Commentary Culture Investigations

From the river to the sea. Blue tsunami reckoning.
Americans won’t be getting those $5,000 checks after all. The polls weren’t wrong. If anything, they understated the carnage awaiting Republicans on Tuesday.
As of midnight, Democrats were projected to comfortably retake control of the House and Senate. By the time all votes are counted, they could control 55 seats in the upper chamber.
“It’s worse than anyone thought,” one GOP strategist told Mark Halperin. Others described the results as follows: “Bloodbath.” “Cataclysmic.” “Massacre.” “This is f—ed.”
And so it was.
Republicans didn’t just lose a U.S. Senate seat in Texas to James Talarico, a baby-faced avatar of insufferable wokeness who can name his favorite drag queen in less time than it takes most men to remember their own birthdays. The three-term governor, Greg Abbott (R.), was defeated.
They lost Lindsey Graham’s old seat in South Carolina, a state Donald Trump carried three times by double digits. They lost in Iowa and Kansas, a state that hasn’t voted for a Democratic president since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.
So much for the concerns about Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) switching parties or becoming a nuisance to his fellow Democrats as the decisive 51st vote in a narrowly divided Senate. And, for that matter, the previously widespread Democratic fears that Trump would cancel the midterms or attempt to overturn the results.
“I am absolutely willing to accept those results,” Trump told the New York Times. “We’ll work with the Democrats, and we’ll, you know, look forward to working with them. We’ll probably work something out.” (Fact check: They probably won’t.) He followed up on Truth Social, writing: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”
In any event, the opposite happened. Most observers—including some Republicans eyeing a run in 2028—will view the outcome as a sweeping rebuke of Trump’s presidency. The post-Trump era of American politics has finally arrived. The lamest of ducks, floundering in the wreckage.
To put the results in historical context, the GOP’s midterm performance was roughly as calamitous as that of the Arab armies in the Six-Day War.
On a related note, Abdul El-Sayed was projected to win the Senate race in Michigan. A left-wing radical with extensive antisemitic affiliations, El-Sayed will become one of the shortest men to serve in the U.S. Senate since Israel’s founding in 1948. Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University activist who said Hamas “couldn’t avoid” the Oct. 7 massacre, was in Detroit to help him celebrate.
El-Sayed’s victory is sure to embolden the Democrat extremists eager to shape the party’s ideological trajectory heading into the 2028 primary. He was the only swing-state Senate candidate endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), a likely presidential candidate who preemptively touted her influence in a memo to allies.
“The Congresswoman has emerged as one of the most powerful endorsements in the United States,” the memo reads. “Over the course of the past two years, she has proven herself to be one of the most effective voices in the country for America’s working class.”
El-Sayed was also the only Democratic Senate candidate to campaign with Hasan Piker, the anti-American influencer who has praised Hamas, Mao Zedong, and Luigi Mangione. On his livestream Tuesday, Piker urged El-Sayed and other radical Democrats to “get back to work” and “immediately hard pivot [left] once the elections are over.”
As expected, several House candidates who campaigned with Piker easily won seats in deep-blue districts after defeating establishment-backed opponents in the primary. They will join a Democratic caucus projected to hold more than 250 seats—the largest House majority for either party since 1990.
Among them: New York’s Darializa Avila Chevalier, a Columbia graduate student who attended a pro-Hamas rally the day after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, and New Jersey’s Adam Hamawy, a Brazilian butt lift specialist who testified for the defense in the trial of the Muslim cleric who inspired the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
To the extent that American political parties can be said to win elections, rather than stand by as their opponents lose them, it was a great night for Democrats. Trump’s conciliatory overtures notwithstanding, their willingness to work with his administration is unlikely to extend beyond congressional subpoenas. They are just as unlikely to draw any useful lessons from their victory, which was largely driven by the same cost-of-living concerns that fueled Trump’s reelection two years earlier.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.), who is now in line for Speaker of the House—assuming he can get the votes—promised to deliver the “dramatic change that the American people are demanding.” We shall soon find out what that means.
George Santos, the former GOP congressman and federal inmate, told the Washington Free Beacon that Jeffries would have his hands full attempting to placate the incoming crop of left-wing radicals. “These people are crazy,” he said. “Israel bad, kill the Jews. I mean, there’s a lot of hyperbole in politics, but that’s what they actually believe.”
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Maine Democrat Troy Jackson defeated Republican incumbent senator Susan Collins after campaigning as a crusader against corporate interests and “high-priced lobbyists.” His victory could create opportunities for his son, who worked as a high-priced corporate lobbyist as Jackson led the Maine Senate.
Jackson led Collins by a 5-point margin when the race was called at 12:25 a.m.
Jackson campaigned on a far-left platform of Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, taxing billionaires and corporations, and putting an end to what he described as “the genocide in Gaza” by halting U.S. arms sales to Israel. While Jackson also argued in favor of overturning the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and told Mainers there were no billionaires funding his campaign, his campaign finance report revealed that there were, in fact, billionaires funding his campaign.
Jackson, the former president of the Maine Senate, entered the race under unusual circumstances. He was tapped as the Democratic nominee in July after Graham Platner, the Nazi-tattooed “oyster farmer,” withdrew from the race following a credible rape allegation.
Like Platner, Jackson ran against a “system” that he argued was rigged against “working Mainers.” But while Platner was a political novice, Jackson spent two decades in the state legislature in Maine, including six years as president of the Maine Senate. There, Jackson and his family became well acquainted with Maine’s political “system”: In 2022, Jackson’s son Chace joined a lobbying firm founded by Jackson’s former chief of staff and represented an array of corporate clients. Jackson introduced a number of bills benefiting those clients, including one that would have allowed a “predatory” lending company to sidestep Maine’s interest rate caps.
Jackson also followed Platner in emphasizing his purported working-class background. Platner presented himself as a blue-collar “oysterman” but attended an elite Connecticut boarding school that costs upwards of $75,000 a year and purchased his home thanks to a $200,000 loan from his father. Jackson, for his part, described himself as a “logger by trade” and for years claimed to own a “Logging and Forestry” business, though he actually used the company to accept tens of thousands of dollars in consulting fees from a Maryland-based union, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Platner’s demise ultimately stemmed from personal scandals, and Jackson’s closet proved cleaner than his predecessor’s. Jackson was scrutinized early in his brief campaign for his poor treatment of female colleagues and staffers in the Maine legislature, but the accusations never turned sexual in nature as they did with Platner, paving the way for Jackson to defeat Collins. The result marks the end of Collins’s three-decade Senate career.
Jackson’s son stopped lobbying when Jackson left the State Senate, though he could return to the profession with dad in Washington.
The post The Family Business Goes Federal: Troy Jackson Wins Maine Senate Race, Giving Lobbyist Son New Opportunity appeared first on .

