{"id":7753,"date":"2026-11-06T23:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T23:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=7753"},"modified":"2026-11-06T23:18:07","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T23:18:07","slug":"the-2026-midterm-election-was-not-a-victory-lap-it-was-an-altar-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=7753","title":{"rendered":"The 2026 Midterm Election Was Not a Victory Lap. It Was an Altar Call."},"content":{"rendered":"

by Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I woke up Wednesday morning the way many Americans did: tired, hopeful and a little afraid to trust the hope.<\/p>\n

I am a pastor, so I met the morning the way I meet most things, with a prayer and a question. The prayer was gratitude. The question was harder: What does last night mean for a nation this divided, and what does it ask of people of faith?<\/p>\n

Start with the gratitude. In Georgia, voters elected Keisha Lance Bottoms, the first Black woman ever elected governor of an American state, 250 years into our story. In New Mexico, Deb Haaland became the first Native American woman elected governor. Abdul El-Sayed will be the first Muslim to serve in the U.S. Senate. Ohio elected its first woman governor, Amy Acton, after a campaign remembered as much for its mudslinging as its message. People who have long been told to wait at the edge of the room were invited to the head of the table.<\/p>\n