Author: John Stonestreet
The 2026 midterm elections has brought one of the largest shifts of power in American political history. For those in need of a bright side, it was not the largest shift of power even for a mid-term election. Also, it can be said that, despite all the hysteria about the end of democracy, the system has held, elections occurred, and politicians were checked and balanced.
On one hand, there’s nothing more predictable in U.S. politics than a second term president suffering serious losses in a midterm election, especially in the House of Representatives. On the other hand, there are losses and then there’s this loss, which included the House, the Senate, and races for which even the most optimistic Democrats did not dare hope. And it’s not just that big gains were made by the Democratic party on Tuesday night, it’s where they happened—Kansas, Texas, South Carolina, and maybe even Mississippi.
Elections have consequences. In this case, there are consequences for both parties, including the winners. The Democratic party must now reckon with its growing radical element, which is saying something for a party that long ago enshrined abortion at all stages of pregnancy and for any reason. Among their elected ranks now are seven self-described socialists, two liberal Protestants with extreme views about God and sexuality, and a Muslim with a troubling history of both statements and relationships. Though this election is better understood as a repudiation of Republicans than an endorsement of the more radical Democrats, those radical elements are now firmly in place. And democrats will also have to deal with those in their ranks more committed to launching investigations into the Trump Administration than in governing.
In the end, for Republicans, the most likely consequence of this election will be the future of the courts. But Republicans are also now forced to address the elephant in the party, the President of the United States. The huge Tuesday losses make it virtually impossible for Trump to accomplish anything else on his agenda. Even more importantly, it is not clear what conservatism is about anymore. Though, on Tuesday night, Trump signaled a willingness to work across the aisle, it’s difficult to believe that either he or those across the aisle will do so. Perhaps more than anything else, Republicans must reckon with where American culture really is on many issues. For example, except in Idaho, Americans once again voted across the board to protect legal abortion.
And yet, despite the sharp leftward turn the country has taken, voters soundly rejected transgender ideology on the ballot. A hero of the 2026 election is Erin Lee of Protect Kids Colorado. On a ballot full of initiatives, most of them aimed at repudiating Colorado’s longstanding Tax Payer Bill of Rights, Erin and her team placed Propositions 133, 134, and 135, each aimed at protecting kids. These bills aimed at increasing jail time for child trafficking, protecting girls' sports, and banning irreversible sex-change surgeries for minors. They all seem poised to pass, though by slim margins. In the progressive state of Washington, a ballot initiative to protect girls sports also passed.
The various political aspects of Tuesday’s election will be debated for quite some time. From a worldview perspective, however, there are three sayings, proverbs that some consider to be clichés, that seem to have aged well.
First, politics is still mostly downstream from the rest of culture. Yes, politics is part of any culture and, at times, can even drive the rest of culture in a particular direction. A commonly cited example of this is the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was far ahead of many Americans and much of American culture on racial issues. However, exceptions to the rule do not disprove it. Most of the time, politics is a reflection of where a culture is. Far often, it is larger cultural values driving politics than it is politics driving cultural values. To intentionally misquote James Carville, “It’s the culture, stupid.” Political winds and political wins are fickle and temporary, especially if cultural work is not done to sustain them.
Second, as Chuck Colson often said, “Salvation will not arrive on Air Force One.” Presidents are consequential but not ultimate. Their influence can be significant but will always be temporary. Political wins do not, in and of themselves, secure a cultural future. Forgetting that is a short cut to compromising eternal truths and confusing priorities.
And finally, the apocalypse does not arrive on Air Force One, either. Too many have believed it had. Forgetting that is just as much a short cut to compromising eternal truths and confusing priorities. Perhaps even more so.
The results of Tuesday’s election are huge. It may be, as the story of this country unfolds, that the 2026 midterms will be remembered as a national pivot point. Perhaps they will even be recognized as a marker of civilizational decline.
Even if all of that is true, which is far from uncertain, what happened Tuesday night is neither cause for hope nor despair. The best thing for Christians to do is to double down on what is true. To recognize both the seriousness of this cultural moment, while never forgetting it is part of the larger redemption story defined by the work of Jesus Christ. The truest thing in all human history remains: Christ is risen from the dead. Our job is to join Him in His work of restoration.
And that’s what the Truth Rising project is all about. Learn more about Truth Rising: The Film and Truth Rising: The Study for churches and small groups at www.colsoncenter.org/study