November 7th, 2016 and November 7th, 2017 were almost complete opposites. On November 7th, democrats smugly watched their TV screens all over America, sure that their candidate, Hillary Clinton would win the election. Even Hillary already had a post-election celebration ready-champagne included. Even Trump, who has a huge ego thought that he would lose. The democrats were sure they would win-until they weren't. Many more states became too close to call then expected. In a race that many people thought Hillary would win, Trump started to pull ahead. And then Hillary supporters hearts' sank as it became clear that Trump was going to win the election. The next day was a hard one for many, filled with grief.

But on November 7th, 2017, hope followed hopelessness for the democratic party. A CNN poll came out yesterday afternoon, citing new lows for support of the democratic party. With Republicans dominant in the House, Senate, and White House, many democrats had little hope for yesterdays elections. But in the elections that mattered, democrats beat the odds.

The most watched governor's race was probably the one in Virginia. The race was between democrat Ralph Northam and republican Ed Gillespie. Politicians thought that whoever won that race would have a better chance of winning the national elections in 2018. President Trump himself campaigned for Gillespie on twitter and former President Obama campaigned for Northam. In a campaign filled with mud-slinging, negative ads, and being watched like a hawk by every national politician, it was hard to predict who would win, although Virginia is a Republican state. But Ralph Northam won, and the democrats collectively sighed with relief. Northam's win could mean good things for 2018.

Another closely watched race, more for the candidates then for the seat, was also in Virginia. This one was for a seat in Virginia's House of Delegates. The two candidates couldn't be more different. The democrat, Danica Roem, is a young transgender woman who is a metal vocalist for a band. This was her first time running for public office. Her opponent, the republican Del Bob Marshall has held the seat since 1992, refused to debate Roem and sponsored a bill that would limit what bathroom transgender people could use earlier that year. In what was a surprise to many, Roem won the election and is now the first openly transgender person to be elected to a state legislature. This isn't just a win for democrats, it's a win for transgender people all over.

Those were the two most watched races of election day but there were many more. For example, the democrats took New Jersey back from republican Governor Chris Christie by electing Phil Murphy for governor. The democrats won seats all over the country, in seats both big and small. The democrats can now be more hopeful for 2018.