Blue Wave Really a Progressive Wave

My Republican neighbors are in denial about the “blue wave” that swept the country earlier this month which led to 38 and possibly 39 or 40 more Democrats in the House. Democrats lost four seats they held in the Senate but won two others previously held in by Republicans from Arizona and Nevada. Nationally turnout was the highest for a mid-term election since 1914 so no one can claim that low turnout caused the swing. In addition to the progress I wrote about two weeks ago made by Democrats in Texas; over 330 state legislative seats switched from Republican to Democratic hands. Democratic governors were elected to replace Republicans in seven states and six state legislatures switched from Republican to Democratic control. There were many county governments and other elected offices like Secretary of State, Secretary of Agriculture, and judgeships changing hands as well.

2019 will be a tremendous year for diversity in our federal legislature. At least 123 women will be in Congress next year, all but 19 are Democrats. The 116th Congress will have the highest percentage of women ever at 23%. The first two Native American women won seats in the House, Deb Haaland from New Mexico and Sharice Davids from Kansas. Religious diversity also increased as the first two Muslim women; Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar and Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib were elected to the House and a record 53 other Muslims won elections to state legislatures and local government bodies. New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest member ever elected to the House.

Nine newly elected members with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and medicine are headed to the House of Representatives seven of them are Democrats; one Democrat won in the Senate.

Elected officials were not the only evidence of the change in the body politic as three Republican controlled states, Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah voted on propositions to take advantage of the Affordable Care Act provision enabling Medicaid expansion. Some of the states where Republican governors were replaced had denied Medicaid expansion and the Affordable Care Act was a campaign issue so their defeat was at least in part a repudiation of the Republican efforts to repeal it.

Three states voted to legalize marijuana, Utah and Missouri for medical treatment and Michigan for recreational use. Florida voted to restore voting rights to 1.4 million felons who have served their time. In New Mexico the newly elected Democratic legislature is already preparing to repeal the existing state law prohibiting abortion so that any action by the Supreme Court on the issue will have no effect there. Arkansas and Missouri both voted to increase the minimum wage, which will give raises to a combined total of 900,000 workers in the two states.

Automatic voter registration, which disproportionately enfranchises young people and people of color, passed in both Nevada and Michigan. In Michigan voters approved same-day voter registration and made it easier to request absentee ballots. Voters in Maryland passed a ballot measure to implement same-day voter registration by a wide margin.

Given all this it wasn’t just a “blue wave” it was a progressive wave and that’s actually more important in the long run.