https://progressiveindiana.net
SUMMARY:
The day after Election Day, Rev. Tony Alexander and Pastor David W. Greene recap the midterms and what the end of the Republican supermajority in Indiana means. Both hosts call the results a blue wave but say voters were reacting to the war, tariffs, gas prices, health care cuts, and school referendums more than to anything Democrats did. Prosecutor Ryan Mears told Greene earlier in the day that the win was “gift wrapped,” and both hosts argue Democrats must communicate clearly and quickly, especially with the gas tax suspension ending and the legislative session ahead, or Republicans will pin the fallout on them. Alexander credits Indivisible and the No Kings protests for the energy, and the hosts play Secretary of State-elect Beau Bayh’s victory speech. Callers Guy, Joyce, and Imhotep weigh in on Republican messaging, Texas and Georgia, and the voters who carried the wins. Greene contrasts the organizing behind victories in Georgia and Texas with the work still needed in Indiana, where the Black Democratic treasurer candidate lost while the other two statewide candidates won. The hosts close by pressing Democratic legislators to arrive in January with proposals and to inform the community about bills like the judges’ and bail measures before they become law.
WHAT’S INSIDE
00:00:00 — Welcome & opening prayer
- Alexander opens by noting Indiana’s Republican supermajority is no more and asks whether Democrats will rise to the occasion
- Says the show will recap the midterms and what is still unfolding after Election Day
- Greene leads a prayer thanking God for new grace and mercy and for current and future leaders
00:02:17 — A blue wave across the country and in Indiana
- Alexander says he was surprised by the number of Indiana Democrats who won state-level seats long held by Republicans
- Greene says he wasn’t surprised: the war, tariffs, higher gas prices, lost rural hospitals, and Medicaid cuts made this the moment for a wave
- Says voters backed school referendums while expecting property tax relief, then turned out the officials in charge
- Says almost everyone connected to Indianapolis Republicans took a loss, naming Speaker Todd Huston among them
00:04:15 — Frustration across the whole electorate
- Greene says voters of every background were suffering and sent a clear message, and he is pleased Indiana experienced it
- Says he saw many Latino voters, and he thinks some who backed Donald Trump last time changed course
- Says Black voters decided not to sit on the sidelines and got engaged
- Says independents and many Republicans also decided enough was enough
00:05:23 — Alexander: messaging and communication
- Asks how Democrats won now when they couldn’t before, and points primarily to messaging
- Says Democrats must be clear about whatever agenda, changes, or investigations they pursue
- Credits Indivisible and the No Kings protests, rather than Democratic leadership, for galvanizing people
- Says Democrats need similar strategy in 2027 to counter a Republican media machine that is always on message
00:07:41 — A “gift-wrapped” win, and the gas tax
- Greene says Prosecutor Mears told him earlier in the day that the election was not won on the candidates or party messaging
- Says Senate Bill 1 (2025) and the property tax changes created the need for all the school referendums
- Calls the result community-led, not party-led, and says frustration will turn on Democrats if they don’t communicate
- Says the governor’s gas tax break runs to December 4, after which gas could jump 60 cents, and Democrats will be blamed unless they explain it
- Says Trump will blame the new Congress and Senate for anything bad, whether or not it is true
00:11:19 — The “big, ugly bill,” public questions, and plain talk
- Alexander: much of the last year’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” doesn’t take effect until next year or later, and provisions like no taxes on tips expire in 2028
- Says people who enjoy those benefits for two years will blame Democrats when they disappear
- Says Democrats are “horrible on message,” pointing to two public questions that changed the state Constitution and give judges more authority [Note: Public Question 2 covers only city and town court judges (misdemeanor, traffic, and ordinance cases) and lets them live in the court’s county or the closest bordering county.]
- Wants someone to walk alongside Speaker Jeffries to explain legislation in plain terms to people in the community
00:13:55 — Greene: communicate or lose it in two years
- Greene says President Trump won’t agree to Democratic legislation, but efforts to restore pieces of Obamacare or address Medicaid must be communicated to rural Hoosiers
- Says Democrats should put Republicans on record so that in 2028 voters can say who voted what, naming Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and J.D. Vance
- Says Trump muddies the record, and people want leaders who fight and lobby for their opportunities
- Warns against returning to the “old model” that allowed Trump to win
- Says Speaker Jeffries has a diverse group to lead, and at the state level the real work begins in January, when officials can’t coast on titles
00:17:30 — Alexander: Trump’s pattern of blame
- Says a supermajority is not a majority, so leverage cuts both ways
- Points to Trump blaming Ukraine for the Russia war and asks what he is getting ready to do next
- Says Trump flips the story so people doubt what they see, then sends the show to break with callers standing by.
00:18:49 — Beau Bayh’s victory speech
- Alexander recaps election night and plays a clip from Secretary of State-elect Beau Bayh
- Bayh says Hoosiers voted for change after being taken for granted by insiders, and that services for seniors and children were cut
- Says he ran to fight the system, not answer to party bosses, big donors, or Statehouse insiders
- Pledges his first order of business is an independent audit of the office, with every finding made public
00:21:11 — Caller Guy: organization and the truth
- Guy agrees with the hosts on the need to educate people about what is happening
- Says Trump’s allies were organized and on point in their attacks, comparing their organization to the Nazis in Germany
- Thanks programs like this one and says Democrats were outmanned in communication, citing podcasts and Rush Limbaugh imitators
- Says a lie travels around the world before the truth gets its shoes tied, but the truth has finally arrived
00:23:43 — Caller Joyce
- Joyce says people have become desensitized and then distracted
- Says leaders should do what is right instead of fixating on nickels and dimes
- Says health care and education should be free off the top
00:25:21 — Caller Imhotep: a Democratic “Contract with America,” and lessons from Texas
- Imhotep agrees with the hosts’ assessment and recalls the Republicans’ “Contract with America,” which representatives were made to sign
- Proposes that voters in every state organize and send their representatives a list of what they want done
- Gives a shout-out to Texas and Georgia
- Says Texas flipped 25 state offices and wiped out its Supreme Court’s Republican control [Note: Democrats flipped the Texas House and picked up four Texas Supreme Court seats, but did not flip the court, which had been 9-0 Republican.]
