Although he didn’t win down in Texas (though it was close; if actual human Ted Cruz is capable of sweating, I’m sure he did last night), Beto O’Rourke is “So Fucking Proud Of You Guys”; and, honestly, so am I (and I don’t have to worry about sending control rooms scrambling for the beep button on live TV) ; not just because of the results, but turnout overall was pretty damned great all over, especially for a mid-term election. I hit my polling place around ten minutes to three yesterday, and stood in line for almost half an hour to get my ballot. When I fed it into the machine, I was voter #1482, which is an absolutely ridiculously high number, even when compared to a presidential year. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten that high a number, and that was pretty much the time I always vote (and I *always* vote).

I am also reasonably happy with my local results. My Senator (and America’s Dad) Tim Kaine cruised to a pretty solid victory over The Racist Corey Stewart™, my Representative in VA-04, Donald McEachin, won a second term (campaigning hard despite medical issues), though the big story around these parts was the win of friend-of-a-friend Abigail Spanberger knocking out Dave “women be all up in my grill” Brat across town in VA-07, which is a great story, and part of the larger story of women winning big in 2018, especially Democratic women, leading to the Democrats taking back the House of Representatives, which is good news overall, and will provide some much-needed balance to government.

Not all the results are in (I’m still keeping a close eye on Stacy Abrams for Georgia Governer, for example), though this morning, it still feels like a good day, in a year where there’s not been a whole lot to be optimistic about if you lean left-of-center.

You know what? I’ll take it.