Trump Lost Congress. Now Comes The Part He’s Spent Two Years Running From.
I pulled Richard Hudson’s federal filings for this one. The man in charge of saving the Republican House still had $925,976 in the bank in mid-October, and he lost anyway. Know someone who still can’t believe Tuesday happened? Give them a gift subscription so they’re in this with us, or become a founding member and help lead the fight to make Trump answer for his crime. And if you’d like to tip our hardworking team on Venmo, every dollar goes a long way: https://venmo.com/u/dworkinreport Two days ago, we beat Trump badly and come January, Congress is ours. We took it from him. After another two years of Trump’s propaganda and lies, it was difficult to even visualize an enormous win like this. Some of us refreshed the results five times since Tuesday—just to be sure nothing has changed. So let me be clear. Yes, this is real. An enormous blue wave hit. We won. That includes a pediatrician Trump attacked by name who beat his hand-picked senator. An Army major, funded mostly by donors who gave $200 or less, beat the man running the entire Republican House campaign. They won because people like you kept showing up for them. In January, Democrats will take over all of the committees in the House and the Senate. Subpoena power comes with them. For the first time in two years, Trump will have to answer to a Congress willing to use that power. From here, 2028 looks bright. But we need the resources to keep leading the resistance until we get there. Being independent means we can always tell the truth about Trump without having to get permission from any corporate bosses or advertisers for it. It also means I have to rely on our amazing community here for all of our funding. We’re going to lead the drive to hold Trump accountable for the crimes he’s committed, but we need all hands on deck. Paid subscribers fuel this work and get exclusive interviews and posts, plus behind-the-scenes access. Let’s make sure Tuesday is only the start. Join us as a paid subscriber. Before we jump in, hit the like button and restack these wins. That’s the two arrows next to the heart—it puts this in front of everyone who follows you. Trump’s accomplices want Tuesday to be forgotten by the weekend. We won’t let that happen.
A Pediatrician Just Beat Trump’s Hand-Picked SenatorAfter GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham died in July, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Graham’s sister Darline to serve in his place. She had never held elected office before then. Trump wanted her to keep the seat. “I went to her and I said, ‘You got to run, Darline,’” Trump mumbled to a crowd in Myrtle Beach in August. At that rally, he was begging his supporters to “pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot.” Trump’s super PAC spent $827,711 to help Graham. In October, he went after her opponent, Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician from Mount Pleasant. South Carolina “must show, in the upcoming Election, that it is not for her,” he posted on Truth Social. On Tuesday, South Carolina showed him. Dr. Andrews beat Graham 1,034,418 to 948,133 in the unofficial count. She’s the first Democrat to win a Senate race in the state since 1998 and the first woman South Carolina has ever elected to the Senate. I went through the state’s results file. At least 98,597 South Carolinians voted Republican for governor but didn’t vote for Trump’s pick. That’s how many fewer votes Graham got than Republican Alan Wilson, who won the governor’s race. Trump was talking to the New York Times when he found out that Graham had lost. “Wow, that’s amazing,” he said. He asked South Carolina to pretend he was on the ballot, and they voted like he was.
The Army Major Who Sent Hudson PackingRep. Richard Hudson chairs the NRCC, the committee whose whole job is keeping the House in Republican hands. In 2024, he won his North Carolina seat by nearly 20 points. Just a year later, North Carolina Republicans redrew the state’s congressional map, and they said openly that the point was to win one more seat in the House. Hudson’s opponent was Richard Ojeda, a retired Army major who grew up in the West Virginia coal fields. He’s a fighter I’d vouch for, and I vouch for almost no one. I pulled the federal filings for each campaign. Through October 14, Ojeda raised $2,895,423 from individual donors—most of whom gave $200 or less. That’s twice as much as Hudson raised from individuals. Hudson raised $2,001,397 from PACs and other committees, which included the PACs of Koch Industries, Chevron, and Marathon Petroleum. Three weeks before Election Day he still had $925,976 in the bank. But it wasn’t enough. On Tuesday, Ojeda won 138,707 to 132,692, according to the unofficial count—with every precinct in. Ojeda said the district “looked at the guy running the entire Republican money machine, and they fired him.” Republicans gerrymandered the map to try and win one more seat. Democrats flipped at least five seats in the state, and the man in charge of saving the Republican House couldn’t even save his own. Good.
Michigan Elected Abdul El-SayedOver Trump’s SmearsOn October 25, Trump held a rally in Port Huron, Michigan for Mike Rogers. He smeared Abdul El-Sayed’s Muslim faith, tied him to terrorism with no evidence at all, and said El-Sayed should be the only senator who has to go through a metal detector. That same day, Rogers told NBC’s Meet the Press, “I’ve never called him a terrorist.” In October, I followed the money behind Rogers. On September 18, a 59-year-old Energy Transfer pipeline spilled about 630 gallons of crude oil under a gas station in Sterling Heights. Federal regulators ordered that the company check its repairs three days later. Just nine days after that order, billionaire chairman of Energy Transfer Kelcy Warren gave $50,000 to a committee raising money for Rogers. Rogers had Trump, a pipeline billionaire, and more than $90 million in outside spending behind him. Two days before the election, Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed him too. She didn’t have the pull she thought she had. El-Sayed’s campaign says it raised $2.4 million that day from more than 65,000 donors. On Tuesday, Michigan elected El-Sayed. He led 51.9 to 46.1 percent when the AP called the race at 2:27 am. He’ll be the first Muslim American ever to serve in the Senate. Rogers has now lost two Senate races in two years. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough for him to run a third time. “Donald, look, I know you struggled with my name,” El-Sayed said in his victory speech. “So after JD swears me in in January, you can just go on and call me Senator.”
Montana Just Kicked Corporate Money Out OfPoliticsIn 2024, more than $250 million poured into one US Senate race in Montana, a state with about 1.1 million people. After that, Jeff Mangan, Montana’s former commissioner of political practices, led the push for Initiative 194, called the Montana Plan. “The Montana Plan simply removes the ability for corporations to spend in our politics,” he told Montana PBS. The plan is simple. Corporations, nonprofits, and trade groups can’t spend money on Montana elections starting in January. If one does it anyway, it loses its right to do business in the state. The Montana Chamber of Commerce and the Montana Mining Association fought the plan, and the state Republican Party wrote its opposition right into the party platform. On Tuesday, in a state Trump won by about 20 points, two out of three Montanans voted yes on the plan. The Supreme Court threw out Montana’s old ban in 2012, so this time the state wrote the rule differently. Montana’s not alone. Hawaii passed a similar law in May, and Adam Bojak, a Democrat who just won a New York State Assembly seat, wants his state to be next. “I can’t wait to bring this legislation to New York in next year’s session,” he said. Corporations have spent more than a decade buying Montana’s elections. On Tuesday, Montana told them the state is no longer for sale. Until Congress becomes blue in January, Trump’s Republicans still run things. So it’s on us to watch every move they make on their way out. Rest assured, we won’t let them get away with anything. Since November 2024, our amazing community has sent more than 913,000 letters to the House and Senate on dozens of issues, on top of countless phone calls. We already launched a series of new pressure campaigns: no power grabs before January, investigations into Trump’s pardons and his family’s Pentagon deals, and a subpoena for the unredacted Epstein files on day one. The real work starts now, and we’ve never been more ready. Over the next two years, we will lead the drive to take our country back and make the Trump regime answer for their crimes. Like Montana’s new law, we keep corporate money out. No advertiser calls me when I write that a pediatrician beat Trump’s hand-picked senator. And no billionaire owner can tell me to shut down a story. Republicans lost on Tuesday because enough people chipped in and showed up. This newsletter runs the same way. If you haven’t yet, join us as a paid subscriber and help us continue this fight: Before you go, hit the ❤️ like button and restack this. Somebody you know is still in shock and can’t believe Tuesday night’s win is real. Send them this. Onward! Scott Should your state pass the Montana Plan and ban corporate money in politics? Let me know your thoughts: Thanks for your support! Another way to help us out is by gifting subscriptions to friends and family! You can get yours by clicking the link. For all contact Congress links, or to volunteer, you can go here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-up-for-the-watchdog-coalition |
Two days after the election, the people who covered for Trump are already counting on us to get tired. We’re not. These four letters line up the first fights for the new Congress. Each one takes about 30 seconds and goes straight to your members of Congress.
Impeach John Roberts: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-impeach-supreme-court-chief-justice-john-roberts/
Investigate Don Jr. and the Trump family’s Pentagon deals: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-investigate-the-trump-familys-pentagon-deals/
Put Trump’s pardons under oath: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-put-trumps-pardons-under-oath
Subpoena the unredacted Epstein files on day one: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-the-new-congress-subpoena-the-unredacted-epstein-files-on-day-one
Tell me below which ones you sent.
JUST A FEW OF MANY COMMENTS:
All. Thanks for these letters Scott. We need to watch carefully for the next 2 months. We need to continue to hit our Republican reps with these constant demands and show we are still watching them.
Did the letters but every time I tried to post to Facebook, the AI image came up.
I’ve been in these fights long enough to know how rare a night like Tuesday is. The relief is real. So is the work that starts now. Thank you for every letter, every restack, every dollar, and every time you refused to look away. We took the House and the Senate because enough people kept showing up. I’m exhausted and grateful and ready for the next two years. Let’s go.
