We talked to some progressive groups in New York and New Jersey and asked them what lessons they learned after the victories in the midterm elections. Here are some of their main takeaways.

1) Hold your elected officials accountable, at every step.

Whether you've elected a new representative in your district or you've got a longstanding incumbent in the seat, rigorously assess whether they are working toward the ideals you support. Gus Christensen, chief strategist for No IDC NY, says his group focused on unseating former members of the Independent Democratic Conference, but now he thinks voters should call out any Democrat who's not doing a good job and replace them. 

"Something that we’re working on is some way of measuring and rating incumbent Democratic-elected officials to be able to report back out to voters as to who is actually getting the job done for progressives and who isn’t," Christensen told WNYC.

Dustin Reidy, campaign director for upstate group NY19Votes, agrees — he says he's focused on making sure the group's candidate (and soon new Congressman) Antonio Delgado follows through on progressive agenda items like single-payer healthcare and voting reform.

2) Small margins are worth celebrating. Own that.

Ethan Todras-Whitehill, the director of Swing Left, says he's excited about meeting bigger goals on the federal level, like helping Democrats regain control of the House. But he's also celebrating the small-margin victories, like in New Jersey's 7th congressional district, where Democratic challenger Tom Malinowski unseated Republican incumbent Leonard Lance by just a few percentage points. He said wins like that, to him, show just how powerful grassroots organizing can be in getting voters out the door for a candidate.

3) You've created a community. Use it for good.

Mallory McMahon is a founding member of Fight Back Bay Ridge. She says she's lived in the neighborhood all her life, and she was always told that south Brooklyn is firmly in Republican hands. She used to think it wasn't worth voting as a Democrat. 

"We shot ourselves in the foot in a way by believing that narrative," said McMahon.

But after the 2016 election, she and her mother created Fight Back Bay Ridge as a way for progressives in the neighborhood to find each other.

"I now have hundreds of friends in this neighborhood who think like me, share my values, share my politics, who I never knew were here," said McMahon.

4) Two years pass by quickly. Start thinking about 2020.

Many of the activists we spoke to said they started organizing in 2016, shortly after President Trump was elected. And lots of them marveled at how quickly their two years of work went by. Which is why they're taking a short breather before launching into plans for 2020.

Amy Higer is a founding member of SOMA Action in Maplewood, N.J. Her group did a lot of canvassing and campaigning in neighboring districts to successfully flip Republican seats in New Jersey's 7th and 11th districts. Now, Higer says, some group members are talking about running for office themselves in 2020.

"I think for the first time in my life it feels very exciting to live in the suburbs, and to be a woman who is active in trying to make the country more progressive and stop terrible things from happening," said Higer. "It's a very empowering feeling."

Correction: WNYC originally wrote that Fight Back Bay Ridge was canvassing for two Democratic candidates — it wasn't. Instead, it was organized against the Republicans. WNYC regrets the error.