For the first time in my five years working in politics, I got to experience what it feels like to win on Election Day.
I spent this year’s Election Day in Columbus, Ohio, at the Amy Acton/Sherrod Brown victory party. I had traveled there Sunday night to spend two days knocking on doors, talking to voters, and making stops at polling sites throughout the Columbus area. I wanted to do more than watch the results come in from home. I wanted to be part of the effort that made them happen.
And when the results started rolling in, I got to experience something I’d never experienced before: a winning Election Day party.
Let me tell you, it was VERY DIFFERENT from the only other Election Day party I’d attended, back in 2021.
The energy was electric. People were happy. There was a sense of excitement and possibility in the room that I hadn’t experienced before. It felt like a 2008-level victory, and in many ways, it was.
Democrats didn’t just pick up a handful of competitive seats. They flipped more than two dozen Republican-held congressional districts, reclaimed state legislative chambers across the country, and made substantial gains in communities that overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump in 2024.
Here are some of the most remarkable numbers from Election Day:
1. Democrats flipped 30 Republican-held House seats.
Democrats won control of the House of Representatives after flipping 30 Republican-held districts. Republicans also flipped one Democratic-held seat, giving Democrats a net gain of 29 seats.
And some of those victories came in places Republicans had every reason to believe were safe.
Consider these examples: