The last in our series on dignity and democracy
There is no shortage of analysis of the mid-term elections that have been characterized as a “seismic” “tectonic” even “gut-bursting” tsunami.
But what do we see when we look at them through the lens of human dignity?
In all kinds of ways, people voted for dignity.
They voted for candidates who promoted inclusion and unity over a politics of division and hierarchy.
They voted for candidates who would help them live with dignity because, as well know, it has been getting harder and harder to afford gas, groceries and rent, not to mention birthday presents. (To learn more about the impacts of poverty and homelessness on dignity, listen to our podcast, Dignity Talks about Poverty with David Shipler). Some specifically voted for candidates who promised affordable health care and affordable housing.
They voted for access to clean water and to a healthier environment, and against data centers. Some voted for humanist regulation of AI. (Our podcast on AI in the classroom illustrates how AI can be used to promote and protect the dignity of students.)
They voted for the human scale and against billionaires who thought they could control the outcomes by dwarfing the opposition and silencing the voices of the people.[1]
They voted for science and real expertise. Two pediatricians (South Carolina’s Annie Andrews and California’s Richard Pan) ran successful campaigns specifically to challenge the non-science-based health policies of the current administration.[2] Other doctors and scientists also persuaded voters that their credentials mattered and that government has a role to play in improving health outcomes.[3]
They voted to right some of the most horrific indignities of the recent past, as voters showed when they put their “I voted” stickers on the memorials for Renee Good and Alex Pretti.[4]
And, most crucially, they voted for the dignity ideals of rule of law and democracy.[5] According to an AP Voter Poll, “most voters say the economy or the state of democracy is the top issue facing the country, with the cost of living and government corruption weighing heavily on many Americans' minds as they cast a ballot in Tuesday's midterm elections.” AP also said that the poll “signals a strong desire for Congress to take a more forceful role in checking the presidency.”[6] Voters understood the connection between their own opportunities to live with dignity and government corruption – where money is visibly lining the pockets of those in power[7] while the holes in everyone else’s pockets are getting bigger. And they understood that what stands between a functioning democracy and unchecked presidential authority is a Congress that exercises its constitutional responsibility to check executive authority and balance it out.[8]
And some voted just to vote, to be heard, to be counted, to express themselves – despite efforts to suppress them and exclude them from the polity. The gutting of the Voting Rights Act by the President and the Supreme Court failed to achieve the desired result: Even before election day itself, black voters were turning out for early voting in record numbers, particularly in those districts most affected.[9]
So too did the republican gerrymandering efforts fail in the face of an energized population: all across the country, where “Republicans undertook a historic effort to redraw several states' Congressional districts mid-decade in an attempt to maintain control of the House,” they were rebuffed by voters who chose people who would represent them, rather than letting themselves be chosen (or not chosen) by those in power.[10]
People voted for an election system with integrity, for a more dignity-respecting government, and for the opportunity to live with dignity. People voted so that they themselves could feel more dignified.
In previous elections, people may have thought their vote didn’t matter. In 2026, they learned it does. Hopefully, this is a lesson we’ll remember.
[1] https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2026/11/elon-musks-445m-spending-spree-tops-2026-midterm-donor-rankings/. Elon Musk, Richard & Elizabeth Uihlein, and Jeff Yass each gave more than 100,000,000 (small fractions of their net worths) to “Republican-aligned candidates and causes.”
[2] https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/doctors-scientists-won-2026-midterm-elections/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
[3] https://www.statnews.com/2026/11/04/midterm-health-policy-winners-losers-medicare-for-all-rfk-jr/
[4] https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/ice-agents-actions-drove-many-minnesotans-to-the-polls/
[5] For a good analysis of what could have gone wrong and why it didn’t, see https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/11/democracy-saved-2026-midterms-fraud-rigged-falsehoods.html.
[6] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/ap-voter-poll-how-key-demographic-groups-voted-in-the-2026-midterms
[7] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/30/us/politics/trump-financial-disclosure-crypto-windfall.html; https://www.americanprogress.org/article/tracking-the-return-on-investment-of-trumps-backers/; https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/trump-family-corruption-tracker https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy9rg133lrjo
[8] US Constitution, Articles I and II. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/ap-voter-poll-how-key-demographic-groups-voted-in-the-2026-midterms (“The survey suggests voters want to see Congress take on a stronger role as a co-equal branch of government. Roughly 7 in 10 voters say Congress is doing "not enough" to provide checks and balances on the presidency. …. About 6 in 10 voters disapprove of how Trump is handling the presidency, while about three-quarters of voters disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job.”)
[9] As of October 26, “black voters have cast over 160,000 more ballots this year than they had at the same point in the 2022 midterm elections. And while it’s impossible to say for sure what’s motivating the turnout, it’s notable that the biggest change from four years ago in the share of votes cast by black voters is largely occurring in Southern states, particularly Louisiana—where the Supreme Court case originated—as well as South Carolina.” https://www.thebulwark.com/p/republicans-tried-to-undercut-black-voters-blowing-up-in-their-faces-redistricting-maps-early-vote-data?utm_source=chatgpt.com. See also https://www.salon.com/2026/11/03/black-voters-could-sway-the-midterms-in-surprising-places/.
[10] www.cbsnews.com/news/dummymander-republican-redistricting-congress-trump/
