Courtside

 A brief note on the folks in Washington not on the ballot, other than those in the executive branch.  The Supreme Court majority had a leading role in the past two years in enabling the autocratic pretensions of Boss Chaos.  They granted him nearly unlimited power.  They supported or at least delayed deciding on his destructive schemes.  They ignored his corruption--some would say because at least some of them are themselves corrupt.  They continued to foster inequality by insisting that billionaires can buy all the votes they want. 

They ended federal protection for women's right to choose.  And they all but destroyed the Voting Rights Act, a decision that white southern governments quickly tried to exploit.  

No one gets to vote for or against them.  They are appointed by the President, and they rule for life. For many years that system of appointment (with the advice and consent of the Senate) was minimally controversial, because the appointment was taken very seriously and how Justices ruled did not automatically conform to the party of the President who appointed them.  Moreover, it took 2/3 of the Senate to agree, so the appointee needed widespread support.  

But in this century the Republican party recognized the implications of the power to appoint Justices, and convinced their voters of this opportunity.  Selection of Justices became more linked to party ideology.  The process became more baldly political.  The Republican Senate Majority Leader McConnell refused to hold hearings on President Obama's appointment of a Justice until it expired at the end of his term.  Then the next Republican appointment was turned away by Democrats in the Senate, so the Republican majority changed the rules, requiring just a simple majority to complete the appointment.  The Supreme Court became totally political.

No one gets to vote for or against Supreme Court Justices, but they were on the ballot this year.  Black turnout broke records, and the Court's decision against their rights was a major motive.  Despite the gerrymandering and the billionaire money the Court allowed, Republicans lost.  Women voted to support their right to choose, both directly in some states, and generally by voting against Republicans.

But there may have been something a bit more specific that voters did.  No one gets to vote for or against Supreme Court Justices, but many states elect members of their state Supreme Courts.  And in this election, every Democrat running for re-election or first time election on a state supreme court won.  Everywhere.