‘Wait, what?’: the underdog Democrats who won their midterm races against all odds

From North Carolina to Arizona, Democrats with almost no public profile were stunned at their election triumphs

One candidate had dropped out in September. One had no campaign staff. One was a 19-year-old and halfway through the fall college semester.

Across the US, Democratic candidates with almost no public profile and long odds of winning their midterm races were stunned to find they had outperformed their opponents on Tuesday. They were swept into Congress and statehouses in the blue wave that knocked out Republicans from seats considered untouchable in deep-red districts.