Swing voters Theresa of Pennsylvania, Jason of North Carolina and Gerald of Georgia. All three voted in this year’s midterms and all three have mixed emotions about the results.
Tara Anand for NPR
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Tara Anand for NPR
Republicans received a resounding rebuke in last week’s midterm elections. But undecided voters, who could be decisive in the next election, are more interested in the results than investigations or impeachment, as Democrats prepare to take power in Congress.
“I hope we don’t have a lot of gridlock, a lot of whining and crying and just political infighting over the next couple of years,” said Theresa, a Pennsylvania voter who is on NPR’s Swing Shift Project. “I hope we don’t have this. I fear we do.”
NPR has agreed not to use the full names of Swing Shift voters, so they can speak freely about politics without fear of personal or professional repercussions.
Theresa voted for President Biden in 2020, President Trump in 2024, and split her ticket in this year’s midterms. Like many voters, his main issue this year was affordability. In a voice memo sent to NPR days after the midterms, Theresa said she very much wants the cost of living to go down.
“I just don’t remember it being this bad in our time,” Theresa said. “And I just hope that we get some relief and that we get some relief soon.”
At 9:56 p.m. on election night, Wally in Georgia pressed send on his voice memo. He had seen enough.
“I just checked in here with a quick note. I’m not surprised at all by the result tonight,” Wally said. “I think a lot of it is Trump and his reluctance with his political style and the way he governs.”
Wally voted for Trump in 2024, but switched back to Democrats in this year’s midterms. He initially supported Trump in the hope that a Trump presidency would shake up the political system, but that didn’t happen and he now says Trump’s second term has been exhausting. He said the Democrats’ decisive victories signal that the country is ready to move forward.
“Trump has been shooting himself in the foot for several months now,” Wally said. “But voting is not the end game here. We need to hold Democrats to some sort of tangible change and not just promises about what they want to do.”
For many Swing Shift voters, Tuesday’s results came as a surprise.
Jason of North Carolina split his ticket, voting for Democrat Roy Cooper in the Senate and the Republican incumbent in the House.
“This time my congressman got beat by someone no one has ever really heard of,” Jason said, sounding almost perplexed by the blue wave that has descended on North Carolina.
This has happened in many places. Jason wants the next Democratic Congress to focus on the cost of living and avoid impeachment.
“I worry that Democrats will spend the next two years not focusing on any of the things they claim Trump didn’t do,” Jason said.
Michelle, from Michigan, voted for President Biden in 2020, but chose Republicans in 2024 and again in the midterms this year.
“This is the first time since I started voting that none of the people I voted for won their election,” Michelle said.
Michelle says she understands why so many people voted for Democrats, even though they didn’t. Americans are tired, she said, of high gas prices, the cost of living and not being able to pay for groceries. They voted for change.
John, from Pennsylvania, said he felt like his state had gone from purple to blue overnight.
“I’m just very surprised,” John said. “I’m not surprised the Democrats had a good night, but they had a very Good night. Absolutely amazed that they won in Texas and places that looked really red. »
He voted for President Biden in 2020 and for President Trump in 2024. In recent midterms, he has remained on the Republican side despite concerns about the cost of living and the war with Iran.
Gerald in Georgia looked in disbelief at the list of states where Democrats won Senate elections.
“Come on man, Texas has gone blue,” Gerald said. “South Carolina went blue, Ohio, Kansas. It was a referendum of epic proportions.”
Gerald is a Biden-to-Trump voter from Georgia, who went all-in on MAGA. He is already envisioning a future without Trump at the head of the Republicans.
“The Donald Trump era, for all intents and purposes, is coming to an end in 2028, if not before that,” Gerald said.
But before that, Democrats will take power in Washington, at least in part.
Swing Shift voters repeatedly said, when asked about their hopes and fears following these midterm elections, that they hoped the new Democratic Congress would focus on issues that impact their daily lives, but were more afraid of the same broken politics.
“I will choose to hope because that’s all we can do is hope,” Michelle said. “I hope that the politicians who were elected will keep the promises they made and that real changes will be made.”
Even though John didn’t vote for Democrats this year, he still wants them to address the cost of living.
“Over the next couple of years, I hope they care and focus on the issue of affordability,” John said. “I hope they work with President Trump to try to bring prices down. I just hope it’s not two years of investigations and impeachment hearings.”
Anything Democrats pass in divided government would have to be signed by President Trump. The president has been inconsistent in recent days about whether he wants to cooperate or fight with the new Congress.
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