Sarah and Beth break down the 2026 midterm results and disagree about what Democrats should do with their new majorities:

The blue tsunami in the House, Senate, and statehouses
Historic firsts, the backfired redistricting push, and ballot measures on money in politics, abortion, and voting rights
Whether Congress needs new leadership and what Democrats should do on everything from Pete Hegseth to the Epstein files
Outside of Politics: getting ready for the holidays early

Episode Transcript

[00:00:00] Sarah: The Trump era is over. I woke up this morning, and it kinda came crashing down on me, and I just started to cry because it’s like this place of crass, cruel, racist politics and just absolute domination by this figure is finally coming to a close.

This is Sarah Stewart Holland.

[00:00:43] Beth: And this is Beth Silvers.

[00:00:45] Sarah: You’re listening to Pantsuit Politics. Do you hear a pep in my step and happiness in my voice? That’s because the blue tsunami is here, baby. The midterms went objectively very well, I would say, and we’re going to break all that down today. We’re going to talk about what happened. We’re going to talk about what comes next. And then outside of politics, we’re going to discuss prepping for the holiday season because it’s celebratory here, so we might as well lean into Christmas. That’s all I gotta say.

[00:01:16] Beth: And that is what’s coming next for sure.

[00:01:19] Sarah: Hell yeah.

[00:01:20] Beth: Thank you to everyone who became a subscriber to experience the midterm elections with us. We hope you’ll stick around. We had almost 500 people with us on the Morning Assembly, our live morning talk show, the day after the election, which was really, really fun. The conversation has been great. The vibes are good over there. We would love for you to come be with us for all the things that come next. And thank you to everyone who participated in Still Listening, our pop-up book club. We love it when you revisit our previous books, I Think You’re Wrong (But I’m Listening) and Now What?, and hope that they were useful to you. And I’m so glad that on the other side of all that hard electoral preparation, we have some things that are noteworthy and exciting.

[00:02:01] Sarah: Up next, the blue tsunami. Beth, how many adjectives should we march through here? Historical, generational, overwhelming. We got people on the Republican side... you just seen the word existential.

[00:02:34] Beth: Yeah.

[00:02:35] Sarah: It was a lot.

[00:02:37] Beth: I think existential is appropriate kind of for everyone because we are at such a crossroads in our nation’s history. And when you put the map on the table and it’s just a map instead of a manifesto, instead of a predetermination of how things are going to be, that’s really exciting in an existentially good way, I think.

[00:03:04] Sarah: I feel good about the takes Pantsuit Politics has had over the last two years, not leaning into the authoritarianism of it all, because turns out we’re still a democracy, guys, and we knew that the whole time. We still vote. We vote big and wide in America. That’s one of the most charming things about us. And boy, did we this time. The Democratic Party took control of the House in a romp. It’s not a close majority. Hakeem Jeffries is going to have a hell of an easier time than Mike Johnson ever did, who, by the way, is not running for leadership again.

Currently, as we record on Thursday, we’re looking at about 240 seats, many left still to call, most looking very positive for the Democrats. So he’s going to have a nice cushy majority, Mr. Hakeem Jeffries, first Black Speaker of the House, over in the House of Representatives.

[00:04:03] Beth: Maybe we’ll get to this, but I don’t think it should be him, but I do celebrate that there is a nice good cushion there.

[00:04:08] Sarah: Okay, that was a take. Well, cold water on our celebration before we’ve even got into the Senate.

[00:04:15] Beth: I don’t think it is, though. I just think these results say we’re looking for freshness and change, and so I think the existing leadership of both parties should turn over. I think Mike Johnson made a good call here. The first good call I thought Mike Johnson has made in a while by stepping back. I think it’s time for things to be different.

