‘Blue wave’ spurs big changes

Election victories give Democrats control of U.S. House, Senate

Speaking hypothetically Tuesday evening before a significant number of national election results had been reported, former Blair County Democratic Chairwoman Gillian Kratzer observed that virtually no one at the beginning of this year would have given the Dems much of a chance to take back the Senate in these midterms.

But the Iran War and tariffs led to price increases, especially for gasoline and diesel, President Donald Trump's popularity sank to levels not seen in two decades, and the blue wave that observers have been predicting with increasing confidence over the last few months has thrown out the Republican Senate majority -- as well as the House majority, a result that was more widely expected.

"We are in the midst of a current administration that adds a whole other level of chaos," Kratzer said at the Democrats' watch party at the Bavarian Aid Society. "(And) I think the economic stress pushed people to take a chance."

People are paying more for groceries and "outrageous" rents and people in their 20s can't afford to buy a house, said Kratzer's successor as Blair County Democratic chair, McCailey Flaugh.

And there are behavioral matters: she's talked with teachers whose students are imitating the coarse way the president sometimes speaks, the kind of speech the teachers have been trying to discourage, according to Flaugh.

Her treasurer has spoken with lifelong Republicans who are tired of what they have seen in their own party, and are "switching over," Flaugh said.

Former City Council and Altoona Area School Board candidate Bridgette Jackson was "ecstatic."

Jackson looks on the Democratic turnabout from a feminist point of view, and predicted that the party's success was powered by a "historic turnout from women."

She has two daughters and doesn't like the Republican position on abortion.

"I don't want to live in a world where my daughters have less rights than I have," she said.

It was also powered by the need to hold Trump "accountable," Jackson said, and to do something about "the terrible people in his radius," including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Stephen Miller, Elon Musk and "Trump's entire family," who have "all made money, while people like us can barely f—–g afford to pay rent and buy groceries."

People who voted for Trump previously and who voted for Democrats this time "realized just how badly the whole Republican and MAGA movement lied to them," said Democrat Bill Kelley of Tyrone.

"They said they were led to believe Trump would fix all the problems they kept alleging Biden (caused)," Kelley said. "But smart people start to realize that Trump has not done anything for the American people."

Blair County Republican Chairman Matt Zupon blamed a "big enthusiasm gap" between the eager Democrats and the downcast Republicans for the Democrats' success.

The Republicans lacked enthusiasm because Trump can't run again, just as the Democrats' "unifying call was against Trump," he said.

It also aligns with history in all midterms in recent history except two, he said.

The key disadvantage of losing the Senate will be the loss of Trump's ability to appoint whoever he wants to the Supreme Court, if there is an opening, and to his cabinet, if there is an opening, because the Senate must confirm those appointments; and for Trump's ability to negotiate treaties with other nations, Zupon said.

If the Democratic majority in the Senate is slim, especially if they get 51, Pennsylvania's John Fetterman will become a key player -- and a greater source of frustration to his fellow Democrats than he already is, given his penchant for crossing the aisle already, Zupon said.

It is likely that the U.S. House will again impeach Trump, especially given their takeover of the Senate, even if it's unlikely that there would be enough votes to convict -- which requires two-thirds of the Senate, said state Rep. Andrea Verobish.

With a Democratic Congress, there will be a lot of "push and pull" with the president over the next two years, Verobish said.

Given Trump's appetite for working the levers of presidential power, especially with the support of the Supreme Court ruling that he's not subject to criminal charges for matters within his core duties as president, and given the conservative majority on the Supreme Court, it's not likely that a fully Democratic Congress would overpower the Republican-led branches over the next two years, according to Republican state Rep. Scott Barger.

Trump and the high court would be a pretty big counter-weight, he said.

As for how Trump responds to the loss of the Republican majorities in the House and Senate, it's hard to predict, Barger said.

"Without the mid-terms hanging over his head, he can do whatever he wants," Barger said.

"I have no idea where it goes," he said. "I'd be nervous if I were Iran," he said. "What does unfettered Trump look like when fettered Trump was not that fettered?"

He supported Trump "not because of the man, but because of the policies he promoted," Barger said.

"He was an America-first candidate," he said. "He appealed to a lot of us who were tired of wars around the world, while bridges were falling apart and vets are homeless and there's a mental health crisis."

If Trump gets away from foreign interventions and "gets back to that, I'll be very happy," he said.

Having attained majorities now in both chambers of Congress, Democrats are "going to have to do something, or we are back in harm's way in two years," Kelley said. "At the very least we need to rein in the president."

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.