From Maine To Michigan To Texas, 'rise Of Real Economic Populism' Trounces Right-wing Billionaire Cash

It wasn't just a Democratic tsunami that swept the United States in Tuesday's midterm elections—it was also an "economic populist wave" that drowned out billionaire cash.

In states across the country, voters propelled to victory candidates who explicitly cast their campaigns as part of a movement to topple a corporate-dominated economic and political order that has allowed those at the top to accumulate unimaginable wealth—and pump massive sums of cash into elections—while the working class falls further behind, their paychecks swallowed by rising gas, grocery, housing, and healthcare prices.

"If you're watching this after getting home from a shift or sitting at the table wondering how you're going to pay your next bill, I want you to hear something very clearly: You are sending somebody to Washington who knows exactly what that feels like," Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger from northern Maine, said after defeating 30-year Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins and the billionaires financing her campaign.

Jackson's focus on the nation's affordability crisis and his support for bold solutions such as Medicare for All resembled Abdul El-Sayed's approach in the critical battleground state of Michigan, where he defeated former Rep. Mike Rogers with an unwavering focus on the costs of necessities—even as his opponents sought to smear him with bigoted attacks on his name and faith.

"Rather than try to unite us to contend with the crisis of gas or groceries, the opposition decided to try to divide us," said El-Sayed in his victory speech, mocking AIPAC and other billionaire-backed groups that spend millions against him. "We showed that in a battle between the money and the many, the many really can win."

Nationwide, the top 20 donors in the 2026 midterms—a list dominated by Elon Musk and other tech billionaires—spent around $2 billion trying to influence the midterm contests.

In Texas, where Musk spent most heavily, Democratic Sen.-elect James Talarico and Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa explicitly framed their campaigns in populist terms, with Talarico describing the fundamental struggle in the US as "not left versus right," but "top versus bottom."

Those messages helped Democrats end the GOP's three-decade stranglehold on Texas politics.

"We must get big money out of our politics so no billionaire or trillionaire can buy our elections," said Talarico. "We must unrig this economic system that only benefits the top 1%."

Hinojosa, who described her politics as "economic populism" in an interview shortly before Tuesday's elections, said after defeating Elon Musk-backed incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott that the contest was about whether Texas belongs "to the working families who pay their taxes and do every everything right" or "the wealthy and well-connected who play by different rules."

"Does Texas belong to the people who rise before the sun, who work two jobs, who build our homes, who keep our hospitals running, who put everything they've got into small businesses and big dreams?" Hinojosa asked. "Or does it belong to the people who write the biggest check to politicians in Austin. Tonight, Texas, we answered—and we did not whisper."

Lower-profile congressional races also saw underdog progressives succeed in the face of massive opposition spending. Will Lawrence, a cofounder of the Sunrise Movement, was on track to defeat incumbent Republican Rep. Tom Barrett in Michigan's 7th Congressional District—the most expensive US House race in the country.

Lawrence, who faced around $27 million in opposition spending as he campaigned on Medicare for All and a federal moratorium on new data center construction, said as results poured in Tuesday night that "we're on the verge of beating an incumbent Republican propped up by corporate money and Trump-aligned super PACs."

Even in races that progressives didn't win, the potency of their messaging and vision was clear.

Angie Nixon, a democratic socialist who campaigned on Medicare for All, universal childcare, and a billionaire wealth tax, came close to defeating billionaire-backed Republican Sen. Ashley Moody in Florida, despite receiving no support from the national Democratic Party.

"We may not have won this election, but that outcome will not stop us from getting up," Nixon said Tuesday night. "From getting up tomorrow to continue the fight to deliver what everyday hardworking Floridians need and deserve. They need a government that works for them and not the greedy corporations. I'm going to wake up tomorrow and keep fighting."

Sulma Arias, president of the advocacy group People’s Action Power, said in a statement Wednesday that "we still need to count every vote, but it’s clear that community organizing that took on greedy corporations resulted in working class people getting the goods."

"Voters are sick of being bullied by MAGA and the billionaires–and they’re tired of weak resistance by corporate-backed politicians. We backed candidates who would stand up for working class people, and voters responded by turning out for them in record numbers.”

Shaunna Thomas, cofounder of the Guardrails Alliance, which supports robust artificial intelligence regulations, wrote on social media that "econ populism won last night, full stop."

"The unholy alliance between Big Tech and Republicans created the conditions. Voters showed what happens when you pick the wrong side," Thomas wrote. "Dems have a mandate—be the party that finally made corps play by the rules and change the system."

Top Democrats have signaled that they plan to focus on affordability with the party's new majority, but their ability to enact legislation will be limited by President Donald Trump's veto power. Progressives are calling on Democrats to accomplish as much as possible while also pursuing an ambitious agenda to set the stage for 2028, when the party can take back the presidency.

"This newly empowered Democratic majority must put their rhetoric into action," said Lindsay Owens, president and CEO of Groundwork Action. "If the majority simply works to undo Trump's damage and goes back to business as usual, it will face the same electoral backlash that swept the Republican majority from power. Corporations have been picking our pockets for years. And only Congress has the power to put a stop to it."

"Democrats must bring the CEOs of Big Oil, Big Pharma, insurance giants, and AI companies before Congress and make them answer for the prices Americans are paying and the profits executives are pocketing," Owens added. "Voters have handed Democrats a mandate to take on corporate greed, bring down costs, and make billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share. Now Democrats must use it."