Amherst, N.Y. (WBEN) - Tuesday's general election blue wave that saw major victories by the Democratic party - both locally and nationally - score major political could be a harbinger for things to come.
That's the opinion of three University at Buffalo political science professors.
"The completeness of all the victories surprised me," said Dr. Jacob Neiheisel. "Texas going blue, that was a big surprise."
Texas Democrat State Rep. Gina Hinojosa's upset over incumbent Republican Greg Abbott was one of the major headline national political victories for the Democratic Party. Hinoposa will be Texas' first Democratic Party governor in 25 years.
Nationally, the Democrats won seven Senate seats and now have 258 members of Congress.
Come January, the Democratic Party will have the majority control of both the Senate and House of Representatives.
Besides Texas, Democrat-backed candidates won governor's races in Georgia, Nevada, Ohio and Iowa.
In New York, incumbent Kathy Hochul - a Western New York native - won re-election with nearly 60% of the vote.
The Bllue Wave was major factor in such local political upsets including Williamsville Village Trustee Steve Meyer beating incumbent Mickey Kearns in the Erie County Clerk's race
This will be a challenging time for local Republican Party leaders, Nieheisel said.
"The Republicans are going to have to thread the needle," Neiheisel said. "They are really in a hard place."
Conor Dowling said the Democratic Party game plan of letting locals run their own elections, based on local issues, was a sound strategy.
It plays into the all politics is local mantra.
"The Democrats appeared to let the local politics take hold," Downing said.
Manoj Mate agreed that was a sound national and local policy.
"You can't have a one size fits all in politics," Mate said.
And, with the 2028 presidential looming, Mate said the Democrats are in a good place because theu have a srong pool of potential candidates.
"Their bench has become quite deep," Mate said.
The short-term and long-term political impact has yet to be felt
The short-term and long-term political impact has yet to be felt