Minnesota Democrat Peggy Flanagan held off former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya in a closely watched Senate race Tuesday, overcoming questions about her handling of multiple fraud scandals while serving as lieutenant governor in the administration of Governor Tim Walz.
Flanagan led Tafoya by a 10-point margin when the race was called at at 12:20 a.m.
She will become the first Native American woman to be elected to the Senate. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), who campaigned with Flanagan, claimed during her senatorial campaigns a decade ago to be of Cherokee heritage, but DNA tests showed she was at most 1/1,056th Cherokee ancestry.
The race proved uncomfortably close for Democrats, thanks largely to scrutiny of the Walz-Flanagan administration’s handling of the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal, in which state agencies doled out hundreds of millions of dollars to a network of Somali-American nonprofit groups as part of a federally funded food program for schoolchildren.
The groups stole at least $250 million by submitting falsified invoices for tens of thousands of meals that were never served. The scandal stoked scrutiny of Minnesota’s large Somali population, and sparked a Trump administration crackdown on potential visa and immigration fraud by sending thousands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to the state.
That proved a rallying cry for Democrats, especially in the wake of the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were shot during physical altercations with ICE agents conducting enforcement raids. Flanagan said after the shootings that ICE should be “ripped apart.”
Flanagan, whose administration has given $7.9 million in state funds to a group that provides “booty bumping” kits to allow addicts to take drugs through the rectum, has also gone to bat on the transgender rights issue, especially regarding so-called gender affirming care for children.
In 2023, she sported a controversial T-shirt adorned with a large hunting knife with “Protect Trans Kids” scrawled across the chest. The attire drew scrutiny after Robin Westman, a 23-year-old biological male, shot up the Church of the Annunciation in Minneapolis in August 2025.
The post Walz’s Wingwoman Peggy Flanagan Prevails in Minnesota Senate Race appeared first on .

