way in helping people refine their political preferences as well as providing the necessary context needed to properly assess their representatives. The scorecard makes it incredibly easy to see whether your representative is voting in your interests.

And just so everyone knows, I am not affiliated with or paid by IssueVoter in any way. A while back, I was listening to an episode of Future Hindsight and Maria Yuan, creator of IssueVoter was on. I was immediately intrigued. In any case, please check it out. It’s free and just great!

Oh yeah, make sure to check out the Democratic Socialists of America! If you are truly interested in democracy, this is the organization for you. And if you have any questions about the DSA, please let me know.