Voters Just Gave Congress An Assignment

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”
- Frederick Douglass

Millions of Americans were surprised when last week’s midterm results came in. The National Urban League movement was not. Like many other civic organizers, our affiliates, volunteers, and partners spent this election knocking on doors, staffing phone banks, and registering voters. 

What they heard was frustration with the cost of living, groceries, and gas prices; anxiety about the future; and a desire for change. They took those frustrations to the ballot box in races that flipped congressional seats across the country. 

And they showed up despite the obstacles. Gerrymandered maps and new voter suppression laws were designed to make this outcome harder to reach. The voters who got past them elected a class of leaders that includes Keisha Lance Bottoms, the nation’s first Black woman governor, and Scott Colom, the first Black man elected to the U.S. Senate from Mississippi since Reconstruction. Deb Haaland, Gina Hinojosa, David Crowley and Aaron Ford also made history in their states. I thank every volunteer, staff member and poll worker who made that possible.

Exit polls showed us what’s possible when our communities show up and choose our representation in spite of racially motivated gerrymandering and voter suppression laws designed to block us from the ballot box.
 
But history made on Election Night is not the measure of this moment; it’s what the new Congress does with it.

That looks like passing legislation to fund the disastrous cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP that take place next year to cover tax cuts for the wealthy in Trump’s Big Ugly Bill. It looks like reigning in executive-branch power and ending the war in Iran to keep our troops safe and gas prices low. It’s passing legislation for responsible development to increase housing and lower housing costs. It’s restoring grants to fund research that prepares America for the future. It's removing tariffs that have damaged consumers' pockets and shuttered small businesses. And it’s investing in our education system so that our children can reimagine the American dream on their own. 

We are committed to working with our affiliate movement to keep voters informed and advocating for real change on Capitol Hill through our Washington Bureau and platforms like our Affordability for All agenda. 

The voters did their part; now it’s time for Congress to do theirs.

 
 
 
                                                  ###
            44TBE 11/14/26 ▪ 117 W. 125th Street ▪ New York, NY 10027 ▪ (212) 558-5300

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naturbanleague 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NatUrbanLeague
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@naturbanleague
YouTube: http://bit.ly/YTSubNUL
Newsletter: http://bit.ly/SubscribeNUL
Website: https://www.nul.org