By now, you're probably tired of reading summaries that make fun of the highly vaunted "red wave." Instead, we've witnessed a red trickle, a red puddle, a red drip.
Except in Tennessee and Georgia, where gerrymandering, the supermajority GOP General Assembly and election denial attitudes remain entrenched.
In Tennessee, eight of our nine election denier contenders for Congress (all Republicans) floated along easily to victory.
Thankfully our state still has one congressional Democrat representing the Memphis area. The General Assembly had redrawn district boundaries after the 2020 census and sliced up Nashville like a pizza to make it impossible for long-time Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper to win re-election. He announced his retirement, and on Tuesday Republican election denier Andy Ogles took 55.8% of the vote to Democrat Heidi Campbell's 42.2%.
The Washington Post recently labeled 32 Republican candidates in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama as election deniers, even as they sought seats or re-election in the U.S. House, U.S. Senate or statewide offices. The label is based either on the candidates' own statements or their votes against the Electoral College count after the violence of Jan. 6, 2021. More than half of the Tri-States' 32 -- 19 -- were incumbents seeking re-election. And guess what? They won.
Locally, 3rd District U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, of Ooltewah, bested Chattanooga Democrat Meg Gorman by taking 68% of the vote, and Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-South Pittsburg, won 70.5% of the votes in his District 4 race. Just to our south, vocal election denier Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, of Rome, easily won re-election.
This is where we live.
In the Tennessee General Assembly's House District 26 race, Republican Greg Martin, currently serving on the Hamilton County Commission, garnered 63.8% of the votes over Democratic political newcomer Allison Gorman's 36%.
But let's be fair: In Hamilton County, a Democratic newcomer getting 36% of any vote is not shabby.
Plus, Meg Gorman grabbed 40% of Hamilton County votes against Fleischmann.
The signs are growing -- some of the red appears to be fading ever so slowly.
As we wait out the final vote counts to see if Georgia's Sen. Raphael Warnock will beat scandal-ridden Herschel Walker in a runoff next month, we can let it sink in that women and young people across the country saved democracy for at least a couple more years.
Think about it: At least for now, Republicans are not -- as they expected to be on The Day After -- in control of either the House or the Senate. And they certainly made no sweep. What's more, they were not able -- at least not on Nov. 8 -- to throw a single Democrat out of the United States Senate.
The red wave crashed against a blue wall. Let's keep building that blue wall.
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