The most diverse, anti-establishment Congress in history is cause for optimism

After years of outrage or numbness being the main options for dealing with politics, Tuesday's results were permission to be optimistic

• This was originally published in the Stakes 2026, a newsletter about the midterm elections. Sign up to get it in your inbox

We shed some tears this midterm cycle.

US politics always makes people emotional, but I heard from friends and colleagues many times this year that speeches, campaigns and underdog success stories moved people in unexpected ways, whether it was this ad of Michigan senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed doing bedtime, a photo of newly elected Texas Democrats James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa at a Whataburger, or Georgia's Keisha Lance Bottoms becoming the first Black female governor in the entire country.