[00:04:32] Sarah: We’ll get to that. Also, the US Senate. The US Senate, we are currently at 54 seats. 52 was the optimist take. Not me. I knew we were... I wasn’t... Now, I did experience a little bit of a less exciting evening because I definitely knew we were going to win Texas. I wasn’t even thinking about Texas. I’d already counted South Carolina, Kansas, Iowa. The white whale I want, which we’re still waiting on, is Mississippi with Cindy Hyde-Smith, the Republican incumbent, currently behind in the vote to Scott Collum, who I believe is going to win. I have text messages on election night saying, “I’m not giving up. I’m not giving up on Mississippi. I want it. I want it.” So if Mississippi and Alaska shake out the way, oh, I don’t know, basically every other Senate seat in the country shook out, that contested Senate seat, then we should be to 56.

[00:05:28] Beth: Starts to feel like a lot becomes possible with 56 because of that existential crisis on the Republican side and some movement that you’d already seen from people like John Curtis in Utah to establish themselves as more independent from Trump. It seems like some things could happen at that 60-vote threshold if you get to 56 Democrats.

[00:05:51] Sarah: Quickly on the Senate, the stat I am most excited about, I think much like James Talarico, who responded, “Do you want to turn Texas blue?” And he said, “No, that would not be representative of Texas. Texas should be purple.” I like a split Senate delegation. I like a Senate delegation where there’s a Democrat and a Republican that actually reflects the makeup of the state. I think that leads to good legislating, good deal-making, good politics.

Currently, we’ve got a hot two, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, that are represented by both a Democrat and a Republican. After the midterms, we will have 10 states represented by a Democrat and a Republican. Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, I’m already counting Alaska, Ohio, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, counting Mississippi, and Texas. I mean, to me, that is good news. That will lead to surprising alliances, innovating lawmaking. I just think that is great news for the country and for the chamber.

[00:07:01] Beth: Always when you look at the list of most popular governors, you see people who are the opposite party of the predominant party in the state because we like people who can work with other people, and we like friction in our system and checks and balances. It’s kind of the big idea here. So it’s really exciting to me to see everything get more purple.

[00:07:24] Sarah: We have some shifts in those governor races and state houses. Let’s turn to the state level, which makes me so happy. This is so important, almost as important as the Article I branch of our government. Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Governor Greg Abbott. Incredible. State’s first Latina governor, first Democratic governor elected in Texas since 1995. You have Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia winning her governor race, first Black female governor in the country. It was a good night for female governors. Arizona, New Mexico, Minnesota, just one after the other after the other.

[00:08:12] Beth: I do feel that relates to our constant drumbeat that we should not write off a woman president in our lifetime.

[00:08:18] Sarah: Absolutely not.

[00:08:19] Beth: Because the electorate, to me, didn’t elect these women because they’re women. They just elected people that they thought were good candidates and decent people who could do a good job and shift the course. And when the electorate is open, it’s open, and that’s exciting.

[00:08:35] Sarah: And then you had control flip. Sometimes in the entire state, New Hampshire, both the House of Representatives and the Senate flipped to Democratic control. Wisconsin, both the Assembly and the Senate flipped to Democratic majorities. And then you had a lot of states where just one house split. Michigan’s House of Representatives flipped to the Democrat. Minnesota’s House of Representatives flipped to Democrat. Pennsylvania, this is a big, big plus in Josh Shapiro, who romped like a 20-point margin.

[00:09:05] Beth: 22.

[00:09:06] Sarah: Flipped to Democratic control for the first time since the ‘90s. North Carolina House of Representatives flipped to Democratic control. And Texas, the House of Representatives flipped to Democratic control. The only Republican with statewide office in Texas is Ted Cruz. It’s only because his name wasn’t on the damn ballot. It’s just incredible. This is so important for 2028.

[00:09:28] Beth: I am really interested in how much education played a factor in all of the states that you just listed. I think Hinojosa did a really excellent job in Texas in the ads that I saw, the interviews that I saw with her of articulating that public education had been just thrashed by Republicans in the State House and by Governor Abbott, and I wonder if that’s true kind of across the board, as school choice...

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