On Tuesday, November 3 – and in the weeks prior to that day – Democrats, independents and even many Republicans walked into voting booths all across the country, looked for the word Democrat and voted straight down the line Democratic for everything from senator to dogcatcher, and, by doing so, took down Republican candidates in Guilford County, North Carolina and across the nation – even in some of the reddest states in America.
Candidate quality didn’t matter.
Name recognition didn’t matter.
The ground game didn’t matter.
Money didn’t matter. Elon Musk may well have taken the $474 million he poured into this election out into a field and set the money on fire. It would have had the same effect. Actually, maybe not: The night of the election, some commentators were saying that his spending of $224 million in Texas actually helpedJames Talarico because Texans didn’t like the idea of a trillionaire trying to buy the election.
One of the clearest examples of nothing other than party mattering in this midterm election is the fact that Democrat Shelly Headen beat out Rep. John Blust in the race for North Carolina House District 62. Blust, a well-known name and longtime Republican lawmaker, lost to a Democrat who essentially dropped out of the race and lost the support of the Democratic Party.
Blust was even one of the few politicians who would call out his own party if he thought they did something unfair or disrespectful.
Headen, an Oak Ridge CPA, lost the support of the Democratic Party after a controversy erupted due to her old social media posts that resurfaced – including several containing harsh comments about President Donald Trump and his supporters.
The Assembly reported on Sept. 10 that Headen had written on Facebook, “I think our only hope is an attack on US soil… preferably Alabama, Louisiana… where the stupid people live.”
After Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic presidential nomination in 2024, Headen also wrote on X, according to The Assembly, “I’m so excited! Ready for the MAGAs to die off!!”
Another social media comment attributed to Headen suggested that Trump supporters might need to experience sexual assault to understand what Trump’s victims felt.
She even said that, if she won, she would not take office and would let the Democratic Party pick her replacement. Now everyone will get to see if she does that or not.
But again, none of that mattered on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Two excellent, experienced county commissioners – fair-minded veteran Pat Tillman and former Guilford County Commissioner Alan Perdue, who knows Guilford County government inside and out – got swept away too for the sin of having an R next to their names on the ballot.
Republican Mike Perdue never had a chance in the at-large Guilford County commissioners race in this political environment.
Nothing else mattered.
In the 2026 midterm election, the only thing that mattered was the policies, actions and personality of President Donald Trump. Hispanics didn’t like the cruelty of ICE tactics. Others didn’t like ICE agents shooting Alex Pretti in the back ten times. Rural farmers didn’t like the skyrocketing price of diesel fuel or the tariffs that hit their states particularly hard. Others across the political spectrum didn’t like hearing Trump’s threats to attack Canada or Greenland – or the actual attack and never-ending war with Iran. Others didn’t appreciate the president making several billion dollars in questionable ways while ordinary people suffered financially. Still other voters didn’t like the fact that he handpicked terrible candidates in South Carolina and Texas, states in which Republican senatorial candidates of a higher quality might have won. Others didn’t appreciate Trump’s affinity for Putin while showing disdain for Ukraine. The failure to release the Epstein files didn’t help.
In the months leading up to the election, it was almost as if Trump was trying to lose. His closing message was about how great his arch was going to be and that Jon Husted had a nice ass. His final message was one he chose to deliver in DC in front of the Reflecting Pool – apparently so as to remind everyone of one of his biggest screwups.
Any senator or member of Congress willing to stand up to Trump – Thom Tillis, for instance, did it once or twice – was driven out of the party. Tillis may have had a chance against Roy Cooper (now we will never know).
And all that is why, Tuesday night, an asteroid hit and created a near-extinction-level event for MAGA – and the Republican senators and House members who have remained silent – and Republicans in North Carolina state government who have also remained silent through it all.
The election was about one thing and one thing only – the utter contempt and hatred of Donald Trump that many Americans feel.
The day after the election, Trump at least owned up to his mistakes and said that he was almost entirely responsible for the losses in the election and that clearly he needed to do a lot of reflecting and change course in order to help ordinary Americans.
Of course, he didn’t really say that. What he did say was that the immense love Americans apparently felt for him couldn’t be transferred to these other candidates, and that, if he had been on the ballot, he would have won “IN A LANDSLIDE!”
Regardless, the stock market was booming Wednesday after the massive Republican losses, and the people who went to bed early Tuesday night woke up the next day in an entirely different country.
