A mega-church pastor, a Paralympian, a Muslim professor: Meet the midterm giant-killers

A year ago, the idea that Democrats might seize control of the US Senate was laughable. Donald Trump was still riding high after winning both houses of Congress and the White House in 2024. His tech broligarchy was hurling money at Republican candidates, and the Democratic Party appeared rudderless.There was more. If the Democrats were to take the Senate they would not only need to hold all their own seats, they would have to wrestle four from Republicans, including two in states that Trump had won with double-digit leads.When it came, the win was not only emphatic; it was historic. The team that achieved it included a mega-church pastor, a Paralympian, a logger, a paediatrician, a Muslim professor of public health and, perhaps most famously, a Texan theologian and teacher prone to campaign homilies that meld piety with populism.James Talarico, TexasJames Talarico campaigned against inequality and for cheaper pharmaceuticals.APJames Talarico, a cherubic 37-year-old, was not born the last time Texas sent a Democrat senator to Washington. He studied education at Harvard and theological studies at a Presbyterian seminary before becoming a school teacher. In that role, he became incensed at inequality, and launched himself into state politics.Over seven years, he campaigned against inequality and for cheaper pharmaceuticals, and notably against a proposed law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in schools. Over eight years in state office, he built a reputation as a devout Christian campaigner against rising Christian nationalism, which he described in a 2023 sermon as, “the worship of power – social power, economic power, political power, in the name of Christ”.After his victory, New York Times commentator Ezra Klein said one of the most exciting elements of the election was the return of a religious left to American political life. In an earlier interview with Klein, Talarico said, “I really do believe that [politics] is the way that I can love my neighbour at scale”.“We just sent a message to every billionaire mega-donor, every trillionaire mega-donor, every corrupt defender of this broken political system in this state, in this country. Power belongs to the people,” he told supporters in a dig at Elon Musk, who spent more than $US300 million ($430 million) backing his opponent, the Trump-backed Ken Paxton.The significance of the win goes beyond the Democrats finding a voice to connect with American Christians, though. His victory, alongside that of Gina Hinojosa, who became the first Latina governor in Texas, suggests Democrats might now be competitive in deep-red Texas in presidential races, to its huge advantage.Dr Annie Andrews, South CarolinaAnnie Andrews was drawn to political activism by the Parkland high school shooting in 2018.AP Photo/Mic SmithAndrews, a professor of paediatric medicine, was drawn to political activism by the Parkland high school shooting in 2018, in which a young man shot 17 people dead. Reducing gun violence, she said, was directly related to her work as a paediatrician.She lost a 2022 bid for a House seat before deciding to run again after Trump’s appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who has spread misinformation on vaccines, as health secretary.Victory was unlikely as she was running against Lindsey Graham, who’d climbed to the top of the Republican Party’s DC establishment in a career spanning 31 years. After Graham died suddenly in July, Trump intervened to install Graham’s sister, Darline, to finish his term and run again.The move fractured the South Carolinian Republican Party, with seasoned local politicians furious that an untested outsider had been imposed upon them. As the warfare played out on the right, Andrews built her campaign machine and polished her performance. On the public stage, by comparison, Darline Graham appeared at times both unenthused and uninformed.Late efforts to save the race with cash injections failed, and with her victory Andrews effectively torched the Graham legacy, curtailing Trump’s influence over the politics of the South.Adam Hamilton, KansasHamilton was drawn to politics via his preaching. A fifth-generation Kansan, he graduated with a bachelor of arts in pastoral ministry from Oral Roberts University and a master of divinity from Southern Methodist University.In 1990, he and his wife, LaVon, founded the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, with just four people. Over three decades, it grew into the largest United Methodist congregation in the US, spanning multiple campuses, weekly services and up to 25,000 members.Adam Hamilton was drawn to politics via his preaching.AP Photo/Charlie RiedelIn 2013, Hamilton was invited to deliver the sermon at Barack Obama’s presidential inaugural national prayer service, where he said that for America to succeed, its leaders must present the nation with a unifying vision.“Lead us to be a compassionate people, to be concerned for the marginalised,” Hamilton said, addressing Obama. “Help us rediscover a vision for America that is so compelling and unites us … lead us as a nation to knock holes in the darkness.” After he came to believe the government was using its power to harm rather than help its people, Hamilton decided to run, rejecting the Republican Party he had supported all his life and opting not to run as an independent for fear of splitting the protest vote.He ran a pragmatic, centrist campaign on kitchen table issues – healthcare, cost of living, corruption – in a deeply Christian state that had not elected a Democratic senator in 94 years, the longest losing streak in American history.Josh Turek, Iowa“I’m US Senate nominee Josh Turek,” said Turek in a recent Facebook request for donations. “I was born with club feet, without a hip socket, scoliosis, massive back problems, and had my first surgery as a one-day-old. My wheelchair’s been my main ride for as long as I can remember.”Turek went on to twice represent his country as a Paralympian, but