As we continue to process the relieving results of Tuesday’s midterm elections, we’re also trying to count the number of truly historic outcomes that the high-turnout races produced: Scott Colom about to take office as the first Black Senator from Mississippi in almost 150 years; Methodist Minister Adam Hamilton becoming the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Kansas in 94 years; Maine Senator Susan Collins finally losing her seat to underdog and former logger Troy Jackson after holding her seat for 30 years; and beyond.
Two of the most important takeaways of this year’s midterms, however, aren’t just that a president’s egregious abuses of power lead to a voter revolt; it’s that money, at least in some instances, can only get a candidate so far in U.S. politics. Case in point: Democrat and Presbyterian seminarian James Talarico beating Ken Paxton in Texas despite Elon Musk dumping nearly half a billion dollars backing the latter candidate; and that playing dirty with political advertising doesn’t always pay off.
Both instances proved to be true in the race for Ohio governor, where Dr. Amy Acton defeated billionaire MAGA candidate Vivek Ramaswamy after his Hail Mary attempt to damage her support with the most vile political ad in recent memory in American politics.
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