Tomorrow, lines will form across the country as people wait to cast their ballots in the 2026 midterm elections. The majority are predicted to vote Democrat after two years of chaos and destruction by the Trump administration and his government trifecta. In particular, Democrats are predicted to gain a majority in the House of Representatives, while it’s more of a toss-up as to whether they’ll reach a majority in the Senate. Either way, with at least one part of the legislative branch free from the reins of Trump-affiliated Republicans, the dictatorial levels of unchecked power he’s had since his reelection may be significantly hampered.
America has seen this kind of election many times in recent years. If Democrats win back the House, 2026 will continue a cycle that we’ve been seeing since the Obama administration. Obama began with a political trifecta in 2008 before Republicans won a majority in the Senate in 2010, which they kept for the rest of his administration, even winning control of the House in 2014. Then, Trump started with a trifecta before losing the House in 2018. Biden also began his term with a trifecta before losing the House in 2022.
Despite power flipping back and forth between parties, it seems as if only Republicans have actually made major political strides over the years. Liberal Democrats aren’t running on bold new ideas to encourage voters, instead relying on the appeal of not being loyal to Trump, no matter how close their policies may be. Year after year we see Democrats taking up Republican talking points while Republicans shift further into extreme right-wing ideologies. Meanwhile Trump has asked voters to “pretend, please, that [he’s] on the ballot.” In other words, Republicans have been taking large political swings over time while Democrats have become complacent in being the lesser of two evils.
Even with government trifectas, Obama and Biden both failed to effectively combat Bush and Trump’s right-wing strides. Obama failed to roll back Bush’s authoritarian policies following the Sept. 11 attacks, including citizen surveillance, the War on Terror and the Department of Homeland Security’s mistreatment of immigrants. This allowed Trump to massively expand ICE’s ability to surveil, attack and detain any American they see fit. Biden signed the first federal anti-LGBTQ law in over 25 years in a bill with a provision that blocked healthcare for trans military children. This acceptance of transphobic legislation has since ballooned into many Democrats outwardly supporting anti-trans policies in 2026. Biden also focused on funding police departments as much as possible, fueling the ability for Trump to crack down on opposition protestors. Additionally, after Israel’s occupation of the Gaza strip in 2023, Biden’s administration and many Democrats chose to side with Israel rather than condemning the genocide it is still committing today with help from American weapons.
That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t vote for Democrats today — you absolutely should — but it does mean that we as a country cannot allow a Democratic win to lull us into the belief that everything will be alright. Just because Trump’s power may be reduced doesn’t mean we should become complacent and stop demanding real, proactive, progressive change. Without it, we’d just be kicking the can down the road until another ambitious Republican steps into Trump’s shoes and we repeat the cycle all over again.
This major roadblock for the Democratic Party is only now starting to budge due to organized political efforts. There are multiple progressive democratic-socialists in Congress, including Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. Zohran Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, an advocacy organization, has an approval rating of around 69% as the mayor of New York. He’s achieved this level of popularity because he has proven that it isn’t difficult to push for and enact progressive policies once a progressive candidate is elected.
In this election cycle, several other democratic socialists are on the ballot under the Democratic Party at both the federal and local levels. These include DSA members Claire Valdez in New York, Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania and Donavan McKinny in Michigan. Additionally, Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan is running for a Senate seat on a confrontational and unapologetic progressive platform as an openly practicing Muslim.
These candidates prove that change within the Democratic Party is possible if we fight for it. In 2028, we can’t settle for somebody like Gavin Newsom, one of many centrist Democrats who believe indulging in Republican ideas will get him more votes. Instead, we must make it known that candidates like Mamdani, Ocasio-Cortez and El-Sayed are the forefront of the Democratic Party by organizing protests, candidacy campaigns and garnering progressive communities.
Most importantly, we should believe that things can be better. We’ll just have to work for it.