flabbergasties:

Key West elected Teri Johnston, Florida’s first openly lesbian mayor

New York elected Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress

Colorado elected Jared Polis, the first openly gay governor in the US

Minnesota elected Ilhan Omar, the first Muslim woman (alongside Rashida Tlaib) elected to Congress

Massachusetts elected Ayanna Pressley, the first black woman elected to Congress in Massachusetts

Kansas elected Sharice Davids, an openly gay ex-MMA fighter and one of the first Native American women (alongside Deb Haaland) elected to Congress

Michigan elected Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American (and first Muslim woman, alongside Ilhan Omar) elected to Congress

Kentucky elected Nima Kulkarni, the first Indian-American elected to Kentucky House of Representatives

New Mexico elected Deb Haaland, one of the first Native American women (alongside Sharice Davids) elected to Congress

(As of 11/6/18 – 10:12 CT)

This is progress.  

somewhatm-azing:

Before y’all say, “I hate Texas for not electing Beto O’Rourke” please know these things:

1. Record numbers of Texan voters came out to the polls to vote because of Beto.

2. Because more Texan voters went to vote, more democratic votes were cast in other important areas.

3. Beto lost by the slimmest margin seen in Texas in 25 years meaning CHANGE IS COMING.

4. If you lived in Texas, you would know Beto was not expected to win and the fact that he got the large number of votes that he did is incredible.

Thank you Beto for all you’ve done to unite the people of Texas and across the country. Maybe this will get y’all to change y’alls minds about hating Texas.

bigmammallama5:

However, here is some very good news.

The Democrats won back the House, gained subpoena power, and can now serve as an actual check on 45. This is very very good.

So even if it wasn’t the “blue wave” a lot of people were hoping for, I want you to remember that the GOP no longer will hold as much power as they did. Lots of women were voted into office, LGBT+ candidates were voted into office, more POC were voted into office, two more Muslim women were voted into office, Florida voted to restore voting rights to over one million felons who have completed their terms of sentence, and Massachusetts voted to protect transgender rights. I know there was more but this is what stood out to me.

And right after I finished writing that I learned the GOP supermajority in NC is over and our Governor’s veto powers can now be sustained. And the Dems now hold a 5-2 majority on the state supreme court which means something might actually get done about our horrific gerrymandering and I totally just started crying. I think my anxiety just dropped about sixty pegs.

Despite the gerrymandering and very blatant voter suppression (i see you, Kemp), we did take steps in the right direction today. So take some deep breaths, take the next few days to yourself and get re-centered, and then keep going. Lean on your friends, treat yourself to something nice, come back with a vengeance. We’re in for a long fight.