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The Blue Wave wasn’t just about quantity — the number of new Democrats being sent to Washington. It’s also about quality: The upgrade the new arrivals represent over their predecessors.
In the Senate, these improvements have been widely celebrated. The corrupt, “concerned” Sen. Susan Collins has been ousted by the progressive former logger Troy Jackson in Maine. In Kansas, Sen. Roger Marshall, who sent some of his patients to jail over medical debts, was defeated by the church pastor Adam Hamilton. And in Mississippi, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith — who once praised a constituent by saying: “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row” — is losing to Scott Colom, who would become the state’s first Black senator since Reconstruction.
But in the House, where Democrats flipped dozens of seats, some of the choice ousters and upgrades have not gotten the attention they deserve. Consider the following 12 seats where the new arrival provides a quantum leap in quality over the incumbent.
Tennessee 04
Partisan Tilt: R+11
Ousted
Eight term incumbent Rep. Scott DesJarlais — a far right winger with skeletons in his closet who received a 92 percent rating from Heritage Action — lost in the biggest upset of the midterms. Tennessee redrew its districts in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Callais decision, seeking to dilute Black voting power and keep Democrats locked out of office; broadly, it was a successful gerrymander, but ultimately pulled too much of greater Nashville into the fourth district to survive a Blue Tsunami.
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Victoria Broderick is a mother of two who works in tech support and raised only $100,000 for her shoestring campaign. Spurred into politics after Roe was overturned, Broderick ran against DesJarlais in 2024 and got clobbered by 43 points. This time, she won Nashville area voters by a 3-to-1 margin, seizing victory. “They messed around,” she said of the GOP, “and they found out.”
Colorado 04
Partisan Tilt: R+9
Ousted
Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Christian nationalist with some less than holy ‘Beetlejuice’ baggage, was defeated in a battle for her eastern Colorado seat. Ironically, Boebert previously switched districts, seeking to avoid such competitive challenges.
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Boebert will be replaced by Eileen Laubacher, a retired admiral who served on Joe Biden’s National Security Council and is a sharp critic of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. A former Republican, Laubacher describes Trump’s GOP as “nearly unrecognizable.”
North Carolina 05
Partisan Tilt: R+9
Ousted?
In North Carolina’s fifth district, Virginia Foxx, 83, appears to be on the way out. (She’s losing narrowly, but the race may go to a recount.) Foxx has long been one of the most disagreeable figures in Congress. She infamously derided as “a hoax” the designation of Matthew Shepard’s killing as a hate crime. She’s declared she has “very little sympathy” for people with student debts, and is known to holler at reporters to “shut up.”
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Now in the lead is Chuck Hubbard, a journalist who spent 40 years reporting at his local newspaper and says he got into politics as a means to protect his daughter and other members of the LGBTQ community.
Indiana 05
Partisan Tilt: R+8
Ousted
Rep. Victoria Spartz is a make-believe maverick, who made a habit of backing down after head-faking opposition to Trump. Spartz was born in Ukraine but voted against military aid to that country. She initially said she wouldn’t run for reelection, but flip-flopped on that too.
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Spartz’s replacement is JD Ford, the son of a union truck driver who became the state’s first openly gay state senator, and is now going to be a Hoosier LGBTQ+ pioneer in Congress.
South Carolina 01
Partisan Tilt: R+6
Outgoing
After the noxious, rabidly anti-trans GOP culture warrior Nancy Mace was humiliated in her primary bid for governor of South Carolina, she also opted not to seek reelection to her House seat.
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The coastal district, which includes much of Charleston, will now be represented by Nancy Lacore, a former Navy admiral fired by Hegseth after more than three decades of loyal service. She blasts the DOD chief as “the most unqualified secretary that this nation has seen.”
Montana 01
Partisan Tilt: R+5
Outgoing
In Montana’s first district Rep. Ryan Zinke — an ethically compromised MAGA man who served as Trump’s Interior Secretary before pivoting to Congress — decided against defending his seat, citing health issues.
