OH, WHAT A NIGHT!

From a foot massage to a blue wave.

My heart is all atwitter.

Not because of my husband. And certainly not because of the New York Giants, who generally inspire an entirely different cardiac response.

It is election night, and my anxiety has taken up permanent residence.

I actually went for a foot massage to calm myself down. It felt wonderful. Unfortunately, my feet are not the ones watching the returns.

So here I am, fellow Americans. In it for the long haul.

Except possibly Alaska. There are limits to my patriotism after 3 a.m.

Then the calls begin.

Jon Ossoff! 🥳

Okay. I can breathe. Briefly.

Roy Cooper defeats Michael Whatley in North Carolina. A Senate seat flips. Kathy Hochul wins reelection in New York, defeating Trump loyalist Bruce Blakeman. Suddenly, staying up feels less like an endurance test.

Letitia James remains NY Attorney General and incumbent Congressman Mike Lawler and Trump bestie loses.

Georgia elects Keisha Lance Bottoms governor. Now we are talking.

Florida, meanwhile, elects Byron Donalds, apparently deciding that what it really needs is more of the DeSantis experience.

Florida. We need to talk.

But, the good news keeps coming.

Kentucky flips a House seat. South Carolina sends Annie Andrews to the Senate. Kansas elects a Democratic senator for the first time since 1932.

1932.

I’m watching election returns and getting a history lesson. At this hour, I had expected only indigestion.

And then comes the call.

Democrats take the House.

I sit up straighter. Hakeem Jeffries is poised to replace Mike Johnson as speaker. Someone may finally locate the congressional spine.

Hello, oversight. Hello, subpoenas. Hello, questions that require actual answers.

I want answers about Epstein. Impeach Hegseth and Kennedy. Deep dive into the president’s family business dealings and additional $2.7 billion in personal wealth, his son-in-law’s power and wealth, and who has been benefiting from access to power. I want scrutiny of the Iran war. Documents. Testimony. Follow-up questions.

Remember follow-up questions?

And those big, ugly bills? They are about to encounter a considerably less accommodating reception.

Then Texas.

Texas has elected a Democratic governor.

Gina Hinojosa defeats Greg Abbott, and James Talarico wins a Senate seat. I check the screen again. Yes, that Texas.

In Ohio, Amy Acton wins the governor’s race. After that ugly campaign, this one feels particularly sweet.

Sherrod Brown wins, too.

The Senate is blue.

And Susan Collins loses in Maine.

Finally, Buh-bye, Susan.

Darline Graham is just dust in the wind…like her famous brother. Go South Caroline  Congratulations, Annie Andrews.

The orange man is still in the White House, but the prospect of two more years with a compliant Congress has just disappeared.

For the first time all evening, I notice my shoulders. They are no longer attached to my ears.

It’s 4 a.m.

I’m exhausted. My feet feel lovely. And somewhere between the first call and the last, the anxiety has given way to something I have missed terribly.

Hope.

There is still work to do. Plenty of it, but tonight, I am allowing myself the relief. The joy. The possibility that decency still has a constituency and that it showed up.

Take a breath, my fellow Americans.

A proper one.

Oh, what a night.

Peace and happiness.

Out.