MS NOW/SnapStream

Amid Democratic election wins in the midterm elections, there were two firsts with “historic” wins for Black candidates in both the GOP and Democratic Party, with Republican Byron Donalds becoming Florida’s first Black governor, and Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms becoming the first Black governor in the country’s history, leading to a celebratory MS NOW reaction. But the channel had a bit of a different tone for Donalds, as Symone Sanders Townsend noted noting the history but remarked “all kinfolk ain’t skinfolk.”Election night host and premier liberal opinion host Rachel Maddow reported the news of Donalds’ win just after 9 PM Eastern:We have a call to make, actually, and this is an important one in the Florida governor’s race. The Associated Press has projected a winner. The Associated Press has called this race. Florida governor’s race will be won by Republican Congressman Byron Donalds. He has defeated former Congressman David Jolly in the Florida Governor’s race. MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow did not note the historical nature of Byron Donalds being elected as Florida’s first black governor in her announcement of his victory… https://t.co/Nf66JhBuvz pic.twitter.com/LgICM0wFkA— Nick (@nspin310) November 4, 2026 She later remarked that “David Jolly kept it close,” but gave no initial mention to Donalds, who became Florida’s first black governor.Around five minutes later, Sanders Townsend joined in to first note the history: Can I also just note, I know this happened earlier and you said this, but we talk about the history that’s being made tonight. And to be clear, Byron Donalds is now the governor of Florida. It is a historic win. It is the first time Florida has elected a black governor. But then, turned to berate and insult Donalds’ “historic win” because of his policies were alike to current Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis: However, minutes after Maddow’s Donalds announcement, Symone Sanders noted the “historic win,” but then minimized him and said, “all kinfolk ain’t skinfolk.” https://t.co/jFX1oB6G2y pic.twitter.com/NKgRqwcoKQ— Nick (@nspin310) November 4, 2026 Will say, though, you know, as you say in my community, all kinfolk ain’t skinfolk. And whatI mean by that is Byron Donalds is making history, but he is going to continue the political direction that Ron DeSantis is going to continue in Florida.After Symone Sanders then praised Julianna Stratton, a Black Democrat, and said “History is being made all over this country tonight in crazy ways,” Maddow eventually noted the historic nature of Donalds’ win: “Yeah. And it’s being made both on the Republican side and the democratic side, which is an important thing.”Just 10 minutes later, Maddow gleefully joined in to project a Lance Bottoms win in Georgia:  MS NOW celebrates Keisha Lance Bottoms win in the Georgia governor’s race, noting she will be the first black female governor ever.Symone Sanders said her victory was about “Black people being under attack in this country politically,” and said Bottoms will be “the governor of… pic.twitter.com/ji9EDHIBgi— Nick (@nspin310) November 4, 2026 We have a big call. In the state of Georgia. We have a call in the governor’s race. This has just happened in the last three seconds. Associated Press has called this. Keisha Lance Bottoms, Democrat, will be the next governor of the state of Georgia. This is a flip in the Georgia governor’s race. She has defeated Republican Rick Jackson. The only person who said that this would happen, who I believe is someone Sanders Townsend, and I only half believed her, if we’re being honest. But Keisha Lance Bottoms, former mayor of Atlanta, an incredible political talent in Georgia, among so many incredibly talented Black women and Democratic politicians in Georgia. Keisha Lance Bottoms is now – has been called the winner in this Georgia governor’s race.In a completely different tone compared to her Donalds talk, Sanders Townsend invoked Stacey Abrams and emotionally celebrated Lance Bottoms’ victory, while claiming it happened amid “Black people being under attack in this country politically”:“And today, America has elected its first Black woman as governor in this country. Keisha Lance Bottoms made history tonight, but she didn’t run on making history, she ran on the issues. And I think that resonated with folks in the state. As I was texting and talking with people, they all kept saying Black voters all across this country right now, but specifically across the South, they understand the assignment. And earlier this year, we have been talking about, Rachel did a whole segment about it. I said, “This is what an ally look like,” about Black political power and Black people being under attack in this country politically.”In more celebration, she said, “It is no small thing that Keisha Lance Bottoms will be the governor of Georgia during the next presidential election. That is right. It is Keisha Lance Bottoms who will make sure that the election is certified for whoever the winner is. It is Keisha Lance Bottoms. It will be on the other side of the phone. If Donald Trump picks up the phone and calls. It is remarkable. Remarkable!”Sanders Townsend closed, “So whatever else happens tonight, this is a