‘Good day for Democracy’: Lula’s win in Brazil and Serbia ousting Vučić show strength of ‘people power’
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Oct. 26, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
“There is nothing inevitable about the far right,” said one former Obama administration official Sunday night as supporters of the left-wing Student List in Serbia poured into the streets of Belgrade and other cities across the Balkan country, celebrating their defeat of right-wing President Aleksandar Vučić, who has led the nation for nearly a decade and has been accused of corruption and autocratic rule.
The Student List’s victory coincided with that of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was also backed by a student-led movement that marched through Rio de Janeiro and other cities in recent weeks, as US President Donald Trump was accused of election interference on behalf of right-wing Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, Lula’s opponent.
Both countries reported high voter turnout in the pivotal elections, proving, as journalist Anne Applebaum said, “that voters can alter what feels like a historical shift.”
In years of genocidehope came from the youngIn Serbia2 yrs of youth-led protest -integrity, unity, perseverance- brought changeToday that hope is a rainbowits far end in BrazilMay it shinewherever wounds run deepand the young are fighting the oldHumanity will prevail pic.twitter.com/jKA6n4EmFR— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) October 26, 2026
In Serbia, Vučić said it was “clear that we have lost the election,” as results showed his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) had won about 105 seats while the Student List had won at least 135.
The Student List movement, officially registered by the Republic Electoral Commission as “Studentska lista—Studenti pobeđuju” (Student List—Students Win) began in November 2024 after the concrete
On the eve of the election, this is what the Senate battleground polling tells us
Two years after losing control of the Senate, Democrats enter Election Day ahead in enough races to win it back — if the polls are right.
After the party’s disastrous performance in 2024, the upper chamber had largely felt out of reach. Democrats bled four seats in the Senate that year, and they lost the White House while also falling short of winning the House by three seats. To take the Senate on Tuesday, Democrats have to flip some of the seats in Texas, Alaska, North Carolina, Iowa or Ohio. All of those states, except for North Carolina, voted for President Donald Trump by double digits in 2024.
Even with a difficult map, polls suggest Democrats are in a good place to flip the Senate, according to FiftyPlusOne, MS NOW’s polling data partner. In Georgia, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Michigan — seats the party needs to hold to control the chamber — Democrats are ahead in the polling averages by 6 to 10 points, all outside the margin of error, according to FiftyPlusOne.
In toss-ups Maine, Texas, Kansas and Ohio, FiftyPlusOne puts Democrats up by 5, 4, 4 and 3 points, respectively. They, too, sit out of the margin of error.
In Alaska, where former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola is attempting to unseat Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, FiftyPlusOne puts Peltola up by 2 points, although it is within the margin of error.
Iowa and South Carolina’s races are even. Only in Florida and Nebraska does FiftyPlusOne put Republicans ahead. Florida’s polling average is outside the margin of error, while Nebraska’s is within it.
Even with attempts to correct previous polling issues, there are still fears that
The one thing we know won’t happen on election day
It’s been 4,154 days since Donald Trump came down that golden escalator in 2015 to announce he was running to be president of the United States of America. Looking back, I think it’s safe to say that none of us fully understood then all that was coming our way.
After the 2016 election, we knew that the world as we knew it then was going to change, but I don’t think any of us knew how much. None of us grasped at the time how much of ourselves and our society we would lose over the next decade; if we had, I gotta believe we would have done more to avoid ending up where we’ve ended up now, but I could be wrong.
More than anything—as a journalist and media pundit, as TRNN’s editor-in-chief, but also just as a person in the world—these last 10 years have taught me the hard way to be extremely humble when it comes to making predictions about our political future.
From Trump 1.0 to Trump 2.0; from Covid-19 to January 6; from the war in Ukraine and the genocide in Gaza to the invasion of Venezuela; from the techno-fascists and (wannabe) trillionaire oligarchs taking everything over and shoving AI down our throats to the total, gangsterish dismantling of the administrative state and the rule of law in the USA; from ICE’s war of terror on the public to the US-Israeli war on Iran; anyone who tells you they saw all this coming is lying (to you and to themselves). And so is anyone who tells you they know exactly how things are going to shake out with
‘Too popular’: What Rubio’s campaign stops with Trump say about his 2028 ambitions
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had wanted to stay off the campaign trail, wary of the implications of appearing as the nation’s chief diplomat and the speculation his joining the fray would cause about his own presidential ambitions.
But President Donald Trump — fond of Rubio and the applause he gets from MAGA crowds — lured him to two campaign stops in the final midterm stretch last Tuesday and on Sunday evening.
Rubio seemed at ease speaking to the crowd in Salina, Kansas, on Sunday evening in what could be a dress rehearsal for 2028.
“People are loving this guy,” Trump said as he called his chief diplomat and national security adviser up to the stage “to say a quick hello.”
Rubio took a look out at the crowd gathered to support the re-election campaign of Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, and spoke for about 30 seconds, praising Trump’s security record and invoking his inner politician as he paused for applause and emphatically gestured out to the crowd to emphasize his message before departing back into the audience to a roar of applause.
“The most important job every president does is keep you and your family safe. And no president in my lifetime has done that better than the one we have right now,” Rubio said.
As the secretary of state walked off stage, Trump joked that Rubio “is getting too popular.”
Until last week, Rubio had refrained from showing up at political events mostly, declining requests from donors and his political network to engage.
But Trump had asked Rubio to come along last week on some of his appearances, two people familiar with Rubio’s thinking said. It was
Democrats fired up, MAGA unmotivated in key battleground district
Democrats are fired up. Some MAGA voters are questioning whether to show up. And in one of America’s most closely watched congressional battlegrounds, that divide could have enormous implications for the fight over control of the House.The Real News Network traveled to Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, home to the fiercely contested 7th Congressional District, to speak directly with voters about the issues, frustrations, and political ideas shaping their decisions for the 2026 midterm elections.From Allentown to Bethlehem, we talked with voters across the political spectrum about what motivates them to head to the polls and what might convince others to stay home.In a district where Republican incumbent Ryan Mackenzie faces Democratic challenger Bob Brooks, questions about economic inequality, the cost of living, war and the role of government are taking center stage.We also explore the debate over socialism and progressive economic ideas. While mainstream media’s political commentary often portrays socialism as politically toxic, conversations with voters raise interesting questions about how those ideas are actually being received on the ground.Could voter enthusiasm, political disillusionment, and changing attitudes toward economic policy help shape the outcome of one of the country’s most closely watched House races?Join Taya Graham and Stephen Janis for an on-the-ground look at Pennsylvania’s 7th District, where the battle for Congress is playing out one voter at a time.
Credits:
Production/Post-production: Taya Graham, Stephen Janis
Transcript
A transcript will provided when ready