Latest / In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson / Midterm Election Results - TPR's In Focus - Nov. 6, 2026

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Midterm Election Results - TPR's In Focus - Nov. 6, 2026 · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

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  Support comes from the Rosa Parks Museum on Troy
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  University's Montgomery campus, located on the spot
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  of Mrs. Parks' historic 1955 arrest
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  and featuring exhibits that chronicle the history of the Montgomery
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  bus boycott. More information at troy.edu/rosaparks.
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  From Troy Public Radio, this is
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  the News Wrap, and I'm Carolyn Hutcheson. Todd Stacy,
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  host of Alabama Public Television's Capitol Journal,
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  analyzes the midterm election results and
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  the implications for Alabama. And the wild card is big,
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  scary, and cuddly.
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  Todd, welcome back to the News Wrap. Good to be with you. I want to
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  thank you, first of all, for joining Troy Public Radio on Election Day
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  during our In Focus program at the noon hour. Yeah, that was fun.
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  So give us your comments now about the post-election
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  results. Oh man, I mean, what an election.
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  Historic is kind of an understatement, especially when
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  you consider the national implication. Democrats are going to control
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  both chambers of Congress. You know, the House is going to have at
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  least 250 Democrats. That's a big majority. The Senate
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  is either have 55 or 56. 6 Democrats.
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  That's a big majority. And the entire country
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  just shifted away from Republicans towards
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  Democrats. Now, that doesn't mean every county went Democratic. This is
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  still a, a very Republican state, but they shifted from 2024.
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  Alabama statewide was able to withstand that
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  blue wave. Obviously, Tommy Tuberville won the governor's
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  office, but not by a lot. 51.7% of the vote.
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  That's the closest governor's race has been since 2002.
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  But the big news of the night for Alabama was Shamari Figures
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  being reelected even though that they redrew that district to favor Republicans.
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  That blue wave really did help him and was plenty to send him back
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  to Congress. I think that was the story of the day for Alabama.
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  So with the Democratic sweep of both houses of
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  Congress, what does this mean for our Republican
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  representatives in Congress? It's going to be a setback for them.
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  We've got Mike Rogers, who's chairman of the Armed Services Committee. He will no
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  longer be chairman. Robert Aderholt is a very senior appropriator.
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  He'll know how to work across the aisle to get things done, and it raises
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  the profile of Congresswoman Sewell and Congressman
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  Figures because they'll be in, in the majority.
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  I think Senator Britt has established herself as someone who can
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  get things done. Barry Moore has now won the seat formerly
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  held by Tuberville. I expect him to try to get on the Agriculture
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  and Armed Services Committees. It's just a lot different being
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  in the minority than the majority, and they're going to have a lot less influence.
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  It'll be harder to get things done. So who are the guests on Capitol
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  Journal coming up? Well, going to be joined by Steve Flowers,
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  political columnist, and he has a lot of thoughts about the election. So I'm looking
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  forward to having him on. I'm going to check in with our own Alex Engel.
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  She'll join me from Washington, and also my colleagues Jeff
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  Sanders and Randy Scott to get their takes on
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  the election. Well, Todd, do you think we need a wild card
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  right now? Well, I've got one. This comes from Bosnia,
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  but it's super odd and super sweet. There's a bear named Masa,
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  and his dad, if you will, is named Peter
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  Tubik. Peter Tubik was walking in the woods
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  and came across a bear cub that had been abandoned. This is back in 2019.
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  So I guess he took it home, fed it, kind of adopted it,
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  and now 7 years later, they're inseparable. They're best friends.
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  And this is a giant 330-pound bear, but he's
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  just like a teddy bear to this guy. And so I just thought it was
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  so sweet, you know. Bears seem all cuddly and we wish they were, but they
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  can be deadly. But here's a situation where they're actually cuddling. It's pretty sweet.
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  Todd, I want to thank you for your insight today from Capitol
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  Journal for the News Wrap. Absolutely. Joining us for
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  the News Wrap was Todd Stacy, host of Alabama
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  Public Television's Capitol Journal. More information can
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  be found at the aptv.org
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  website. Thanks for joining us for In Focus,
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  which is a podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
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  And feel free to get in touch by email at infocus@troy.edu.
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  I'm Carolyn Hutcheson, and this is listener-supported Troy
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  Public Radio.