reminder that in America, the people have the power. And Georgia has a governor named Keisha. Give me a T-shirt.”The transcript is below. Click “expand”:MS NOW’s We The People: Election NightNovember 3, 20269:11:13 PM Eastern(…)RACHEL MADDOW: Okay we have a new – We have a call to make, actually, and this is an important one in the Florida governor’s race. The Associated Press has projected a winner. The Associated Press has called this race. Florida governor’s race will be won by Republican Congressman Byron Donalds. He has defeated former Congressman David Jolly in the Florida Governor’s race. This follows the call that we had earlier this hour, excuse me, from last hour, in the Florida senate race in which the Republican candidate for Florida Senate also defeated the democratic candidate for Florida Senate. But in both cases, in a state that Republicans have supposedly slammed the door on all Democratic chances, we see with 98% of the vote in, David Jolly kept it close. But Byron Donalds is the winner of the governor’s race in Florida.That’s fascinating stuff.(…)9:16:22 PM EasternSYMONE SANDERS TOWNSEND: Can I also just note, I know this happened earlier and you said this, but we talk about the history that’s being made tonight. And to be clear, Byron Donalds is now the governor of Florida. It is a historic win. It is the first time Florida has elected a black governor. I will say, though, you know, as you say in my community, all kinfolk ain’t skinfolk. And whatI mean by that is Byron Donalds is making history, but he is going to continue the political direction that Ron DeSantis is going to continue in Florida. And so he was on the Breakfast Club this morning, was being asked about all kinds of policies and whatnot. And he, you know, sounded similar to Ron DeSantis. And so I think it’s very interesting what voters decided to do in Florida today, but also in Illinois because of Juliana Stratton, the sixth black woman ever in the history of our country, in the 230-year history of the Senate, is going to the United States Senate. For the first time ever in our history, three black women will consecutively be serving at the same time. For the first time in our history in America, Illinois has simultaneously elected the first – Two women of color will lead the Senate delegation. History is being made all over this country tonight in crazy ways.MADDOW: Yeah. And it’s being made both on the Republican side and the democratic side, which is an important thing.(…)9:24:53 PM EasternMADDOW: We have a big call. In the state of Georgia. We have a call in the governor’s race. This has just happened in the last three seconds. Associated Press has called this. Keisha Lance Bottoms, Democrat, will be the next governor of the state of Georgia. This is a flip in the Georgia governor’s race. She has defeated Republican Rick Jackson. The only person who said that this would happen, who I believe is someone Sanders Townsend, and I only half believed her, if we’re being honest. But Keisha Lance Bottoms, former mayor of Atlanta, an incredible political talent in Georgia, among so many incredibly talented Black women, Democratic politicians in Georgia. Keisha Lance Bottoms is now – has been called the winner in this Georgia governor’s race. Before we understand exactly how that happened, Symone Sanders Townsend, I want you to tell us why you knew that was going to happen before it happened.SANDERS TOWNSEND: I mean, well, one, because I know Keisha Lance Bottoms, but two, because the people in Georgia have been organizing. And to be very clear, if we just take it all the way back to the new Georgia project, way back when, and Stacey Abrams when they in Georgia, Stacey Abrams set out and said, there are voters in Georgia to be organized. There are people who have yet to be touched. And if you just speak to them, if you just talk to them, if you just talk to voters about their power, they will participate. And cycle after cycle, we saw some gains and some moves. And today, America has elected its first black woman as governor in this country. Keisha Lance Bottoms made history tonight, but she didn’t run on making history, she ran on the issues. And I think that resonated with folks in the state. As I was texting and talking with people, they all kept saying Black voters all across this country right now, but specifically across the South, they understand the assignment. And earlier this year, we have been talking about, Rachel did a whole segment about it. I said, “This is what an ally look like,” about Black political power and Black people being under attack in this country politically.People, you saw that. We all see it. We talked about it. The voters across this country saw that and they are taking their power back. It is no small thing that Keisha Lance Bottoms will be the governor of Georgia during the next presidential election. That is right. It is Keisha Lance Bottoms who will make sure that the election is certified for whoever the winner is. It is Keisha Lance Bottoms. It will be on the other side of the phone. If Donald Trump picks up the phone and calls. It is remarkable. Remarkable. So whatever else happens tonight, this is a reminder that in America, the people have the power. And Georgia has a governor named Keisha. Give me a T-shirt.(…)