Some Democrats will no doubt treat the blowout as an endorsement of Democratic policies – and socialist ones as well. However, many smart Democrats will know that this election was only a rejection of Trump and MAGA and had little to nothing to do with what the Democratic candidates said or did.
Here’s a synopsis of the Republican carnage across the country that occurred during the election.
Guilford County
In the unofficial returns, Headen led Blust by 233 votes, 21,367 to 21,134. That’s 50.27 percent to 49.73 percent – close enough for Blust to request a recount after the county canvass if the margin stays within the 1 percent threshold.
In the county commissioners races, Democrat Scott Jones led Alan Perdue by 712 votes in District 2, 13,076 to 12,364. In District 3, Democrat Derek Mobley had 19,274 votes to Tillman’s 15,329, with Green Party candidate Jeanine Couto drawing 862. And in the at-large race, Democrat Greg Drumwright took 66.5 percent of the vote, with 142,467 votes to Mike Perdue’s 71,657.
North Carolina
Roy Cooper beat Republican Michael Whatley with about 59 percent of the vote – flipping the U.S. Senate seat held by Tillis. Democrats also won control of the state House for the first time since the 2010 election. And in western North Carolina, Democrat Jamie Ager flipped the 11th Congressional District, defeating Republican state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom.
Across the country
By 10 a.m. Eastern Time Wednesday, the Associated Press had called 222 US House seats for Democrats and 138 for Republicans, with 75 still uncalled. Democrats were already past the 218 they needed. In the Senate, Democrats and the two independents who caucus with them had secured at least 54 seats to Republicans’ 44, with Alaska and Mississippi still uncalled in that count. Democrats had flipped seven Republican Senate seats.
Texas got much of the attention: Talarico beat Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and became the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate race there since 1988. Texas is considered as the Death Star by Democrats. But Kansas was an even bigger surprise. Democrat Adam Hamilton beat incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall in a state that hadn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate in 94 years. In South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews defeated appointed Republican Sen. Darline Graham in a state Trump had carried by 18 points just two years ago.
The other Senate pickups, besides North Carolina, came in Maine, where Troy Jackson beat longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins, Ohio, where Sherrod Brown beat Husted, and Iowa, where Josh Turek beat Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson for an open seat. And Texas Republicans lost the governor’s mansion too. Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, one of five Republican-held governorships Democrats had flipped in the Wednesday morning count.
The price of gas, groceries and health care gave voters plenty of reasons to take their frustration out on the party in power. Trump himself acknowledged Wednesday that the Iran war and the resulting rise in gas prices had hurt Republicans.
And about seven in 10 voters in the AP Voter Poll said Congress wasn’t doing enough to check the president. That’s about to change in a big way.
Republicans lost both chambers, and some of the people who took those majorities away lived in places Republicans had been able to count on for decades.
Hate to hear Tillman lost. Solid guy who had what’s best of Guilford County at heart.
It was waaaaay more than the Iran war and gas prices that hurt Republicans. I suggest it was the blatant lack of accountability and corruption on top of the gaslighting of his own followers on ‘affordability’ by claiming “prices are way down” when clearly, they are not.
Will be interesting to see how Republicans try to rebuild after this disaster of a Trump second term. Hopefully they actually try to work with Democrats and unite to address the real problems facing our future such as Debt, Climate change, and Inflation. I doubt it but I can hope.
Cheers
Cheers.
Yeah, they’ll work together just as soon as the Dems stop wasting their time on pointless impeachments. We will see in January.
People are tired of being threatened, lied to, intimidated and bullied as their vote stated. Both parties have spoken. The biggest Allie for the Democratic Party was Trump. Hopefully the democratic party will not make the same mistakes. Please do not select Kamala Harris as a Presidential candidate! My opinion this is a fatal mistake for the democratic party.
My bet is the democratic party struggles to find its voice outside of being united against Trump and splinters before they are able to actually begin to repair the damage of the Trump administration. I hope I am wrong. But history here is clear about their ability to unite on a platform that bridges all the subgroups within the party.
You are correct on all accounts.
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I still can’t believe that John Blust lost to that crazy woman, but she’ll be my House Representative in Raleigh, I guess.
Maybe she’ll put a curse on me, as a MAGA guy, and I’ll suffer an agonizing death. I hope not… but she’s certainly a nasty witch. Mental case too.
God Help Us.
Pot calling the kettle black
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Did John Blust wish cancer on an opponent? Or for a terrorists attack on US soil?
