A few days before Election Day, The New York Times published a deeply disheartening report on the extent to which Donald Trump is “dismantling America’s scientific research machine,” adding that the president and his team are imposing regressive policies that are “jeopardizing the nation’s advantages in defense, medicine and technology.”

The report was remarkable but not altogether surprising. Indeed, among the most consequential disasters of Trump’s second term is the relentless war the Republican administration has waged on science and research, starting early last year.

It was therefore heartening to see empiricism strike back in the midterm elections. The New York Times also reported:

[Democratic Rep.-elect Daniel Biss of Illinois] is one of several scientists and physicians who was elected to Congress on Tuesday. Like him, most are Democrats and most were elected to the House. They plan, they say, to use their knowledge to combat what they see as the anti-science policies promoted by the Trump administration.

The incoming scientists represent “a real repudiation of what has been two terrible years for science and public health,” said Shaughnessy Naughton, president of 314 Action, a group that recruits Democratic doctors and scientists to run for office.

Along with Biss, a mathematician at the University of Chicago, the incoming contingent includes Democratic Rep.-elect Jasmine Clark of Georgia, who will soon become Congress’ only microbiologist.

What’s more, the number of Democrats with medical training who won key contests in the midterms is also striking, and the list includes Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan (a former public health director), Sen.-elect Annie Andrews of South Carolina (a pediatrician) and Gov.-elect Amy Acton of Ohio (a doctor who served as the director of the state department of health).

In Arizona, Democratic Rep.-elect Amish Shah, another medical doctor, successfully flipped the state’s 1st District, while in Wisconsin, Democratic Rep.-elect Mitchell Berman, an emergency room nurse, flipped his state’s own 1st District.

The Washington Post labeled it a “STEM wave,” adding that “a record number of Democratic doctors, nurses, scientists and engineers” were elected this year, and when they arrive on Capitol Hill, they’re “expected to help shape a new health care agenda for the party and scrutinize Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s tenure.”

Undoing the staggering damage done over the past two years won’t be easy, but having these scientific and medical professionals in policymaking positions will likely serve as a big step in the right direction.

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