U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says the influx of Democrats into Congress after the November 3 midterm elections marks a mandate for change, calling the incoming freshman class one of the biggest in nearly a century.
“I mean, it’s a tremendously exciting class,” the New York Democrat told USA Today in a video interview. “This is a historic moment for our country.”
Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate in a landslide not seen in decades. They flipped seven Senate seats held by Republicans in Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas. They also won five governorships from Republicans in Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, and Texas.
In the House, Democrats have won at least 254 seats, far more than the 218 needed for a majority, and have flipped 44 districts, according to a tally from Yahoo News on Monday. About 20 House races are yet to be called. The margin of the party’s victory in the national House popular vote, which is about 13 percentage points, is the biggest in any midterm election since 1974.
“This is one of the largest classes that we have seen,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Some people have been saying, depending on how many flips we have, since 1932 or 1934.”
These elections were held during the Great Depression. In the 1932 election, Franklin D. Roosevelt was swept into the presidency with huge majorities of Democrats in Congress, and those majorities were enlarged two years later.
“And what is so exciting about that is that this is a mandate for change,” she said. “And so I’m very, very excited to get to know so many people from across the country and what they want to bring and change.”
Ocasio-Cortez, a voice of the Democrats’ progressive wing, also mentioned the party’s priorities, such as expanded health care, which she hopes the new majorities will push through.
In the Senate, Democrats will hold at least 54 seats, with elections in Alaska and Mississippi yet to be decided. Five governorship flips give Democrats 29 governors, their first majority since 2011.
The new Congress will begin in January 2027 with Democrats controlling both houses for the last two years of President Donald Trump’s term. Now Democrats are preparing to organize the new House and Senate, appointing leaders and committee chairs.