Explain, please.
I am so extremely disappointed in the citizens of Guilford County. I really thought that the people in this state was better than that but boy did they prove me wrong. I cannot believe that they will let their emotions override their common sense. And this selection proved that not one person who voted had common sense except for those who voted Republican. And then I find out that some Republicans voted for a couple of democrats! Traitors. How Danny Rogers got back in office is beyond me after he has done the things that he has done. Using the sheriff’s department as his personal protection service and his personal home protection service. As a wake up call to get his wife up for work. Guilford County citizens has proven they have no common sense. None. I really did expect better out of this election and it just blows my mind what happened. Everybody deserves the hell that these Democrats are going to rain down on us if they voted Democrat. They asked for it and they are about to get more than they can possibly handle. America has fallen.
” God help us.” Needed now more than ever.
The change in the political climate could have been detected first in NC with the results of the Sam Page primary victory over Phil Berger, which was a crystal clear signal that incumbents, especially Trump supporting incumbents, were on the chopping block.
Trump is a good campaigner for Trump himself, but he never understood the way that American politics actually functions and his rallies to save red states became a liability for Republicans. As one analyst wrote, it was like the MAGA loyalists going to see an aging rock star, playing the same songs to a diminished crowd but realizing it may be their last time to see him live.
Reminds me of the David Lee Roth show this summer at the Tanger Center. Thanks OVG, you’re doing a bang ’em up job of competing with DPAC. The recent Beck show in Durham was phenomenal!
Ron DeSantis called the election results an extinction level event for the Republican Party, and if they’re smart they’ll start moving beyond Trump and MAGA immediately. The shift is already far overdue. Americans will never stand for blatant authoritarianism and corruption at the highest levels. They made themselves known very loudly.
The sad part of the story is how the national environment shifted races at the local level. It’s a shame not to have a single Republican on the Board of Commissioners in Guilford County. Needless to say, some folks I voted for did not get elected.
Who wants to bet that the first person to be impeached will be Pete Hegseth?
I feel bad for Pat. He is what the Republican Party/country needs a lot more of, a guy with a high moral standards and principals. I have been on the opposite side of the political spectrum since 2016 but hope to vote for him for whatever he runs for in the near future. I hope he aims high soon.
Now is the time to hold these so-called Democrats to task. Watch to make sure their words match their deeds. As Zig Ziglar once said you win some, you lose some, and some are just rained out. Well we lost this one, but at least we still live in a country where you can call the president a narcissist without getting thrown in the slammer. Take stock of what is important to you and keep pursuing that.
The Democrats will not be able to unite the subgroups because the division between them is too great. The subgroups stand for ideas that have never existed in the Democrat party. Bernie Sanders was the only significant socialist in the party. The Democrat party should not have allowed the “hate America and all it stands for” candidates at the primary level. The old Democrats have lost their balls, and they are dying.
Muslims are invading America. At the time of 9/11, there were about one (1) million Muslims in the US. Today there are six (6) million; and they reproduce like rabbits. There will be eight (8) Muslims in the US Congress. Muslim culture is radically different. Muslims invaded Europe by force in 711, conquering Spain and Portugal before trying to advance into France. But Europe fought back and the expansion was stopped in 732. But that was not the end of Muslim attempts to expand their religion. Muslims tried expansion in 827, the 14th century, and attempt on Vienna in 1683. Over1,300 years of Muslim expansion attempts to overtake Europe, all in the name of the Muslim religion. But it is more than religion, it is their culture. With over 1,300 years of force to conquer Europe, who would have thought that Europeans in the 21st century would open their borders and invite the hordes in?
And that is exactly what the US is doing now by allowing legal and illegal Muslims into the US. And just as alarming, the Democrats allowing Muslims into their party. Dems, you will regret giving them a platform.
Let us give Iran nuclear weapons and get it over with. Utopia now!
That was Trump’s idea when he tossed out the deal we already had on place to keep nuclear weapons out of Iran’s hands.
The voters who voted Democrat because of gas prices and food prices are shortsighted; all were higher under Biden. Trump lost his way when he entered the Iran War on behalf of Israel. That was a result of unreasoned thinking influenced by the Israeli lobby and super rich Zionist Jews and wrong-headed Zionist Christians. I have asked myself repeatedly, why? Not only was it a really bad decision but a broken promise of no wars.
