Election Day is officially behind us, and the American people have made their choice. In a staggering victory, former President Donald Trump will return to the White House, defeating Vice-President Kamala Harris.
For the second time in eight years, hopes for the nation’s first female president have been dashed. But while there are plenty of reasons to feel anger and despair this morning, the news from Tuesday night wasn’t all bad.
Sarah McBride became the first transgender person elected to Congress
The beloved Delaware state senator won the state’s sole Congressional district in a historic election that will make her the first trans member of Congress. She beat out Republican John Whalen III with 57.6% of the vote. Earlier this year, McBride told the Cut, “I’m not running to make history, I’m running to make a difference.”
Mark Robinson will not be the governor of North Carolina
Remember that guy? The Republican lieutenant governor who was revealed to be commenting on porn sites calling himself a “Black nazi”? Well, he lost! Instead, Democrat Josh Stein will become North Carolina’s next governor, which keeps the office blue for another four years.
Some states are protecting abortion rights
While an infuriating result in Florida means that abortion rights will not make it into the state constitution, there were some positive outcomes. In New York, Proposal 1 — an amendment to the state Constitution that broadly expanded civil-rights protections — passed easily. The new amendment states that no one can be discriminated against for, among other things, “sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”
In Maryland, voters overwhelmingly voted to add an article to the state constitution that would establish the right to reproductive freedom, which includes “the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one’s own pregnancy.”
The same thing happened in Colorado, where people voted YES on Amendment 79, which will enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution. Missouri also passed its own abortion-related amendment, codifying the right to “reproductive freedom” and making it the first state to reverse a near-total abortion ban.
For the first time ever, there will be two Black women in the Senate
Yes, somehow there have never been two Black women serving in the Senate at the same time. That will finally be rectified following wins by Angela Alsobrooks in Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester in Delaware.
Kentucky voted to protect public education
Over in the Bluegrass State, Amendment 2 would have allowed the General Assembly to provide public funds to non-public schools. The amendment was opposed by teachers, parents, and large swaths of the voting public. The amendment was shut down with 65 percent of voters voting NO. “People coming together to send a powerful message that we believe in the promise of public education, and we will not stand by as that promise [is] undermined,” Kelsey Coots of Protect Our Schools KY told the Lexington Herald Leader.
A progressive prosecutor ousted by Ron DeSantis got her job back
Monique Worrell was pushed out of her job as state attorney by Florida governor Ron DeSantis last year. The Democrat clashed with the governor over reform policies that included reducing incarceration for low-level offenses, and she was replaced with conservative Andrew Bain. On Tuesday night, she won her position back.
This post has been updated.