The 2026 midterm elections in the United States saw nationwide gains for the opposition Democratic Party, which took control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and won all statewide offices in Texas, as well as control of the Texas House of Representatives. It was not, however, a partisan event; both the words of the candidates and testimony from voters shows a deep and pervasive demand for dignity and decency in American politics.
The usual midterm revolt against the sitting President is not enough to explain the scale of voters’ shift to support for Democratic candidates and priorities. Nor is the cost of fuel, food, and other goods and services, sufficient to explain the 20 percentage point swing to Democrats seen across the country.
In 2026, federal agents murdered American citizens in the streets, and the President acted to protect the killers, obstruct justice, and defame the victims. Tens of millions of Americans saw this clearly as a threat to their own fundamental human rights. The Constitution absolutely prohibits summary execution, and for the first time in anyone’s memory, the President was claiming the authority to do it.
He did this also with missile strikes on civilian boats in international waters. These are flagrantly unlawful acts, strictly prohibited by the Constitution and by international treaties that are, under Article VI of the Constitution, binding Constitutional law. Brutally violent kidnappings of children by heavily armed, masked paramilitaries were captured on video in recent weeks, reminding the country of what was at stake if those willing to enable such actions retained power.
These abuses are not seen as separate from the President’s actions driving up prices for everything—tariffs Congress has not authorized, including many intended to harm allies and key trading partners, and a war against Iran which Congress never authorized and which it did order be stopped. Surveys and exit polling shows Americans of all political leanings see these acts of lawless violence, attacks on allies, and incessant disruption of trade as showing a lack of respect for the American people, who are, in fact, the owners of the republic.
It did not, of course, help that President Trump keeps celebrating his own surging wealth and that of his kids, who all seem to be monetizing the Presidency. It does not help that the President keeps trying to coat things in gold while more and more American families cannot afford food, medicine, or to buy a home.
The shameless extreme spending of billionaires seeking to ensure a Republican victory, combined with all of these dynamics, clearly signaled to voters that the wrong choice this year risked permanently marginalizing them, their lives, and their dreams, from the core considerations of mainstream politics. This is why so many Texans rallied to the call to show “Texas is not for sale.”
Across the country, voters are demanding an end to rapid expansion of data centers. In Montana and Michigan, voters passed ballot initiatives to restrict or ban political spending by corporations. Reporting clealry indicates Americans have come to believe their fundamental human rights are at risk, and so they said: Enough!
All of this goes to an instructive insight about the political paradigm shift that seems to be emerging: The unprecedented spending on AI infrastructure looks to be untenable, and it certaintly does not align with the kind of economic growth people are seeking for their families, small businesses, and communities. It does not align with the future Americans aspire to.
What is that future?
It closely resembles the 17 Sustainable Development Goals—eliminating poverty, hunger, and disease, expanding access to quality education and healthcare to everyone, investing to create jobs that are decent—paying well and also allowing people to contribute to society and have the freedom to live full family lives. Americans also want clean air and water, nonpolluting energy and industry, real climate-resilient generalized prosperity, and institutions that foster peace and security not violence and mayhem.
After Tuesday’s historic results, James Talarico, the new Senator-elect from Texas, stood behind a podium that said, simply: Love thy neighbor.
Christian, Jewish, and Muslim candidates all won with open-hearted, no-nonsense campaigns that centered decency and dignity and promise to honor and serve the rights of all. The American people have responded to two shocking years of moral debasement and violence by calling for a government that lives by the Golden Rule and recognizes that every individual, no matter how marginal, is its supervisor.
The 2026 midterm “tsunami” was a nonpartisan assertion of that managerial authority of the everyday citizen over the government of the United States. Jubilant celebrations have been consciously and explicitly recognizing that democracy is the point, not party dominance.
The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution says the republic was founded to establish Justice, promote the wellbeing of all, and to serve future generations by safeguarding “the Blessings of Liberty”. These include the benefits of science and learning, independent reporting, and the right of every person to bear witness, to support the just defense of human dignity.
It is possible to build an economy where human health, freedom, wellbeing, and thriving are the purpose of public and private-sector investment decisions. Americans are hungry to steer their political institutions back to that common-sense, Golden Rule mindset.
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