The U.S. midterm results have made waves across the country and the globe as Democrats swept the House and Senate with the largest victory in the popular vote since 1976, according to the New York Times.
Democrat James Talarico secured a comfortable 55% of the vote in Texas, giving the party control of the state for the first time in almost 40 years. However it was Adam Hamilton’s victory in Kansas which was the Democrat’s biggest asset, with the party’s first victory in the midwestern state in almost a century.
Americans living abroad vote far ahead of the rest of the country. Most will have sent their ballots to the U.S. via mail days or weeks in advance of the elections. After that, the only thing left to do is wait until election day to see how the rest of their state votes.
For Americans living in Europe, the first exit polls only became available around 1:00 a.m on November 4, with more results being announced throughout the early morning. Many will have woken up to news of historically Republican states turning blue.
Regardless, some extraordinarily dedicated voters chose to stay up throughout the night to watch results as they came in. In Edinburgh, the University Democrats Overseas society organised a watch party at a local bar, finishing in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Alex Daniels, the co-president of the University of Edinburgh Democrats Overseas society, spoke to EU Reports about waiting up for the results and his hopes for the next two years with a Democrat-majority Congress.
Daniels described the atmosphere as the results came in as “unequivocally pro-Democrat”, with people cheering when states started being called in favour of the Democratic party, especially South Carolina at around 2:30 a.m.
Even after returning home, Daniels said he stayed awake until 5:00 a.m. to watch as Texas, Iowa, Ohio, and Kansas were called in a generational victory for the Democrats.
Daniels said that as a young person, he feels “hopeful” for the future, citing a shift amongst some Democratic candidates away from a platform of being the “not Trump” party and towards “their own compelling narrative of why Americans should vote for them”.
Although remaining optimistically cautious, he described the midterm results as “a great sign regarding building momentum leading up to 2028”.
Though there may not be any huge changes in the short term, Democrat control of the House and Senate does mean that they have the ability to investigate any unconstitutional decisions from the White House. California District 42 incumbent and incoming Oversight Chairman Robert Garcia said as much in a two-word statement released earlier today, which read “Lawyer up”.
Asked if he thought the results would have any effects on UK or European relations with the U.S., Daniels thought that Ukraine would be a country to watch, as new funding bills could more easily get passed in Congress, although these could still be vetoed by President Donald Trump.
Despite broad bipartisan support for sending financial and military aid to Ukraine, Trump has mostly halted support for Ukraine since the start of his second term.
There are still states to be called, and newly-elected members of Congress won’t be sworn in until January 2027. However, for Democrat voters abroad, the mood remains high.
Featured image: Democrats via X
