Paul E Boucher/ZUMA
On Wednesday, former President Barack Obama congratulated Democrats on securing crucial victories in Tuesday’s midterms, both in the House of Representatives and in statewide elections, while noting the historic wave of women and minority candidates who won office.
“The more Americans who vote, the more our elected leaders look like America,” Obama said in a statement.
“I also want to congratulate voters across the country for turning out in record numbers, and for voting for several ballot initiatives that will improve the lives of the American people—like raising the minimum wage, expanding Medicaid, and strengthening voting rights,” he continued.
In the lead up to Tuesday, the former president had largely framed the midterm elections as a referendum on the country’s character, one that he urged didn’t have to be defined by the falsehoods and fear-mongering tactics deployed by his successor. “When people lie with abandonment, democracy doesn’t work,” Obama told a crowd of supporters last week.
His statement Wednesday concluded with a message noting the work that lay ahead for Democrats, and the opportunity future elections provide for voters to continue defining the country’s integrity.
“The change we need won’t come from one election alone—but it’s a start. Last night, voters across the country started it. And I’m hopeful going forward, we’ll begin a return to the values we expect in our public life—honesty, decency, compromise, and standing up for one another as Americans, not separated by our differences, but bound together by one common thread.”
Listen to our journalists explain all the twists and turns of Election Day, and what comes next for America, on this special episode of the Mother Jones Podcast:
