A fun election night finally showed that Democrats weren’t completely defeated. Is that a warning signal for the post-Trump Republican Party?
What a key victory on election night means for the Democratic Party going forward
Following wins in New York City, New Jersey and Virginia, USA TODAY’s Susan Page breaks down what this means for Democrats going forward.
The Democratic Party won an overwhelming victory.
This is a headline I haven’t seen in a while.
Democratic candidates on Nov. 4 defeated their Republican opponents not only in the New York mayoral race, but also in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races. Voters also overwhelmingly approved a referendum in California that redraws congressional boundaries to make things difficult for Republicans.
His victory in a state that was all Democratic in last year’s presidential election was not unexpected. But record turnout in New Jersey and historically wide victory in Virginia raised red flags for the Republican Party in general, and for President Donald Trump in particular.
The results in 2025 are a kind of living proof. With no national power base, no front-runner for the next presidential election, no coherent strategy against Trump, and despite unprecedentedly low approval ratings among voters, it is a sign that the Democratic Party has not been defeated.
Currently, Abigail Spanberger is the first woman elected governor of Virginia, and Mikie Sherrill is slated to become governor of New Jersey. Zoran Mamdani will be the first democratic socialist and first Muslim to lead New York City.
And in a sign of Democrats’ growing belligerence, California has begun the process of joining the redistricting race begun by Texas at President Trump’s order. The bill aims to unseat five Republican incumbents and boost Democrats’ prospects of regaining the House majority in the 2026 midterm elections.
When the stakes are higher.
What was going through the voters’ minds? Economy is stupid
The unusual collection of off-year elections was the first widespread opportunity for voters to weigh in on President Trump since he was elected a year ago. It also fell as the recent government shutdown reached record territory, slightly exceeding the 35-day mark set during President Trump’s first term.
What was in their hearts?
It was the economy, idiot.
Despite their ideological differences, all three Democratic candidates focused on food-table issues such as rising housing, health care and energy costs. They blamed Trump for the government shutdown (a problem particularly acute in Virginia, near Washington) and accused him of failing to deliver on economic promises to the voters who elected him.
In New Jersey, Sherrill portrayed his race against Republican Jack Ciatarelli as a referendum on the president. In Virginia, in his victory speech against Republican Winsome Earle Sears, Mr. Spanberger drew cheers: “Virginians, tonight we sent a message.”
On social media, Trump offered a different explanation for the Republican setback. “Trump wasn’t on the ballot,” he said on Truth Social. And shut down.
The wide range of points scored by Spanberger and Sherrill also included some red territory.
For example, Spotsylvania County, a rural area in Virginia, favored Trump by 9 percentage points in last year’s election. He had a two-point lead over Democrat Spanberger.
The lead in Virginia is the largest of any Democratic gubernatorial candidate in modern times, and it was large enough to carry him over the finish line despite a late-inning uproar over an email that attorney general candidate Jay Jones sent in 2022 that made fun of the House Republican speaker’s shooting.
The Democratic Party is moving to the left. Or maybe somewhere in the middle.
The Democratic Party continues to suffer from record-low approval ratings and is facing harsh criticism from partisans.
A Pew Research Center survey released as Election Day approached found that 75% of Americans say they are “dissatisfied” with the Democratic Party, including two-thirds of those who identify as Democrats. Only 29% of Democrats said they felt “proud” of their party.
This off-season victory did not pave a clear path for the future. Progressives cheered the upstart victory of Mr. Mamdani, a 34-year-old New York congressman. Trump and other Republican leaders have wasted no time painting Mamdani as the face of a dangerously liberal Democratic Party.
Centrists saw the election of the more cautious centrists Spanberger and Sherrill as a winning template. Both have backgrounds in national security, Spanberger in the CIA and Sherrill in the Navy, and they were very close, having been roommates on Capitol Hill during their time in Congress.
The Democratic Party’s direction remained uncertain, and the battle continued for another day as partisans savored the contrast with what happened a year ago. Republicans then won the White House, regained a majority in the Senate, and gained control of the House of Representatives, giving them a landslide victory.
Now the question is, can Democrats do the same thing next year?