Then we need a tag team. Your exhaustion is completely understandable, and Dems need to get to work, with a lot of heavy lifting, while you take a well-earned breather.
By the way, and for the record, I love these posts.
Amen!
We’re showin’ up and showin’ out!! Sent them all. And you GO, Montana!!
If ya have a minute head on o et to The Fucking News on Substack. With Dems in control, a deal could be made that would nullify the Electoral College for the coming election!!! I suggest we heartily encourage this!!
I think the goal should be to eliminate the Electoral College. If it requires an amendment to the Constitution, so be it. Let's get started.
I am all in favor of getting rid of the Electoral College!!!
While eliminating the ELECTORAL COLLEGE is a worthy goal, it's a lengthy process.
Let's focus of IMMEDIATE ISSUES that DEMS are working on that are easily doable:
RESTORE HEALTHCARE INCLUDING SUBSIDIES
RESTORE FOOD PROGRAMS
INVESTIGATE RESCINDING TAX CUTS TO THE WEALTHY & CORPORATIONS THAT EXPLODED THE DEBT & DEFICIT.
DEMS are prepared to immediately address what they can to make LIFE BETTER!
I keep thinking about all the people who kept fighting even when it felt pointless. You didn’t quit. On Tuesday you took Congress away from him. I’m proud of this community and proud to be in it with you. The subpoenas are coming. The accountability is coming. Thank you for staying in the fight. Onward.
We all understood that giving up was not acceptable. We’re in it for the long haul. Election Day was such a huge relief. I always believed that the majority of Americans were on our side. Seeing how many of us were on the side of honesty and decency was all we needed to keep going.
Amen! Ms Jonington! I too feel so proud of everyone who took action to save our democracy! Still feeling the splash from the Blue Wave with a smile! :-)
If DC is too scared to end Citizens United, then it is up to the states to do it for them. I'd love to see that ballot initiative in my own state of AZ, as well as every other states' ballots.
Don't get lost in the WEEDS!
Whatever is proposed needs to be carefully crafted to address ALL of the surrounding issues that allow donors to conceal their identity.
If you watched AIPAC'S antics, they opened new fake groups to conceal their involvement, hide their donors that forced others to track down their BOGUS GROUPS.
It's not as simple as you might believe. It needs to be carefully crafted to prevent concealing DONORS.
Get rid of Citizens United, clean up the dark, dirty money in election finance. Eliminate the Electoral College, one person = one vote. Clean the House, the Senate and SCOTUS, sweep clean the White House too.
Schumer and Jeffries would not be able to take corporate $ 😁
and should be replaced......we need leadership that will fight for us.
Get corporate money out of politics. Good mantra
Incredible wins all over-so many great stories! Let’s get control of wasteful spending (and billionaires) ……..and for God’s sake…can someone take all that gold junk out of the white house soon?! lol
Yes Tess! Clean out the oval office and include the current resident! I am so sick of Trump and his dirty tricks and his mean nicknames for everyone he dislikes. Scott, I sent all your letters, thanks for making it so easy. Let's stay alert for what trump will try to do next because you know him and Stephen Miller are scheming behind the scenes. Voight is a piece of trash too! He filled his white house with the worst of the worst. God help us all.
Yesterday, I finally got through to my Republican sister. She had recently moved to New Mexico — and away from the R party. When she answered the call, the first words out of her mouth were: “Congratulations! I can finally breathe again! What a night! She had switched and voted for Democrats straight ticket for the first time in her life. Why? She has three daughters and three grand-daughters. She had watched with increasing dismay as women’s rights were eviscerated little by little. The Dept. of Health had been decimated, along with all of our recent political past. Et Alia.
Can you imagine CA with the Montana plan.....now that would be a game changer!
Thanks Scott--to you and the team for keeping us all together and sane while we fought the Trump regime one day at a time.
Yes...now the real work begins--not for what we're against--Trump regime--but what we're for--A United States that puts people and life first. These are going to be dynamic times!
How wonderfully right you are! Work and fight for the real American dream, the real human dream of equality of opportunity, fairness, kindness and peace!
Yes, I write at Fractured World—Build Wholeness. Now we can redirect our attention to building wholeness—personally, in our families, communities and the world!
Me too! Hopefully Ohio’s first female governor, Amy Acton, will be able to do so along with undoing all of the corruption Repubs have inflicted on our public schools, women’s rights, right to vote, etc!
