Happy Thursday all. And a happy Thursday it is!!!
The proud, plucky patriots of this remarkable community gathered last night for our weekly look at our grand battle against MAGA and for freedom and democracy, here and everywhere. It was a lively, joyous affair - as you would have expected. A recording and rough transcript are above.
Before we get into what we talked about last night two things.
We have two great events now scheduled:
Today, 4pm****ET- Tom Bonier joins us for a data-filled 2026 election recap - click here tojoin us live.Fri, 12:30pm- Kendall Scudder, Chair of the Texas Democratic Party - the man of the hour! - joins us live for a deep dive on what was arguably the most significant event in the 2026 election - the flipping of Texas!
**Helping Scott Colom And Mary Peltola Win **- I’ve set up a new fund for Scott Colom to help flip this Senate seat. Our goal is $25,000 today - please chip in whatever you can! Donate here, and let’s get one more Senate seat for the Dems!
We’ve also retooled our Winning Alaska Fund so it splits a contribution evenly between Mary Peltola and the Alaska Democratic Party. Donate here, and help us to get 56 seats in the Senate! We are also shooting to raise $25,000 in this fund by Sunday!
What follows now is my live, working 2026 Post-Election Memo. I originally published this on Tuesday night before the polls closed and intend to keep expanding and improving it as more data and understandings come in. It tracks what I talked about last night pretty closely, and has been updated since it’s original publication. Here we go…
The Bottom Line - In routing Trump we took a huge step in restoring the future that he and his allies had been taking away from so many Americans, and have begun the arduous, vital process of making things better and putting things right.
2026 Was Our Best Midterm Or General Since 1974, 52 Years Ago -
Note that the last three times we hit 52% of the vote in a midterm - 1990, 2006, 2018 - we took the Presidency from the Rs the next cycle.
The Margins - Our margins of victory in what were almost entirely Trump states and districts remains just jawdropping. Here’s a sample:
Greater MAGA Has Had A Bad Year. This Is Very Good News - With far right leaders and parties losing in Hungary, Brazil, Serbia, Israel, and now in the US too; with Putin struggling and Zelenskyy becoming a respected, global leader of the pro-democracy movement; and with the Labour Party in the UK righting the ship and talking of rejoining Europe it has become very clear greater MAGA has had a bad year despite whatever gains it has made in local elections in Europe of late. Ruh-roh, European fascists:
In a new essay I talk about how voters here in the US and around the world are waking up to what a Rotten Deal right-wing Trump/Putin/Elon populism is.
Democrats Have Expanded The Map, And Have Became Competitive Again In Four Regions Of The Country That We’ve Struggled To Compete In - The four are:
Texas and Florida, the 2nd and 3rd largest states in the country
The Midwest/Heartland - Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, Indiana. A true Democratic revival in the Heartland.
The Deep South - Mississippi, South Carolina, more?
Alaska!
Expanding the map was one of the highest priorities of our party this cycle and we’ve made exciting progress in doing so. As part of this expansion we have also expanded into regions of states also challenging for us, particularly in rural and ag related communities. Dems will need to develop a true “rural economic agenda” next year and fight like hell to get it passed to help these communities who have suffered so much under Trump.
**Democrats Have Been Able To Expand The Map In Part By Embracing What I Call A “Raucous Pluralism” **- After 2024 Democrats needed to evolve, change, and get better - and we have. We are now fielding candidates of a much wider palate than before, and ones that fit their districts and states. In this time of dramatic abandonment and betrayal Americans are seeking reliable servant-leaders, ones they can count on to deliver for them and not the oligarchs. And we have produced these servant leaders from all walks of life and all parts of the rainbow that is this remarkable nation - teachers, firefighters, union leaders, farmers, doctors, fisherman, nurses, navy pilots, marines, ministers, Tejano singers, sheriff deputies, seminarians, popular and trusted local leaders, paralympians. They have been able to take the opportunity we’ve been given and turn it into a reality; and just holy moly has our bench gotten so much deeper now…
Young People And Voters Of Color Drove Our Election Wins All Across The Country - We will have more on this critical topic at our 4pm election recap today and as data comes in but a few notes.
Georgia released their entire vote history last night. Voters of color jumped from 35% to 41% of the electorate:
We are likely to either come very close to or exceed our best showings in recent decades with young people and Hispanic/Latino voters. 2026 estimates via the NYT:
Threats To Democracy #2 Issue In The Exits Polls - Consistent with our understanding all cycle the Exit Polls found “threats to democracy” to be a driving issue in the 2026 Election, #2 to the economy. As we often say here Dems can be both warriors for every day Americans and proud patriots fighting hard for freedom and democracy here and everywhere. Here’s the Exit Poll most important issue result:
39% Economy
32% State of Democracy
14% Immigration
8% Healthcare
4% Foreign Policy
3% Crime
Voters Did Not Just Vote Against Republicans. They Also Vote For Democrats And Gave Us A Powerful Mandate To Make Things Better And Put Things Right - One would have thought given the strong performance Democrats have seen in special elections over the past two years, the November elections in 2025, in the primary elections across the country this year where we saw very elevated Democratic performance that it would be clear that voters have been voting for Democrats with enthusiasm again and again. Let’s look at a bit more data here to back up my claim.
As we saw above Dems just had their best performance in a midterm or Presidential election since 1974, 52 years ago. More people are IDing themselves as “Democrat” today than in many, many years:
During the course of the past year voters have once again put their faith and trust back in us:
In the current Exit Poll update (yes it gets refined as more data comes in) we have a 15 point favorability advantage over Republicans now:
Of course with this renewed trust we will have to deliver in 2027 and beyond. We have been given a mandate now to make things better and put things right - and now must fight with everything we have to make it happen.
Some Fights That Really Mattered These Past Two Years -
House and Senate Dem battles over the ACA/Medicaid/SNAP, ICE funding, tariffs, and the war
The Texas redistricting power grab, and our powerful response. Among those Texas House Democrats who led the fight last year were James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa.
No Kings, Tesla Takedowns, and other organic protests across the country
Our legal warriors - Marc Elias, Norm Eisen Dem AGs, etc - have been an extraordinary bulwark against Trump, and deserve all the credit in the world
The people of Minnesota who overcame the ICE siege and inspired a nation
Dive into all this data, enjoy my talk, and above everything else - thank you all. Together we did something historic on Tuesday, something that is going to make the lives of every American, and potentially billions more around the world, better.
This is no small thing, fellow patriots. Thank you all - Simon