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ABC News, CNN

When Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) insisted in October that he had “zero interest in running for president,” nobody took him all that seriously — after all, that’s the standard line for any incumbent up for re-election in a must-win state. But even before the Senator had successfully defended his seat on election night, the news media were already so enamored with his campaign that they were already comparing him to Barack Obama. 
After his performance tonight, the media are all in on Jon Ossoff for 2028.In just the last few hours they’ve compared him to Barack Obama, practically declared on his behalf, and placed bets about how soon he’ll go back on his claim that he’s not interested. pic.twitter.com/G6VI4lrzGt— Bill D’Agostino (@Banned_Bill) November 4, 2026

After his performance tonight, the media are all in on Jon Ossoff for 2028.In just the last few hours they’ve compared him to Barack Obama, practically declared on his behalf, and placed bets about how soon he’ll go back on his claim that he’s not interested. pic.twitter.com/G6VI4lrzGt— Bill D’Agostino (@Banned_Bill) November 4, 2026

CNN’s live election coverage was abuzz with Osoff 2028 talk within minutes of the polls in Georgia closing. At 7:05 p.m. ET, CNN chief political analyst David Axelrod predicted:“There’s going to be a parade down to Atlanta after this to talk to Jon Ossoff, who said … during the campaign [that] he wasn’t going to run for president. There’s going to be a lot of interest in him because of the numbers that he’s putting up here in a state that wasn’t easy. He was considered vulnerable at the beginning of this cycle.”Political correspondent Kasie Hunt chimed in: “You know who else said they weren’t going to run for president when they were running for Senate, was Barack Obama.”She added: “The Ossoff for President campaign starts tonight, basically.”On ABC, anchor David Muir excitedly (and repeatedly) brought up the prospect of an Ossoff presidential run. Within ten minutes of the polls closing, and before even seeing any of the results coming out of Georgia, Muir was already asking ABC News Washington bureau chief Rick Klein for his thoughts on a 2028 run:“If you can, show us what you’ve got so far on the Jon Ossoff race. And I know he says he is not going to run for president… we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but we have heard that before.”The live election analysis on the other two major broadcast networks, CBS and NBC, also featured a healthy dose of Ossoff 2028 wishcasting. During the 9:00 p.m. ET hour, NBC News senior Washington correspondent remarked of Ossoff’s victory: “We’re keeping the focus on 2026, but there are real — and I’ve heard this from credible sources — 2028 implications here.”Both Jackson and the CNN panel were particularly excited that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms had won her seat as well, because, as Jackson explained: “If Senator Jon Ossoff decided to run for president in 2028, it would be a Democratic governor who’d pick his replacement.”Ossoff has been something of a media darling for months now, especially when it became clear he essentially had turned his Senate campaign into a referendum on President Trump. The freshman Senator won quite a few hearts in both New York and D.C. newsrooms by repeatedly referring to Trump as a “draft-dodging crook president.”But what the corporate media love even more than anti-Trump rhetoric is seeing Democrats win, and Ossoff is indisputably an effective campaigner. Whether that’s enough to secure him the 2028 nomination is anyone’s guess, but it certainly has been enough to win him the adoration of TV journalists.

