Students From Swing States Share Post-Election Reactions

Reading time: about 9 minutes After Democrats regained control of both Congressional houses in the 2026 midterm elections, Cornell students hailing from states where Democrats flipped Senate seats expressed shock, pride and excitement about the implications for their home states. In what election analysts have referred to as a “blue wave,” Democrats flipped eight Republican-held Senate seats — in Kansas, Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, Iowa, South Carolina, Maine and Mississippi. While the Alaska Senate race has not yet been called, The New York Times predicts Mary Peltola (D) will flip the seat. Maine In Maine, former State Senator and logger Troy Jackson (D) defeated incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R). Collins has served in the Senate since 1996 and was the only Republican senator to represent a state Kamala Harris won in the 2024 Presidential contest. Anna Siegel ’28, who grew up in Yarmouth, Maine reflected on Collins’ defeat after 30 years in the Senate.

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