Then the bombing of a school with 170(?) little girls inside. To my understanding, no apology has been offered. It is also my understanding that the bombing was the result of AI. It doesn’t matter the cause, young innocent little girls were killed.
But the hatred for Trump should not have clouded clear thinking. We know how Black females voted (100%) and we know how Black males voted (95%). But what about others who voted to give 100% of Guilford County Commissioners to Democrats?
Trump has been working for America in ways that the average American voter has no knowledge. Trump is fighting the world globalists that are trying to set up a one world government. Most European countries have already signed on to global governess. But not Trump and his Treasury Secretary; they are fighting to keep America independent and strong, including removing tax-exempt status of George Soros’ Open Society Foundations to shut off the source of political contributions.
It is my opinion that voters cut off their nose to spite their face and threw the baby out with the bathwater.
FYI, all were lower when Biden left office. Do you forget the global covid pandemic that caused the spikes in prices? I bet you do because it feeds your bias against democrats.
America independent is America alone and isolated which is not a good thing.
I remember the total nonsense of the Biden administration. COVID was no more than a bad case of the flu. I refused to wear a mask. When I entered a place that required a mask, I received what amounted to a paper mask. I never carried a mask because the COVID hysteria was designed to control. Many people who died during Biden’s and Fauci’s time was not as result of COVID. The death was label as COVID to receive money, money, money.
I have no bias against Democrats per se. I do have bias against many of their ideas, policies, practices. They have no problem with DEI, I do. They have no problem with illegal invasions, I do. I have no problem with oil and the life it has provided; they do. Democrats rail against the rich while having millions and millions in their own bank accounts. They champion education but do nothing to improve education except throw money at public schools and universities, which universities should not have tax-exempt endowments. Blame Carter for the Department of Education. Carter made a deal with the National Education Association (NEA) in 1976 in exchange for NEA’s first-ever endorsement of Carter. A political deal that had nothing to do with education; a new department made from whole cloth.
Gas in the US was $5.00/gallon in June 2022 and remained elevated until the end of the year. When Biden entered office, the cost of a loaf of bread was $1.47; when he left office the cost was $2.01. The cost of bread today is $1.83.
I cannot believe so many voters bought into the Democrat lies.
There is quite a bit conservative propaganda to unpack here, but let’s start with COVID. Calling it “no more than a bad case of the flu” is simply not supported by the evidence. COVID killed more than a million Americans, overwhelmed hospitals, and produced mortality levels far beyond what we typically see with seasonal influenza. You personally refusing to wear a mask and not getting seriously ill is an anecdote, not evidence that the pandemic was a hoax or that precautions were unnecessary.
The claim that people were routinely labeled as COVID deaths simply to generate money is another propaganda talking point that lacks any evidence. The CDC uses death certificates and established medical criteria to determine causes of death. COVID can be listed as a contributing cause, but that does not mean someone who died of an unrelated condition was automatically counted as a COVID death. In fact, the CDC notes that COVID deaths were also underreported. Where is the credible evidence for the widespread financial fraud you’re alleging? Let me guess…..you don’t have or know of any.
As for gas prices, yes, they reached approximately $5 a gallon in June 2022. Nobody disputes that. But the timing matters. The pandemic disrupted global production and supply chains, demand rebounded, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine further disrupted global energy markets. The EIA reported that prices fell to approximately $3.09 by the end of 2022. You can criticize Biden’s energy policies without pretending the president controls worldwide oil markets. The one big exception is if a president starts an unnecessary war with a poorly thought out strategy for ending the war…again.
And your bread comparison needs some context. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the average price of a pound of white bread was approximately $1.55 in January 2021, $1.93 in January 2025, and $1.83 in September 2026. So prices have actually come down from their peak, although they remain higher than before the inflation surge. That’s a legitimate affordability concern, but it isn’t proof that Biden or Democrats alone caused inflation. Inflation was a global problem following the pandemic, and the United States actually recovered from it better than many other advanced economies.
On the Department of Education, you’re partly right about the political history. Carter supported its creation, and the NEA’s endorsement was connected to his commitment to pursue it. But the idea of a federal education department had been around long before Carter. It wasn’t simply an idea invented as a political favor in 1976.
Finally, you say you have no bias against Democrats, only their ideas and policies. That’s perfectly legitimate. I have disagreements with Democratic policies, too. But the same standard should apply to Republicans. We should evaluate policies based on evidence and results, not political loyalty as your seems to be based.
