Democrats who won key races in Tuesday’s midterm elections used their victory speeches to lay out an agenda that includes universal health care, sweeping changes to immigration enforcement and an end to costly foreign wars.
The promises came as the party celebrated a wave of wins that puts it on track to take control of Congress in January.
In Texas, Senator-elect James Talarico told supporters in Austin that health care would be a top priority after he defeated Republican Ken Paxton.
“We must pass universal health care so no one goes bankrupt just because they get sick,” Talarico said. He also called for ending foreign wars, which he blamed for rising prices and the deaths of American troops.
In Maine, Troy Jackson, a former logger who unseated longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins, made immigration enforcement a central theme.
“I will fight to abolish ICE,” Jackson said in his victory speech Tuesday night, adding that “we can build an immigration system that enforces our laws without abandoning our humanity.”
Collins conceded by phone. “It has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Maine in the United States Senate,” she said.
In Minnesota, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan won the open Senate seat over Republican Michele Tafoya, becoming the first Native American woman elected to the U.S. Senate. Flanagan had vowed earlier this year to “rip ICE apart and stop them from terrorizing our communities.”
In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers. “We all know my name and my faith aren’t the reason you can’t afford your gas or afford your groceries,” he told supporters in Detroit.
Republicans had warned throughout the campaign that a Democratic Congress would push the country sharply to the left. The new lawmakers will be sworn in on Jan. 3, when the party’s promises will face their first test in a divided Washington, with President Donald Trump still in the White House.