For a moment, let’s celebrate. The November 3 midterm elections delivered something that many Americans, particularly LGBTQ+ voters, had reason to welcome.
According to the Associated Press, Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, along with significant victories in gubernatorial and state legislative races. And the South helped make it happen.
NPR reported November 5 that Democrats flipped U.S. Senate seats in North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. In Georgia, voters elected former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms governor, making her the nation’s first Black woman elected to that office. Here in North Carolina, former Gov. Roy Cooper won his U.S. Senate race by approximately 20 percentage points, according to NPR. His victory helped Democrats make gains in congressional and state legislative races. And the victories weren’t limited to straight, cisgender candidates.
The Advocate described a “rainbow wave” of LGBTQ+ victories across the country. New Hampshire elected Chris Pappas, the first openly gay man to win a U.S. Senate seat. Delaware reelected Sarah McBride, the nation’s first openly transgender member of Congress. Indiana elected JD Ford, its first openly gay member of Congress. In Georgia, Bentley Hudgins became the state’s first openly transgender and nonbinary state lawmaker. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, both openly lesbian, won reelection. The victories extended across the country, including Kansas, where Sharice Davids, a lesbian and Ho-Chunk Nation citizen, secured another term in Congress.
For communities that have spent years watching their rights become political bargaining chips, those victories carry significance beyond party affiliation. Thankfully voters demonstrated that campaigns targeting LGBTQ+ people do not guarantee electoral success. According to GLAAD’s post-election analysis, Republican campaigns spent tens of millions of dollars on anti-transgender advertising in Texas and Ohio, yet the candidates benefiting from those campaigns lost important races.
But before we assume the political pendulum has swung permanently in another direction, we need to talk about Leonard Leo.
Who and why, you might ask?
Leonard Leo isn’t a senator, governor or Supreme Court justice. He’s a conservative legal strategist and longtime Federalist Society leader who helped develop the networks that influenced Republican judicial appointments. Even though elected officials can lose their jobs on a Tuesday in November, the institutions they helped build may continue operating for decades. And Leo has spent much of his career making sure of it.
According to ProPublica’s investigation We Don’t Talk About Leonard, Leo spent decades cultivating relationships among lawyers, judges, political leaders and wealthy donors. He played an influential role in the conservative judicial selection process that produced Trump’s three Supreme Court appointees: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. All three joined the majority in the 2022 Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. And none of them lost their job on November 3.
That’s the distinction between winning an election and changing the institutions that govern American life. A congressional majority can change overnight. A federal judge can remain on the bench for decades. And a privately funded political network doesn’t disappear because voters reject the candidates it supports.
According to a joint investigation by ProPublica and The Lever, businessman Barre Seid transferred approximately $1.6 billion to Marble Freedom Trust, an organization chaired by Leo. That’s an extraordinary amount of money available to fund political influence, legal advocacy and efforts to reshape American institutions. ProPublica documented how Leo’s network has financed judicial confirmation campaigns, conservative organizations and efforts to influence state and federal policy.
The funding arrangements matter because nonprofit organizations, donor networks, advocacy groups and conservative churches can continue wielding influence regardless of which political party holds power. Some politically active nonprofits aren’t required to publicly disclose their donors. And money can finance litigation, policy research, advertising and the recruitment of future leaders. But money alone doesn’t explain Leo’s influence.
His strategy depends on relationships, institutional positions and something that politicians facing reelection every few years don’t always have: time. And he has been remarkably specific about what he wants to accomplish.
In September 2024, the Financial Times reported that Leo planned to direct $1 billion toward challenging liberal influence in American institutions, particularly corporations, news media and entertainment. In a November 2024 interview with NPR, Leo described expanding conservative influence beyond the courts into Hollywood, Silicon Valley, finance and other powerful sectors. Through the Teneo Network, his allies are identifying, connecting and promoting conservatives who can influence those industries from within.
The strategy also includes challenging corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, opposing environmental and social governance initiatives, and supporting conservative media and entertainment ventures. Leo describes these efforts as creating a more balanced ideological environment. Critics question what happens when enormous financial resources are used to influence institutions that shape public opinion, employment opportunities and civil rights protections. And the strategy isn’t limited to winning elections. That’s what makes this week’s results so interesting.
Democrats have won control of Congress, giving them new opportunities to investigate executive agencies, oversee federal spending and scrutinize future judicial nominees. But the courts, donor networks and private organizations built over previous decades remain.
We haven’t found a public statement from Leo responding specifically to the November 3 election results, nor do we know what he considers the ultimate measure of success. But his record suggests that his work is measured in decades, not election cycles.
So what can ordinary Americans do when so much political influence operates outside elected office? Part of the answer is transparency. Investigative journalism, nonprofit tax disclosures, judicial ethics requirements and public scrutiny of judicial nominations can help reveal who is financing efforts to change American law and public policy.
Another part is recognizing where decisions are made. Federal courts matter. So do state courts, legislatures, school boards, regulatory agencies, corporations and the organizations financing legal challenges.
We can celebrate an election without assuming it has resolved every question about power. The November election demonstrated how dramatically voters can change their elected government. Leonard Leo’s career demonstrates how organized advocacy, financial resources and institutional relationships can preserve influence across those changes.
We may have turned the political tide, but the institutions shaping American life won’t necessarily change with it. And that brings me back to our beautiful blue sea. We’ve earned a moment to float. But there’s still a lot of swimming ahead.
This story is brought to you by Rosedale Health and Wellness and Dudley’s Place.
