UT prof and student knew voters wanted change. Here’s what they think now

University of Tennessee professor Andy Busch wasn’t shocked by America’s choice on election night.
Busch knew from his research that voters wanted something new, and he had been hearing from Gen Z students that they favor combative politics with candidates who don’t compromise. Millions of voters have never known a presidential election without Donald Trump, and they’re OK with that.
“Trump was more successful at presenting himself as the candidate of change,” Busch said. “Trump was the candidate who was seen as the one who could shake things up.”
UT student John Knighton, 19, predicted to Knox News before the election that undecided voters would choose Trump because they feel their lives are worse off now, under President Joe Biden, than they were four years ago. And he knew the group of voters who felt left behind was strong.
“I was confident, but I wasn’t this confident,” Knighton, from the Memphis suburbs, said after the election. It’s possible there would have been a similar shift in Democrats’ favor if Republicans had been in power since 2020, he said.
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Knighton, who said he has sometimes felt out of place among his classmates for his socially conservative views, got an inspiring surge of “what do we do now” in class Nov. 6, thinking of what’s to come from GOP leaders.
But Jill Onks, a 19-year-old UT student from Smyrna who tends to support liberal candidates, knows exactly what Democrats have to do.
“All I could really think was, ‘Well, are we shocked? Are we surprised?'” Onks said Nov. 8. “All we can do now is move on. That’s what we’re supposed to do,” she said.
This year’s transfer of presidential power is the first voters like Knighton and Onks have known as adults. Trump never acknowledged his loss to Biden in 2020 and didn’t participate in traditions practiced by his predecessors, most importantly attending the inauguration.
Busch said when Biden dropped out the race, it jumbled the picture even more. Who was the change candidate and who was the incumbent?
He predicted that voters wanted someone to stand up to the forces that they feel are working against them, and he was right.
Republicans have taken control of the U.S. Senate and likely will retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Combined with a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, they will hold the power in all three branches of government.
Onks told Knox News she hopes moderate Republican lawmakers will shape social issues.
“My only hope right now is they’ll understand we’re in the 21st century and we shouldn’t be stepping backward,” she said.
Knighton said controlling U.S. Supreme Court appointments will be Republicans’ strongest advantage.
Knighton thinks a united GOP legislature could pass a law banning transgender people from using bathrooms that don’t match their sex assigned at birth. He’s more confident in a cut to funding for Ukraine’s military defense against Russian incursion.
Busch wasn’t as confident as Knighton. Even a governmental trifecta doesn’t always equate to a rubber stamp, he said.
“Trump has exhibited in the past a fairly consistent capacity to undermine himself in a variety of ways,” he said. “It will be interesting to see if he can conduct himself in a more disciplined way.”
Trump’s decisions and conduct in office will influence midterm voters in 2026, after all.
“In all likelihood, Republicans will probably lose seats and the Senate majority is so small (that) they can’t afford to lose any seats (and keep their majority),” Busch said.
Every House member will be up for reelection as well as 33 senators: 20 Republicans and 13 Democrats.
“Republicans are going to have an uphill battle in 2026 to keep their majority,” Busch said. “They had a very favorable map in the Senate this time and next time, there’s going to be a lot more Republican seats than Democratic seats up for reelection.”
Senate Democrats have one big advantage: the filibuster. Though they tried in the past to eliminate the legislation-killing tool, that failure could be a silver lining during a Republican majority.
The filibuster is used to stall legislation by preventing debate on a topic from ending. It takes a 60-vote majority to end a filibuster. 
“There will still be some need for compromise if (Trump) wants to get some of his policies through legislatively,” Busch said, acknowledging the president-elect could still get polities enacted through executive orders, as he’s done in the past.
On the other side of the Capitol, Republicans are poised to retake the House majority, but their lead will be slim. Coalitions of conservative Republicans unhappy with leaders’ choices could continue to be a thorn in the speaker’s side. Take U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett of Knoxville as an example. He voted with Democrats to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in 2023.
“You’ve already seen some folks from the House Freedom Caucus try to take a (more conservative stance than Trump on certain issues),” Busch said. “There’s not going to need to be that many of them.”
Allie Feinberg reports on politics for Knox News. Email her: [email protected] and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @alliefeinberg.