Zoe Berg, Senior Photographer

This year, dozens of Yalies vied for seats across federal, state and local levels in a competitive midterm elections season. 

This year’s midterm elections — which came during an atmosphere of stringent partisanship, false claims of election insecurity and the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election  — saw gains for both Democrats and Republicans. While Yale does not involve itself in midterm elections, its affiliates traditionally donate to Democratic candidates and alumni often become political celebrities. As of today, over 500 Yale alumni have been elected to Congressional positions.

“I’m feeling quite hopeful after the results of this year’s midterm election,” Kyle Mayer ’23, who serves as president of Yale Democrats, told the News.

In gains for Yale graduates, Seth Magaziner SOM ’10 won Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District and will succeed the retiring James Langevin D-R.I. in the House of Representatives. Across the aisle, Hillbilly-Elegy author J.D. Vance LAW ’13 won a closely-watched race for one of Ohio’s Senate seats. Vance’s co-senator, Sherrod Brown ’74 D-OH, is another Yale alum but is not up for reelection until 2024. 

Outside of Congress, other Yalies also vied for prominent state positions, including governorships. Connecticut’s own Ned Lamont ’80 D-CT was re-elected as governor, while Stacey Abrams LAW ’99 lost a second match-up for governor of Georgia to incumbent Brian Kemp. Josh Kaul ’03 won re-election to the Wisconsin attorney general’s office, protecting his ongoing lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s abortion ban.

Ron DeSantis ’01 R-FL won his reelection campaign as governor of Florida by a landslide over another former governor, Charlie Crist. He won by almost a 20-point margin, carrying Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, which traditionally vote for Democrats. His victory has pushed him to the spotlight as a top Republican contender for the 2024 presidential primary.

Political science professor Steven Smith told the News that he thought it was a “good night” for DeSantis, who “has to be seen now” as the Republican front-runner, and a “bad night” for former president Donald Trump, who has already “begun to snipe” at DeSantis. On Tuesday, Trump told reporters that DeSantis should not consider entering the presidential race, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Hassaan Qadir ’25, who serves as chief whip of the Party of the Right, told the News that this election has offered insight into Trump’s chances in the next presidential election.

“I hope the GOP uses this election to learn that clinging to a man who couldn’t even beat Joseph R. Biden is a losing strategy in every sense of the word,” Qadir wrote in an email to the News.

Mayer told the News that he was optimistic that the Democratic party was “well-postured” to retain control of the Senate and “cede very little ground” in the House.

“Despite poor economic headwinds, voters largely refused to elect the Republican alternative,” Mayer wrote in an email to the News. “Though we’re only beginning to digest what happened, it would seem that the party’s reckless embrace of election falsehoods and failure to stand up qualified candidates has finally caught up to it. Democrats defied expectations because democracy was on the ballot, and I have a feeling that voters knew it.” 

For Katie Porter ’96 D-CA, it might be weeks before she knows if California’s 47th will send her back to Congress. 

Porter, an incumbent, faced a tough challenge from Scott Baugh. As of Thursday evening, the Associated Press had not yet called the race — with the Los Angeles Times estimating that the process of counting mail-in ballots could take weeks. 

The Porter campaign did not respond to a request for comment. On her campaign Twitter account, Porter noted that when she first ran in 2018, it took 11 days for the race between her and Republican Mimi Walters to be called.

“I’m proud our state makes it easy for people to make their voices heard via the mail,” she Tweeted, “even though that means it can sometimes take a few days to declare a winner!”

Dan Goldman ’98 D–NY — a former Sports editor for the News — did not have to wait long on election night to declare victory. Goldman won New York’s 10th Congressional District, which covers downtown Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, by more than 65 points, and will be a freshman congressman come January. 

While Goldman was elected to his first term, Eleanor Holmes Norton GRD ’63, LAW ’64 D–DC, was chosen by the voters of the nation’s capitol to serve a 17th consecutive term as D.C.’s congressional delegate. The former civil rights leader does not have voting power in Congress, but can introduce bills and sit on committees. 

Michael Bennet LAW ’93 D–CO, the senior senator from Colorado, also won re-election on Tuesday, winning by a larger than expected margin of 12 percent. Bennet is poised to become Colorado’s longest serving senator since the advent of the direct election of senators.

As some Yalies are set to enter federal and state positions, others are on their way out. 

Ben Sasse GRD ’04 R-NE was officially approved as the University of Florida’s next president on Wednesday. Sasse, whose term was set to run through 2026, will step down from the Senate in January of 2023 and start the new job in February. The Nebraska governor will then tap a successor to fill the vacancy until 2024. 

In local government, Hoan Huynh ’12 won a seat in the Illinois legislature, and Sue AnderBois SOM ’13 was elected to the Providence City Council.

Newly-elected members of Congress will take office on Jan. 3, 2023.