CSB+SJU vote in midterm elections

The 2026 midterm elections took place on Tuesday, Nov. 4, resulting in a change in national and statewide politics. There was a “blue wave” with Democrat wins in Minnesota, and throughout the nation as well. Six seats were flipped in the U.S. Senate and ten seats in the House of Representatives.

Students of St. Ben’s and St. John’s had the opportunity to vote and make their voice heard at polling locations on each campus. The Heritage Center in St. Joseph and the St. Joseph Government Center were open for student voters at CSB, and the Great Hall on the St. John’s campus. This election had a high turnout of younger voters, including college students. Some CSB+SJU students expressed how they feel it is important to exercise one’s right to vote.

“I think [voting is] really important, and a lot of times we forget that people fought for voting rights, and I think we shouldn’t take it for granted because it’s also what our country’s built on, and it’s what a democracy looks like,” Cece Kram, a communications major and CSB first-year, said.

Amy Klobuchar (D) won the race against Lisa Demuth (R), becoming the first female governor of Minnesota. Peggy Flanagan (D) defeated Michele Tafoya (R) in the race for the open seat for the U.S. Senate. Aric Putnam (D), a CSB+SJU communication professor, won the state Senate seat for District 14 against Bernie Perryman (R).

Nationwide, many positions were won over by members of the Democrat party, with several seats being flipped in states including Iowa, Kansas, Texas, Georgia and South Carolina.

This election consisted of several established Democrat candidates, such as Klobuchar, who entered the race with long-term experience in law, local government, national legislation and executive leadership.

In her campaign, she addressed the fraud that has she feels Minnesotans have been facing and spoke openly about many of her policies.

In addition to Klobuchar, there were several Democrat wins nationwide. Most notably among these, Gina Hinojosa (D) was elected as the first female Latin American governor in Texas, and Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia as the first Black woman to be elected governor in the United States.

Political science professor, Jay Steinmetz, shared his insight on how results could affect national policies.

“A divided government can be just as productive as unified government. In fact, even a little bit more so… I think we’re just going to see a lot of gridlock… They’re going to kind of play the public facing game, the going public model of politics is that you appeal to the public… and you try to win over the public sentiment while battling whoever your political opponents are,” Steinmetz said.

Steinmetz also explained why he thinks these party changes happened, highlighting high mobilization for the Democrat party and low mobilization for the Republican party.

“Not every election is actually about the issues… Most elections are about personality, about identity, about culture… It’s deeper than that. It’s more about identity… I think that this midterm was really, distinctively, uniquely, in some respects, about real sharp policy and consequences,” Steinmetz said.

For Minnesota, the results of this election could lead to big policy changes. Klobuchar plans to deal with several challenges in Minnesota, such as the budget deficit, and lowering taxes. Some students aren’t sure she will be able to solve these problems.

“I think that fraud is a big issue in Minnesota that needs to be figured out. I don’t think that any one person has a correct course of action, and I believe that it will take cooperation among many elected officials. Looking at the recent history of those in power in Minnesota, I don’t have faith in the Democrat-controlled government to figure it out,” said Thomas Cass, political science major, SJU junior and Managing Editor for The Record.

Education was also on the ballot for this election cycle. Voters were asked to support or reject a constitutional amendment to increase funding to public schools without increasing property taxes in Minnesota.

Minnesota had one of the highest voter turnouts in this election.

Claire Bengston, a communications major and CSB first-year, spoke about finally being able to vote at 18, and how important it is to get the right idea about issues and understand all the information out there.

“We get shoved so much information. All of our lives are completely digital now, especially in our generation. I feel like it’s just super important for us to get the right ideas. We see a lot. We see too much. We see too little. We see fake news. So I feel like it’s really important for me to have that information and feel confident in what I can vote for and do,” Bengston said.