I sent Annie Andrews some ActBlue love on the recommendation of my sister in common law, who is also a pediatrician and had met Andrews at a fundraiser set up by one of her colleagues at Vanderbilt Children’s. She doesn’t vouch for many — and has the (indirect) political connections to get inside the wire. So when she vouched for Andrews, I figured she was okay. I’ve been burned by contributing to races out of state before (looking at YOU Kirsten Sinema) so I don’t usually do that unless I know for sure what I’m getting. It’s not enough to be a Democrat running against a repugnant Gooper.
Ojeda, on the other hand, I’ve been bullish on for a long time — I’ve followed his career long before he got into this race, but when he announced he was running in the district next door I was on board immediately. My district was one of the ones the legislature packed to concentrate the blue vote into 4 districts, so that one was decided by the Dem primary. (I couldn’t even tell you who the Republican in the race was, but I do remember there was one.) But then fate conspired that I actually *met* Ojeda — not at a rally, not a fundraiser, not a town hall — at a Dropkick Murphys concert in Raleigh last Valentine’s Day (who says romance is dead?) — far from the 9th district (or the 4th for that matter). And in the space of 15 minutes or so, in a setting completely removed from the campaign, between bands in a darkened mosh pit no fewer than three *other* people recognized him and introduced themselves while I was talking with him. This is what happens when you go meet the people where they’re at instead of hiding in your bunker avoiding having to face the voters. And Richard Hudson was the mook who *initiated that strategy* — keep your head down, and wait for the storm to pass. Well it didn’t pass, and while he was keeping his head down, Ojeda was knocking doors *personally* street by street from one end of the district to the other. Getting his name recognition the old fashioned way. The payoff showed up in that mosh pit in Raleigh 10 months ago, and it showed up again last Tuesday at the polls. “Sappers clear the way, Airborne all the way!”
Thank you for mentioning OJEDA!
Richard Ojeda declares victory over GOP campaign chief Richard Hudson in North Carolina
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/4790896/richard-ojeda-declares-victory-over-richard-hudson-north-carolina-house-race/
NRCC Chair Richard Hudson Falls To Democrat Richard Ojeda In North Carolina
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/richard-hudson-loses-reelection-richard-ojeda_n_6aeb591ae4b0f78622d80a95
Our local PBS STATION, WBUR, offers daily reports that are significant.
DEMS are prepared to ACT for ALL.
(I would highlight that, from the comments of others, IMPEACHMENT would be a time-consuming distraction. WE have other WORK to do!)
What they're saying: Now that Democrats are preparing to take control of Congress, local representatives are starting to lay out their top priorities after the power change takes effect.
Rep. Katherine Clark: Expected to become the first woman to serve as the House majority leader, Clark said Democrats' short-term goal will be to reverse recent cuts to federal assistance programs like Medicard, Medicare, veterans' benefits and food stamps. "We're going to do quick things, small things, and also start to work on big transformative policies, but all focused on making sure that we are fighting for those families who feel like they are drowning in this cost of living crisis," Clark told WBUR Morning Edition host Tiziana Dearing. Clark also did not rule out another effort to impeach President Trump. Read the full highlights of the interview here.
Rep. Richard Neal: After winning his 20th term in Congress, the Springfield Democrat told supporters that he hopes to reclaim his chairmanship on the House Ways and Means Committee to push to restore those benefits. "We intend to push back on $1 trillion of cuts to Medicaid," Neal said. "Let the ACA enhanced credits be returned so people can enjoy health insurance as promised."
Rep.-elect Dan Koh: Massachusetts' new incoming congressman told Tiziana that the main focus for his first 100 days in office will be to "get to the bottom of Donald Trump's corruption" and to introduce bills to lower costs. Read more about Koh's political role model and how he said he will differ from his predecessor in the seat, Rep. Seth Moulton.
https://middlebororeviewandsoon.blogspot.com/2026/11/wbur-today-5-local-takeaways-from.html
I love the last graf of the Washington Examiner story, where they’re trying to lay Ojeda’s win on Roy Cooper’s coattails (which isn’t without merit — I think *most* NC candidates benefitted from that):
“Cooper led Republican nominee Michael Whatley by such a wide margin that Republicans began pulling ad reservations from the state earlier this fall and shifting that ad spend to states such as **Texas, Iowa, and Kansas**.”
**ALL OF WHICH THEY LOST!** 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
One more self-enriching MAGA TURD gone!
There is no explaining political reporting and speculation, but it's time to raise questions about MORAL DEPRAVITY.
ICE GESTAPO THUGS using unmarked vehicles to run down people?
Holding CHILDREN in CONCENTRATION CAMPS they euphemistically call "DETENTION CENTERS"? This is what REPUBLICANS funded.
Democrats won big. I hope they're ready for what comes next
https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2026/11/04/democrats-midterm-elections-rout-trump-eileen-mcnamara?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WBURToday