- Says Harris County (Houston) banned no-knock warrants and is handling marijuana offenses like Mears
00:27:22 — Caller Imhotep: exit polls and the coalition
- Imhotep says he read the exit polls in the states with big victories
- Says Keisha Lance Bottoms did not win a majority of white men or white women, but that she won 66 to 67 percent of Latino voters
- Says Florida was lost by 0.9 percent and blames Cuban-American voters, for whom the socialism label has historical baggage
- Says the coalition that made the wins happen must make the demands, and that Democratic Socialists’ wins will keep Hakeem Jeffries in place
- Thanks young voters, noting those 30 and under showed up
00:28:58 — Alexander: Black and young voters; Texas redistricting
- Alexander thanks Imhotep and says Black voters and young people definitely came out
- After the break, says Imhotep’s point about changing Texas races is ironic and very telling
- Says Texas led the redistricting effort, offering to divide and crack districts to increase red seats, and it didn’t work
00:30:47 — Greene: Texas, Georgia, and Stacey Abrams
- Greene says the Texas redistricting effort blew up because people organized to blow it up
- Congratulates his colleague Pastor Freddie Haynes on his victory in Texas
- Hopes the parties learned redistricting doesn’t work and Indiana won’t revisit it
- Says Keisha Bottoms stands on the groundwork laid by Stacey Abrams and the organizations that did the work in those states
00:32:01 — Greene: Indiana’s statewide ticket
- Says Indiana has work to do before it can elect a woman of color as governor
- Notes the top of the Democratic ticket included Secretary of State, comptroller, and treasurer, and the treasurer candidate, who was Black, didn’t make it while the other two did
- Says Indiana isn’t where Georgia or Texas is, and he isn’t sure it would even get minority support
- Describes a “crabs in a barrel” mentality and calls it disappointing
00:33:03 — Historic wins elsewhere; organizing early
- Greene says Texas now has a Latina woman governor who beat Greg Abbott
- Notes a fellow pastor won in Kansas [Note: The Kansas pastor who won is Democrat Adam Hamilton, who defeated Sen. Roger Marshall in the U.S. Senate race, not the governor’s race.]
- Says Indiana must organize years ahead of an election, not a month or two out, with 2027 and 2028 in mind
- Says voter registration, participation, and education work built those wins and that Indiana won’t get “a gift” in 2028
00:34:51 — Alexander: don’t let this be “one and done”
- Says Democrats need to use the moment as a springboard so the country doesn’t return to MAGA
- Says he doesn’t think Indiana would have embraced a Stacey Abrams, pointing to Coumba Kebe’s loss in the treasurer’s race while the other two statewide candidates won
- Raises why Kamala Harris couldn’t get over the hump last cycle and says the strings are loosening, noting Angie Nixon came close in Florida and Georgia’s major seats are now held by Black women
- Says the administration told Black people, women, and non-Christians they didn’t belong, yet the midterms brought them back to the forefront
00:37:13 — Greene: a big tent and good candidates
- Greene calls the victory in Michigan key and says diversity is the party’s “big tent”
- Is happy that white women won races in Indiana and wants more at the local level
- Says it takes intentionality to put forward good candidates and then support them
- Says Bottoms will do a great job as governor and Stacey Abrams could have too
00:38:35 — Greene: economic fairness and the message
- Says America can’t be run by rich white men growing their income in the stock market while Medicaid and health care are cut
- Says the country wasn’t built on a few people benefiting
- Warns Democrats will be labeled for whatever goes wrong, like gas rising 60 cents, without a message that explains the governor’s role
- Says affordability and data centers need attention, and Democrats should say who is blocking what if a bill is shot down
00:40:05 — Alexander: what to do with the new leverage
- Notes Indiana Democrats can no longer blame a supermajority but still face a Republican majority in the legislative session
- Asks Greene how Democrats should use their new leverage in January
- Greene wants to see someone strategic leading and getting something done
- Says people elected Democrats to fight and make changes, and those people will come out again if they don’t see it
00:41:14 — Greene: show up in January with proposals
- Says the work started last night and the party and officials should meet with new Republican leaders and bring proposals
- Says there are “hills we’re willing to die on,” possibly Medicaid, and Democrats must tell the community who is holding things up
- Asks whether newly elected Democrats like Tiffany Stoner, who defeated Republican Becky Cash, will resist data centers or let them in
- Says people will watch both new and existing legislators, and business as usual won’t be accepted
00:43:23 — Judges’ and bail questions; closing
- Alexander wants legislators to message better about ballot questions, which were overlooked and confused many voters
- Greene says that while the hosts celebrate the blue wave, some outcomes won’t benefit the community, with bail among the biggest
- Says people will complain next year, and the answer will be “you voted for it”
- Both thank listeners and wish them a blessed week
