The Biggest Idiots of the 2022 Midterms

Let's enjoy how bad the night went for these people.

Photo: Phelan M. Ebenhack for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Wha…what was that?

Yet again, the mainstream narrative about American politics has crumbled in the face of reality. The pundits predicted a red wave in the 2022 midterm elections, but Tuesday night’s water level had more in common with that last drop that you squeeze out of your sponge. Voters were tipped to flock to the GOP on a wave of hysteria about crime and inflation, but Republicans might escape with just the barest of House majorities, and there’s a very real shot that the Senate stays in Democratic hands. Abortion wasn’t supposed to play a major role in the midterms, but then it did.

There’s a ton of very important stuff that is still unclear. Republicans appear on the verge of a narrow House victory, but that’s not totally certain. Depending on what happens in Nevada—which is waiting for over 100,000 mail-in votes to be counted—control of the Senate could, once again, be decided by a runoff in Georgia featuring Raphael Warnock. Republicans could conceivably recapture both chambers. Or only one. Or, in some crazy universe, none!

What is clear, though, is that a lot of expectations were upended on Tuesday night, and a lot of people have egg on their faces on Wednesday morning. Here is a handy guide to the people you can point and laugh at—or, in a couple of cases, curse—the loudest today.