'Much better than 2016': Democrats gather anxiously in Ottawa as U.S. voters rebuke Trump in midterms - National Post

News ‘Much better than 2016’: Democrats gather anxiously in Ottawa as U.S. voters rebuke Trump in midterms Join the conversation Share Close Share this article

Copy URL Facebook Linked In X (Twitter) Loading account options Sign In Manage Account Close account menu Sign Out The image of U.S. President Donald Trump is seen on a tie during a midterm election night watch party with Ohio Republican candidates in Columbus, Ohio, on Nov. 03, 2026. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images) By Sarah Ritchie November 3, 2026 at 10:54 p.m. Last Updated: November 3, 2026 at 11:22 p.m. OTTAWA — A handful of anxious American citizens and curious Canadian onlookers gathered in a low-ceilinged dive bar in Ottawa’s west end on Tuesday evening to watch the results of the U.S. midterm elections roll in.

Some came seeking community. Others, a place to commiserate. They cheered and applauded as CNN’s Jake Tapper announced projections and leads in key Senate races, beginning with Jon Ossoff in Georgia.

A couple of people shrieked with excitement as the synchronized TV screens throughout the bar showed an early lead for James Talarico in Texas. “Oh my god,” one woman said. “I’m going to go home and cry.”

The event was organized by the local chapter of Democrats Abroad.

Tatiana Parrish moved to Canada from California a decade ago and learned about the group in 2020.

She said she came out in search of community and hope, “just not fretting at home, chewing your nails off,” she said.

Maureen Korp, who was sporting a collection of half a dozen campaign buttons featuring names like Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris, was feeling “a whole lot” of trepidation early in the night.

“I’m standing here holding my hands together firmly,” she said.

Korp is a dual citizen who’s lived in Canada more than half her life, but has never failed to cast a ballot in U.S. elections. “New Jersey has never forgotten me,” she said.

She worried that U.S. President Donald Trump — whose name she will not say aloud — will respond to the election results with martial law.

About half the 60 people who came out on Tuesday night were Canadians, unable to have any say in yet another U.S. election that feels like it could have big consequences for America’s closest neighbour.

That included longtime Ottawa resident Judith van Berkom, who was hoping Democrats would win big, to be able to impose some checks on the president’s power.

“They might be able to stop some of the insanity that’s happening,” she said.

One group of Canadians came armed with charts, listing the times polls close in various states and the latest polling in key races. They said a blue wave in the House and Senate would give them hope, but nobody was sure if it would actually change the fractured trade relationship.

Democrats Abroad’s local co-chair David Schellenberg is a self-described “accidental American” was born to Canadian parents while they were living in the U.S., and spent nearly all of his life north of the border.

He’s voted in U.S. elections ever since Donald Trump’s first win in 2016, in a traditional Republican stronghold in Iowa that looked to be a close race on Tuesday.

“Iowa believed the Trump promises, and Iowa farmers got burned by tariffs,” he said.

“Trump is still the president, and the president still has veto powers,” Schellenberg said. As for what happens to the fractured Canada-U.S. relationship, “it’s really hard to predict.”

Jay Baltz, who was born in Philadelphia, said he felt optimistic on Tuesday. He is among the Democrats Abroad members who’ve gathered every two years at the same Ottawa bar to see the results of midterm and presidential elections over the last decade.

“This is much better than 2016, I have to tell you,” he said.

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Carney had said he shared the view that Canada should be looking into 'reforming or even abolishing the Indian Act.'