On October 23rd, 2023, Sabrina Carpenter released the music video for her hit single Feather. About three years later, the United States of America experienced a blue tsunami, with the Democrats taking back control of both the House and the Senate. In this article, I break down how the two seemingly unrelated events have a correlation.
One of the sets of Carpenter’s videos was the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Brooklyn. After the video came out, both Carpenter and the church received a bunch of backlash. The backlash toward Carpenter was about her sexualizing religion; the backlash toward the church was about them even letting her film there. It was then revealed that Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello allowed Carpenter to film in the church.
The officials at Blessed Virgin Mary Church promptly initiated an internal investigation. Further investigation of Gigantiello revealed that he had engaged in unauthorized financial transfers to a former aide to New York’s mayor, Eric Adams. This revelation led to not only to Gigantiello being stripped from his leadership, but also launched a federal investigation into the Adams administration.
In September of 2024, Mayor Adams was indicted on charges of bribery, fraud, and foreign donations. Gigantiello was subpoenaed due to his close friendship with Mayor Adams and the lengthy history of illegal transfers to his administration. Adams became the first sitting New York mayor to be charged with a federal crime. Adams refused to accept the charges, pleading Not Guilty. He did not step down, and continued his campaign for re-election.
Carpenter briefly commented on the incident during her September 24th concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Quipping about how she got the mayor indicted before singing another one of her hits, Nonsense.
During the 2025 New York City mayoral election, Adams bypassed the Democratic primaries, choosing to run as an independent instead. The ballot was set. Adams and Andrew Cuomo on the ballot as Independents. Curtis Sliwa as the Republican candidate. Zohran Mamdani as the Democratic candidate. Five weeks prior to the election, Adams dropped from the race. He also notably did not endorse a candidate, however urged New Yorkers to “choose leaders not by what they promise, but by what they have delivered.” An indirect endorsement of former governor Andrew Cuomo (who stepped down due to multiple sexual assault allegations).
On November 4th, 2025, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani won the mayoral race. Leading Cuomo in four out of five boroughs (Cuomo took Staten Island). In the months following, Mamdani instilled hope in Gen Z.
Mamdani’s campaign motivated Gen Z’ers and Millennials to vote. Showing them that politics does not have to be the circus that it has become. Real people can win elections and enact real change to positively benefit the working class.
When the 2026 primaries rolled around, many progressive candidates not only made it onto the ballot, but also won their primary. The Democratic Socialists of America officially endorsed 164 candidates, and 79 ended up winning. Most notably, Nithya Raman, the mayor-elect of Los Angeles.
Many of the Democratic politicians elected also shared many view points with the Democratic Socialists of America. For instance, Michigan Senate-elect Abdul El-Sayed called for the complete abolition of ICE. Other Senate electors such as James Talarico, Annie Andrews, and Adam Hamilton have criticized how ICE has operated under the Trump administration and are in favor of deconstructing the institution as we know it and rebuilding it to be beneficial.
In the 2026 midterms, Democrats won 55 Senate seats (potentially 56 once Alaska is done counting), 255 House seats, and 29 gubernatorial races (potentially 30 once Kansas is done counting ballots).
Many historic firsts also happened. Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first black female governor in the United States. Deb Haaland became the Nation’s first female Native American governor. Chris Pappas became the first openly gay member of the US Senate. Abdul El-Sayed became the first Muslim elected to the US Senate. Six transgender candidates also made history, winning state legislative positions across the country.
The 2026 midterms have made one thing clear: hope and love prevail. Whether that message is a domino effect of Carpenter’s pop hit or the pushback from the ongoing rise of Conservatism, it does not matter. What matters is sticking up for those around us and leading with dignity and inclusion.