What the 2026 midterm results mean for roofers

By Emma Peterson.

Former lawmakers and roofing advocates discuss one of the most consequential elections in decades and what it means for contractors.

In a brand-new Coffee Conversations® episode, sponsored by Elevate, Heidi J. Ellsworth sits down with a panel of experts to discuss the historic events of Tuesday, November 3, 2026 and what the future looks like for roofers. This panel included Reid Ribble, Denver Riggleman and Brad Stine.

Reid spent six years representing Wisconsin in the U.S. House of Representatives. Beyond that, he has experience as a contractor and was even the CEO of the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA). Denver is also a former congressman, having represented Virginia in the House of Representatives. He is also an Air Force veteran and technology entrepreneur. Brad has also spent some time in Congress working with legislative assistants and directors. Today, he uses that experience in his work as NRCA’s director of federal affairs.

When we asked about the midterms, Reid shared some historical context to help us understand how significant the wave was. He shared, “For a historical event that looks similar to this, we have to go back to 1932 to find an election that would look similar with this big of a wave.”

In 1932, 12 U.S. senate seats and 95 house seats flipped in response to President Hoover passing the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act. Looking at this year’s election, the panel saw similar factors at play. Denver explained:

The fact that we saw such a huge wave this year in favor of the Democrats isn’t just an outlier, it’s a repudiation of economic policy...It's not really about red or blue, it's about economic and fiscal policies that people on the street don’t see helping their families. And when that happens, you have this kind of groundswell in this election.

Reid echoed Denver’s point, “The story of this election is really about what the American people said and they said that they wanted to see something different. That’s why such a big wave happened.”

Looking ahead, as these new congresspeople head into session, there’s a lot of opportunity there for the construction industry. Brad shared, “From a roofing industry perspective, we need to take advantage of this change. And the change, whether you like it personally or not, was a referendum on the Trump administration policies, especially on things like immigration.” He continued, “What I see is an opportunity for our industry to make our voices heard and really push for political changes, like immigration reform, that will help our businesses and communities succeed.”

Learn more by watching the podcast recording on YouTube.