Screenshot via ABC/Snapstream

On election night 2026, Disney-owned ABC News was just shy of suffering thrills up their legs in celebrating Georgia going blue across the ticket, celebrating it as “a new chapter in America history,” proof that “a barrier falls,” and a night “for the history books,” between Keisha Lance Bottoms winning the governorship and Jon Ossoff’s Senate reelection triggering “googly eyes” among the masses for a possible 2028 presidential bid.Just after 9:30 p.m. Eastern, Sunday World News Tonight anchor and ABC News Live host Linsey Davis gushed to weekday anchor David Muir that Lance Bottoms’s victory “really speaks to how long this took and at the same time, how far this country has come that you now have the first black female governor of any state in this country.”Davis could barely contain her open support for Lance Bottoms, calling the win “a barrier fall[ing]” in the Deep South that “really writes a new chapter in American history.”
WATCH: ABC’s Linsey Davis gushes over Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms winning the Georgia governor’s race as “a new chapter in American history” and proof we’ll remember tonight as an election “for the milestones” and “history books”…“It really speaks to how long this took and… pic.twitter.com/HdDTPn3kCt— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 4, 2026

WATCH: ABC’s Linsey Davis gushes over Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms winning the Georgia governor’s race as “a new chapter in American history” and proof we’ll remember tonight as an election “for the milestones” and “history books”…“It really speaks to how long this took and… pic.twitter.com/HdDTPn3kCt— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 4, 2026

“There are those election nights, David, that you remember for the margins and those for the milestones, and this is one certainly for the history books,” Davis added.The ABC News Live host also fawned over Lance Bottoms’s move to spend time on election eve at her great-great-grandmother’s grave:When I was in Georgia with her last month, I had the opportunity to ask her what this moment would mean if she became the first black female governor, and she said, for me, ‘it’s much more personal. My family goes back at least five generations in Georgia. For me, it speaks to the possibility of this state and this country only in America.’ She is a descendant of the enslaved on both sides, and one thing that I found that was really poignant was on election eve — so yesterday, she went and visited the gravestone of her great-great-grandmother who was born enslaved in this country, and now, generations later, she becomes the first black female governor of any state.Muir obviously agreed: “Yeah, it’s a remarkable story tonight. A milestone met in Georgia.”Atlanta-based correspondent Steve Osunsami spent much of the night grinning from ear to ear and openly giggling with excitement about his team’s victories.Osunsami swooned to Muir that “I don’t think it could be overstated what’s happening in Georgia tonight,” with Ossoff being “the vehicle who lifted the waters for all of these candidates, including Keisha Lance Bottoms.”
ABC’s Steve Osunsami can barely speak he’s so excited Georgia has gone full blue, giggly that people will now look at Jon Ossoff “with googly eyes about…running for president”…“I don’t think it could be overstated what’s happening in Georgia tonight. Jon Ossoff, who is… pic.twitter.com/d9NIFL2Nsl— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 4, 2026

ABC’s Steve Osunsami can barely speak he’s so excited Georgia has gone full blue, giggly that people will now look at Jon Ossoff “with googly eyes about…running for president”…“I don’t think it could be overstated what’s happening in Georgia tonight. Jon Ossoff, who is… pic.twitter.com/d9NIFL2Nsl— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 4, 2026