You are entitled to dislike Biden, Democrats, DEI, or any other policy. But personal experiences, selective price comparisons, and conspiracy theories about COVID deaths aren’t substitutes for facts. And if we’re going to judge an administration’s performance, let’s look at the entire record, not just the statistics that support our preferred political narrative.
Politics has turned into a permanent shirts-and-skins team sport where winning matters more than the country actually functioning. I fear we are heading toward pure chaos if a coalition from the middle doesn’t step up and snatch this country back. This election cycle of endless pendulum swings has to stop. We went from old-school Democrats to old-school Republicans, then liberal to conservative, progressive to MAGA—and now socialism is in vogue. What the hell comes next?
Is there nobody left who can take control of the two parties, agree to disagree, and find a workable compromise? One reason I became an independent was that Congress poisoned itself with bomb-throwers on both flanks, pushing candidates based almost entirely on social wedge issues like abortion and prayer in schools. That toxicity now bleeds into every single thing they try to do. Both parties have lost control because they choose to govern through executive orders and lawsuits rather than sitting down to negotiate. Both are guilty, and neither can stop this foolishness without the other.
It would be refreshing to wake up and see a President and Congress actually working for all citizens instead of one narrow slice. That idea seems so far away from reality. Why is it so hard for people in New York or California to realize that what works for them isn’t right for the flyover states—and vice versa? Why do so many demand fair and equitable treatment, but can’t settle for fair and equitable policies—instead favoring force-feeding their left-wing or right-wing requirements on everyone else? Congressional reps routinely vote for policies they know hurt their own constituents just because the party demands it. And worst of all, why do voters keep accepting this shirts-and-skins bullshit even when it has directly harmed them?
We have allowed hateful rhetoric on both sides to build to the point that it makes sense to some—many more than you might expect—to shoot a young man as he sat quietly on a stool talking to other young people. Then to see it openly celebrated on social media, and even used as Halloween costumes? Multiple assassination attempts on a sitting POTUS, and it gets downplayed by many who should know better? Do they not see that the pendulum can swing in both directions there as well? What are we thinking?
Sorry, Scott, just needed to vent… We seem to have lost the plot, and I am concerned that we can’t find our way back.
Well said
TERMLIMITS:
Ride the Kali Yuga baby!
This is a term that young right wing extremists use on Telegram and other private messaging boards.
I learned it from reading an investigative report by a young woman who embedded in the chat groups and reported on her experiences. Her presence in the chats and some live events was like a magnet to the incels who freely shared the workings of their private networks and thoughts just to hang out with her.
Might as well learn some new terminology.
I won’t tell you what “Ride the Kali Yuga” means but I’ll hint that George Soros and one world government theories fit right into the vibe.
I’m sure it won’t take you long to figure out the meaning with your exceptional research skills.
Have fun!
Now I’m beginning to have TDS.
Rep. Thomas Massie said it in plainly:
“Tonight’s outcome isn’t about placing faith in Democrats or socialist principles; it’s about holding Republicans accountable for betraying their promises.
All Republicans had to do was:
1. put Americans First
2. not start another war
3. prosecute sex traffickers”
Trump’s declaration that he would never apologize for the higher gas prices caused by the war with Iran, and that he had no regrets about the additional financial burden placed on Americans, was both dismissive and tone-deaf. He should have kept those remarks to himself.
At a time when families are already struggling with rising costs, the last thing Americans need to hear from their president is a message that suggests their financial hardships are of little concern.
Just as damaging, they failed to communicate a future coherent message about how they intended to address the economic pressures facing ordinary households, just bragging about a ballroom and reflecting pool.
Voters made their frustration with Trump and the Republican Party unmistakably clear.
His strategy for addressing the problem was vert clear……he lied to us. How many times in the days just before the midterms did he tell his followers at his rallies that ‘prices are way down’? Same as he lied about having a replacement for Obamacare. Same as he lied about being able to end the war in Ukraine. etc… etc… etc… etc…
I will never understand how any could think he is a good leader for our country.
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You’re right SaltLife, but the thing with Trump is that he’s not a politician. He is the opposite of Bill Clinton, who always held a finger in the air and was very slick. With Trump, what you see is what you get.
He’s not slick, he’s not polished, he’s not diplomatic, and he’s not a politician.
He’s an oaf, he’s a boor, he’s loud, he’s obnoxious…. and I love him!
And he loves America; of that there is no doubt.
A President is not a Pope.