NPO Leaders Celebrate Midterm Results, Express Resolution
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Leaders at nonprofit sector advocacy groups applauded the high voter participation rate for the midterm elections. The League of Women Voters indicated 124.3 million voters cast ballots during the 2026 midterm elections, up from roughly 112 million during 2022.
However, public comments made by many nonprofit leaders underscored a need for discretion, especially with two years remaining in the presidency of Donald J. Trump, who has evinced disdain for the tax-exempt sector, including using the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of the Treasury against perceived enemies.
While final results had not been tabulated at deadline, the Democratic Party racked up significant majorities in both chambers of Congress.
“Yesterday, democracy prevailed, and nonprofits helped make it happen,” Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits said via a statement. “For months, election officials, voters, and the organizations that help people register and vote faced a sustained effort to undermine confidence in our elections. The system held because people held it, from election officials of both parties and poll workers to the judges who upheld the law and the nonprofit lawyers and advocates who stood up for every eligible voter,” she continued.
“This is what nonprofits do every day,” Yentel continued. “We’re where neighbors connect, where people find their voice, and where communities build their future. A strong nonprofit sector means a strong democracy. We congratulate everyone elected yesterday, and we look forward to working with all of them, at every level and across party lines, to strengthen the communities they now serve.”
Focus on turnout levels provided a safe way for nonprofit leaders to comment on the results. “While many votes are still being counted, it is already clear that the 2026 midterm elections saw one of the highest voter turnouts for a midterm in U.S. history,” Akilah Watkins, Ph.D., president and CEO of Independent Sector, said via a statement. “Whether you are excited or disappointed by last night’s results, we should all feel proud that so many of our fellow citizens stepped forward to make their voices heard,” according to Watkins.
Sector leaders acknowledged that the voting process had been under threat of delegitimization as well as other attacks.
“Despite an increased number of voter suppression measures and threats, voters showed up — demonstrating that the strength of a democracy lies primarily in the will of its people to shape it and defend it,” Watkins continued. “For the charitable nonprofit sector, this strong showing of civic participation is a reminder of what is possible when people come together to better their communities and hold power to account.”
Watkins pledged that Independent Sector, would work alongside leaders of both parties, including our newly elected members of Congress, to support a healthy and trusted charitable sector.
Voter turnout was key to the election results that flipped Congress to Democratic Party control. “We set an ambitious goal for 2026 midterm voter turnout because the constitutional crisis we declared last year demanded one,” Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters, said via a statement.
“And Americans showed up. That achievement belongs first and foremost to voters who refused to let barriers keep them from making their voices heard. From waiting in line for hours, to walking en masse to and from polling locations, to encouraging friends, relatives, colleagues, and even strangers to cast their ballots, Americans showed up for democracy,” according to Stewart. “This is what people power looks like, and the League is incredibly proud of the role we played in helping voters get the information, resources, and support they needed to participate.”
Other reactions more directly addressed the shift in power from Republicans to Democrats, as well as the perceived power structures that undergird each party. Leaders at these nonprofits were often more direct in calling out what they saw as the abuses of the Trump Administration and its allies.
“Powerful corporate interests and billionaires spent big on the election and lost,” Robert Weissman, co-president of nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen, wrote in an email to The NonProfit Times. “Now Americans expect to see the new Congress investigate and legislate on the very agenda those interests fear. That means investigating the corruption nexus between corporations and the Trump administration. And it means passing legislation to expand health care, lower energy prices, control AI corporations, slash drug prices, address the climate crisis and much more,” he wrote.
Key has been what he described as a cruel and illegal attack on nonprofits, “whether it’s denying funding to USAID contractors, imposing speech controls on grant recipients or the outrageous criminal prosecution of SPLC,” Weissman continued. “This election was a wholesale rejection of authoritarianism. For a normal administration, that would force a pull back. But we don’t expect that from the extremist and lawless Trump administration.”
According to Amnesty International USA Executive Director Nadia Daar, “The people of the United States have chosen their next slate of elected representatives at all levels of government, and their choices rang loud and clear.” Daar said via a statement: “Those elected, from community representatives to federal lawmakers, now bear a heavy burden as many lives and livelihoods, both inside and outside the United States, depend on their willingness to defend and protect human rights, democratic principles, and the rule of law. That includes fighting against the Trump administration’s authoritarian practices, against unchecked corporate power and corruption, and for the rights of all people.”
“Just as the world was watching the results of the elections, it will now be watching what elected leaders do with the powers and responsibilities they’ve been given: they must work towards a future where people can live freely and have their needs met,” Daar concluded.
Officials at some nonprofits paired their reactions with specific legislative agendas that reflect the change in Congress.
The Sierra Club issued a new legislative policy blueprint geared toward addressing the nation’s affordability crisis, holding polluters accountable, preserving our public lands, and protecting public health and safety, according to a statement on the organization’s website.
“Voters have sent a clear message that they reject Trump’s war on clean energy and the destructive and corrupt agenda of the administration and its allies in Congress,” Sierra Club Legislative Director Melinda Pierce said via a statement. “The people have spoken, and the new Congress should waste no time in responding by fighting to reverse the damage Trump has caused these past two years, and leading our country to a stronger, more resilient future. This blueprint guides the way to lower costs, stronger infrastructure, and healthier communities — all wildly popular goals that the new Congress must get serious in pursuing right away.”
Similarly, Public Citizen presented an ‘Oversight Agenda Roadmap‘ that outlined its desired priorities for the new Congress, which included “[rooting] out corruption, [strengthening] democracy, and [addressing] the abuses of Trump and his cronies.”