“I keep looking at my phone and refreshing the numbers, and I’m having trouble believing it…I have a prop that I have been saving for this moment. These are the fliers that have come to my home, and like 80 percent of them are from Rick Jackson. I have got very few of these from Keisha Lance Bottoms. He ran an incredible campaign, and she still won,” he continued.He then made the embarrassing boast of Ossoff that it’s left people with “googly eyes” about 2028 (click “expand”):OSUNSAMI: When you — when you look at what happened here and what’s happening in Georgia, we have Republicans now who control all levers of state government here who are telling me that this is now a blue state, and this is significant because, as we have been talking about, the man speaking directly behind me, lots of people are looking at him with googly eyes about possibly running for president in a couple of years. This is the first step. Keisha Lance Bottoms winning helps him with that. This is something I’ve never seen. It’s hard for me to even accept that this is a blue state, as people are saying, but that appears to be what is happening tonight in Georgia.MUIR: So, let’s ask you about that. In addition to the history made by Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta. Of course, people remember her. She had a role in the Biden administration. She was also in Atlanta during the time of Covid. People got to know her around the country as a national figure through all of that. She makes history tonight. Jon Ossoff, who repeatedly, Steve said on the trail, I have no interest in running for president. We’ve heard that from candidates before who then had a significant victory, and then it propels them to the national stage. And, of course, I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but at the same time, you have to state the obvious here, that he is a name that has been widely talked about this campaign cycle. Not only, and that was before the victory tonight. This is a sizable victory for really both of these candidates. Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms. But when it comes to Jon Ossoff, people are immediately going to say, a Democrat from the South, a sizable victory, and they’re going to look to his campaign he stayed on message. He was not afraid to take on the current president and talked what he thought about the issues that were important to the people, the economy, gas prices, the health care. But also, one of the first candidates to really make corruption, as he saw it, a significant issue for his campaign and people are going to ask, is he going to quietly be considering a run for president?OSUNAMI: So, I have asked people that tonight, I’ve asked his people directly — I keep asking and the response I keep getting is that Jon Ossoff is going to remain senator, that he’s going to do that job. And then I follow that with, you know, we’ve heard that before. You know, have to sort of look at the conditions and look at what’s happening. And sort of believe that that’s a real possibility, and they have to be thinking about that. There is also a second senator who is here tonight, Senator Warnock, who is also being talked about as potentially a candidate in a couple of years for president. So, that conversation is only going to get louder and louder and louder because it will be fair to say that he, Jon Ossoff, who again, who is speaking right now, led what many people see right now as a blue, and I hate to say wave, but wave in Georgia.MUIR: Steve Osunsami witnessing what is a significant night in the state of Georgia.Throughout the night leading up to that live shot, Osunsami was already bursting at the seams.At 6:07 p.m. Eastern, Osunsami smiled at the “momentous” possibility Lance Bottoms would win the governorship even though she faced “criticisms for how she ran” Atlanta during the Black Lives Matter riots:
ABC’s Steve Osunsami gushes over the possibility of Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms winning the governor’s race…”If she wins tonight…she would become the first black woman governor in the history of these United States, and she would be the first democratic governor in the… pic.twitter.com/F969HXN8O4— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 3, 2026

ABC’s Steve Osunsami gushes over the possibility of Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms winning the governor’s race…”If she wins tonight…she would become the first black woman governor in the history of these United States, and she would be the first democratic governor in the… pic.twitter.com/F969HXN8O4— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 3, 2026

Fast-forward to 7:50 p.m. Eastern, Osunsami openly chuckled his way through his report as though he were on a roller coaster or watching a funny movie:
ABC’s Steve Osunsami is literally giggly over Democrats sweeping the gubernatorial and Senate races in Georgia pic.twitter.com/g22usiiWSG— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 4, 2026

ABC’s Steve Osunsami is literally giggly over Democrats sweeping the gubernatorial and Senate races in Georgia pic.twitter.com/g22usiiWSG— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 4, 2026

Osunsami resurfaced at the bottom of the following hour and, when asked to describe “the vibe of the room” at the Georgia Democratic election night party, he proclaimed: “The vibe is ecstatic; the vibe is cautiously optimistic for the other candidates. You know, I’ve got to tell you, they have been cheering all night here.”
ABC’s Steve Osunsami resurfaced back at 825pm Eastern.She’s still grinning from ear to ear over Democrats in Georgia pic.twitter.com/lLzmvjXUgw— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 4, 2026

ABC’s Steve Osunsami resurfaced back at 825pm Eastern.She’s still grinning from ear to ear over Democrats in Georgia pic.twitter.com/lLzmvjXUgw— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 4, 2026

To see the relevant ABC transcript from November 3, click here.