Americans in Finland celebrate Democrats’ midterm landslide

Americans living in Finland welcomed the Democrats’ landslide victory in the US midterm elections, Yle reported, saying the result reflected a desire for change.

Emily Lewis, a graduate student from Tennessee who lives in Oulu, said she had not expected the Democrats to do so well. She was especially pleased that the United States had elected its first Black woman governor and its first Indigenous woman governor.

Lewis said the result was unlikely to change her own life much because she lives in Finland, but that it mattered more to people in the United States. “There is now a chance for change, after so many rights have been taken away from people. Hopefully we can now restore them. Today is a good day to be proud to be an American,” she said.

Päivi Julkunen, a dual Finnish and US citizen living in Tampere, also said the scale of the Democratic victory had surprised her. She said the result showed that Americans were dissatisfied with current policies and wanted change. Julkunen, who voted in the election, said President Donald Trump could become a “lame duck” and might focus more on foreign policy. She also said decisions by the new Congress on taxation could directly affect her because she pays taxes in both Finland and the United States.

Dana Freling, an American living in Espoo, said voters had had enough of rising costs, chaos and “shenanigans”. She has lived in Finland for more than 30 years and founded Democrats Abroad Finland, an organisation that aims in part to encourage Americans living outside the country to vote.

Freling said the result would affect people broadly and called on the new Congress to prioritise repealing tariffs imposed by the Trump administration around the world, including on Canada. She said doing so would help put the US economy and relations with neighbouring countries back on track.