Left or right, the strong turnout for the midterm elections is a testament to Americans’ faith in democracy. While donors poured a record $12 billion into midterm campaigns, $446 million of which came from Elon Musk alone, the most powerful currency in the country remains one vote per citizen. Democrat James Talarico won the Senate seat in Texas, where Musk spent about $200 million trying to defeat him. If anything, such excessive spending from the world’s richest man sparked a backlash and counter-campaign insisting Texas was not for sale.

On the economic front, it’s clear that policymakers need to now prioritize addressing the cost of living, from grocery and gas costs to housing and health care, not to mention that debt. The debate around AI and data centers is likely to become more intense. And on the governing front, voters have made it clear that they want a strong check on this president after two years of watching the legislative branch give him a free pass on everything from dismantling federal agencies and redirecting federal funds to waging war and imposing tariffs. What they don’t want: two years of bitter investigations and gridlock instead of getting things done.

Whatever happens next in Washington—or doesn’t happen, given the divided government—business leaders can take this moment to remind people that the strength of this country lies not just in free and fair markets but in free and fair elections. That will be especially important if political leaders try to stir up doubt about the legitimacy of the results, though President Trump said last night that he would accept the outcome. 

Whether he’s true to his word is anybody’s guess. But gone are the days when wooing Trump was sufficient to get things done. Now, funding ballrooms, bearing gifts, and pouring praise on this president may be a liability. The president told voters to act as if his name was on the ballot, so they did. In many races where Trump personally campaigned and supported candidates, voters rejected his picks. They rejected the Ohio gubernatorial candidate who ran a repulsive ad exploiting the childhood trauma of his opponent. They rejected the billionaires trying to buy their hearts and votes. They rejected the gerrymandering that was supposed to produce reliable results.

Now, the challenge is to turn a protest vote into good policy.

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com

Top leadership news

OpenAI hires former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll for national security role 

OpenAI has hired former U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll as the company’s senior counselor for national security modernization. It comes two months after Driscoll left the Trump administration following reported clashes with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The hire continues OpenAI's push toward defense work.

Thai industrial CEO calls Chinese overcapacity a ‘fact of life’

Chinese overcapacity is "a fact of life" that Southeast Asia's manufacturers must adapt to or get priced out, Thammasak Sethaudom, president and CEO of Thai industrial giant Siam Cement Group, said at the Fortune Southeast Asia 500 Summit in Vietnam. Cheap Chinese exports are flooding the petrochemical sector, squeezing established producers throughout Southeast Asia. Thammasak explained that scale is the only way to stay afloat: “You need to build the scale that produces for the whole ASEAN,” he said.

Europe has spent an extra $142 billion for oil and gas since Strait of Hormuz closure 

Four years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent Europe scrambling for new energy supplies, the bloc faces another challenge. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe has paid an additional 127 billion euros ($142.9 billion) for imported oil and gas since the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz—without receiving any additional energy in return.

The markets

S&P 500 futures are up 1.0% this morning. The last session closed up 0.36%. The STOXX Europe 600 was up 1.05% in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.76% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 1.42%. South Korea’s KOSPI was up 0.62%. China’s CSI 300 was up 2.31%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 1.67%. India’s NIFTY 50 was up 0.63%. Bitcoin is up at $78k.

Around the watercooler

Apple warns rogue AI agents could ‘conceal’ and ‘manipulate,’ causing unintended consequences for its business by Sebastian Herrera 

Meta says automation wrongly took down No Kings and a Senate candidate’s page. It’s automating more anyway by Molly A. Wallace 

OpenAI hires Uber President Jill Hazelbaker to lead communications, filling a critical role that was curiously vacant for 10 months by Emily Forlini

‘You have to be willing to make those hard choices’: Freshworks CEO on crossing $1 billion in ARR with 30% fewer employees in the AI software age by Nick Lichtenberg 

A Democratic Congress could curb the Iran war but not Trump’s tariffs, former ambassador says by Jay Ganglani

CEO Daily is curated and edited by Jay Ganglani, Claire Zillman, and Lee Clifford.