remained appalled by the inequities of the US health system that had so marked his life.Josh Turek twice represented his country as a Paralympian, but remained appalled by the inequities of the US health system.AP Photo/Ellen SchmidtHe was inspired to run by the passage of Trump’s only significant legislative achievement of the term, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act. When fully implemented, the package will strip about $US1 trillion ($1.4 trillion) from healthcare and a further $US1 trillion from welfare programs to fund tax cuts for high-income earners.Turek ran as what he called “a prairie populist”, sidestepping culture warfare, decrying polarisation and promising to fight for the welfare and assistance programs relied upon by rural families that the Trump administration is killing off.Abdul El-Sayed, MichiganThough Michigan is more a purple (swing) state than a blood-red Republican stronghold, few doubt the significance of Abdul El-Sayed’s victory there. El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, became the first Muslim elected to the US Senate after a bitter race where his defeated Democratic primary opponent Haley Stevens endorsed Republican challenger Mike Rogers in a last-minute twist. Call it a November surprise.A professor of epidemiology, a Rhodes Scholar and a public health director before entering politics, El-Sayed was comfortable with data and detail in his campaign, but capable of an upbeat, rhythmic delivery. One of his slogans, regularly delivered as a chant at rallies, “Money out of politics, money in your pocket, and Medicare for all,” won him comparisons with Obama, the towering rhetorical talent of the modern Democratic Party.Abdul El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, became the first Muslim elected to the US Senate after a bitter race.AP Photo/Julia Demaree NikhinsonWhen Trump launched a racist campaign against him, labelling him a “jihadist” and communist, El-Sayed stood by his heritage, beginning his victory speech on Wednesday night before a roaring crowd: “My name is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed.“As I was campaigning, some of you would come up and ask, ‘How come you don’t hit back? How come you don’t call them racist or hateful?’ They weren’t targeting me. They weren’t just attacking me. They were targeting and attacking you. They were targeting and attacking the very idea of America.”He ended with the words, “Tonight, we can turn that ‘Inshallah’ [God willing] into ‘Alhamdulillah’ [Praise be to God].” But El-Sayed was not above his own political digs, albeit generally more cunningly crafted ones. “I would relish a chance to debate Mr Trump,” he once told The New York Times, before taking aim at the soft white underbelly of Trump’s reported vanity. “My hair is real, and my hands are way bigger than his.”Even beyond the racist tone, El-Sayed’s campaign was controversial. He is a strident critic of the Israeli government and its prosecution of the war in Gaza. “We want our taxes spent here, for schools here, for healthcare here, for infrastructure here,” he said in his victory speech. “We don’t want our money sent to do apartheid, or genocide, or war.”His position prompted the non-partisan American Jewish Committee to condemn his candidacy, citing what it called “divisive zero-sum rhetoric, delegitimisation of political opponents, and demonisation of Israel and its supporters as morally corrupt”.Elsewhere, former logger Troy Jackson flipped Maine, toppling five-term Republican incumbent Susan Collins, while lawyer and former governor Roy Cooper became the first Democrat to win a Senate race in North Carolina since 2008. A teacher before moving into politics, former senator Sherrod Brown returned Ohio to Democrat hands two years after losing his re-election bid in the Buckeye State.Chuck Schumer, the backroom playerBehind these candidates was Chuck Schumer, the current Senate Minority leader, set to become Senate Majority leader. Schumer won his seat in 1998 and emerged as a master of the dark political arts of tactics and fundraising.Progressive forces in the Democratic Party have long viewed him as too establishment, too willing to compromise, too timid to take radical action to curb Republican power grabs. His tenure has been marked by calls for his resignation.Chuck Shumer, master of the dark political arts.APTuesday’s blue tsunami should quiet some of those critics.As Senate Minority leader, it was his job to select, or influence the selection of, key candidates, and then deploy funding to them and guide the party’s messaging. His echo can be heard in the Democratic Party’s calls for pragmatism and moderation, its targeting of living costs and attacks on political corruption.He did not always get his way in candidate selection, backing, for example, Stevens over El-Sayed. But once the candidates were locked in, Schumer reasserted discipline and reopened funding lines from the $US350 million war chest gathered by the Senate Majority Political Action Committee (PAC), to which he is aligned.Rebecca Katz, a veteran adviser who worked on progressive El-Sayed’s campaign told The Wall Street Journal that the ultimate co-operation between Schumer’s establishment and the progressive grassroots was a “shotgun marriage” where both sides “understood the assignment” of flipping the chamber.Senator Richard Blumenthal described him as the “principal architect” of the victory, the Journal reported.Schumer put the win down to listening.“We listened to the American people, what they wanted,” he said at a news conference in Washington. “We listened; they [Republicans] didn’t. And the American people reduced the red brick wall to a pile of bricks.” Read more on the US midterms:‘The reason is obvious’: Bloodletting begins over Republicans wipeoutClinton Fernandes: This is how the Republicans blew itShane Wright: A more unpredictable Trump is the economy’s worst nightmareDemocrats sweep US House, Senate: Historic win a rejection of TrumpGet a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.