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As he watched Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts decimate the Forest Service in Montana, smokejumper Sam Forstag tried to contact Zinke’s office for help. Hearing nothing but “crickets,” Forstag decided to run for Zinke’s seat himself. Western Montana is now going to be represented by a Bernie Sanders-backed advocate for hourly workers who put affordability at the center of his campaign. (Watch Forstag’s interview with The Contrarian here.)
Ohio 07
Partisan Tilt: R+5
Ousted
Once a Trumpworld bigshot, Rep. Max Miller became better known as an alleged domestic abuser; his former stepfather, GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno called him unfit for office. (Miller denies the abuse allegations.) Voters in a district that stretches south of Cleveland gave Miller the boot.
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The representative-elect is Brian Poindexter, an ironworker who is part of the Democrats’ working-class wave. He has taken Miller’s seat, promising to take his paycheck-to-paycheck perspective to Washington D.C. (Watch Poindexter’s interview with The Contrarian here.)
Pennsylvania 10
Partisan Tilt: R+3
Ousted
Rep. Scott Perry is a Trump ally and vociferous election denier, who was publicly linked to the planning for Jan. 6, and even had his cell phone seized by the FBI. Perry is also a former chair of the House Freedom Caucus, an infamous obstructionist cabal of far-right hardliners. He recently defended the decision to go to war with Iran.
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The Harrisburg area will now be served by Janelle Stelson, a longtime local news anchor who ran against Perry in 2024, losing in a squeaker by about 5,000 votes. She opposes Trump’s tariffs, Medicaid cuts, and the latest Middle East war.
Wisconsin 03
Partisan Tilt: R+3
Ousted
A Trump-backed Navy SEAL, Derrick Van Orden lost a 2020 House election bid — then took part in the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 and was photographed near the Capitol. That didn’t stop him from winning office in 2022. He more recently had a scandal where he cursed at high-school aged Senate pages he accused of “defiling” the Capitol (by taking pictures of the Rodunda while lying on the ground).
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The new representative is Rebecca Cooke, who grew up on a dairy farm, though her family had to sell the cows amid industry consolidation. She has combined work in politics, nonprofits, and on the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation board, while also working as a waitress on the side.
New Jersey 02
Partisan Tilt: R+5
Ousted
Rep. Jeff Van Drew is a turncoat. He used to be a Blue Dog Democrat, but around the time of the first impeachment of Donald Trump in late 2019, he abruptly switched parties and announced his “undying” support for the MAGA president.
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The new congressman will be Zack Mullock, currently the mayor of the beach town of Cape May, who launched his long-shot campaign “on principle,” only to find himself pulling off one of the bigger upsets of 2026.
California 22
Partisan Tilt: D+1
Ousted
Rep. David Valadao has gotten the boot again from this swing district in California’s Central Valley. Hailing from the family of a bankrupt dairy business, which stiffed its workers, Valadao carried that same mojo into this stint in Congress, voting for the Medicaid cuts in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill — despite 62 percent of his constituents relying on that program.
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The new representative is Randy Villegas, a U.C. Santa Cruz educated professor of political science who has been a local school board trustee. Villegas was endorsed by Bernie Sanders and the late, great Dolores Huerta. (Read about the race in this Contrarian roundup.)
New York 17
Partisan Tilt: D+1
Ousted
Rep. Mike Lawler is dislikable for any number of reasons. He once wore blackface to dress as Michael Jackson (he claimed it was superfandom gone awry), got arrested for drunk driving, often used disreputable political tactics, had a senior citizen dragged from a town hall, and lived a limousine lifestyle on campaign funds.
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The Westchester County-centered district will now be represented by Cait Conley, a combat veteran with three bronze stars who also served as Director for Counterterrorism in the Biden White House, who ran for office as a “proud patriot” because she was convinced her constituents “deserve better.” (Watch her interview with The Contrarian’s Jen Rubin here.)
Tim Dickinson is the senior political editor for The Contrarian
It's uplifting to hear about the wins of these candidates - people of principle who aren't in it for themselves.