Democrats Sweep Off-Year Election In Apparent Rebuke of Trump
Photo courtesy of PBS
By Patrick D. Lewis
The 2025 elections are in the books, and the Democratic Party made major gains just a year after losing the White House to President Donald Trump.
High-profile elections were held in New Jersey, Virginia, and New York City, along with a redistricting ballot measure in California. Politicians and strategists widely viewed the elections as a referendum on the first nine months of Trump’s administration.
In New York City, avowed socialist and Democratic nominee for mayor Zohran Mamdani won 50.4% of the vote—over a million votes—to defeat former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who attempted to make a political comeback as an independent. Cuomo, who governed as a Democrat, received 41.6% of the vote. Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, who founded the vigilante group “Guardian Angels” in New York City, received only 7.1% of the vote.
Cuomo was endorsed by Trump shortly before the election in a bid to stop the far-left Mamdani from winning control of the country’s largest city. Mamdani, a Muslim, has accused his opponents of using anti-Islamic rhetoric against him. Endorsed by the Democratic Socialist Party of America, he has pledged to freeze rent, make city buses free, and provide universal child care. Supporters of Trump condemned his victory as a communist takeover.
In Virginia, Democrat nominee Abigail Spanberger, a former member of Congress, defeated Republican nominee Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears with 57.2% of the vote to Earle-Sears’ 42.6%, a difference of nearly 15 points, the largest gubernatorial margin in the state since 2009. Spanberger’s campaign painted Earle-Sears as a radical conservative and highlighted her anti-abortion stance and her closeness to Trump.
Another Virginia election that garnered attention was the race for attorney general. Incumbent and Republican nominee Jason Miyares ran against Democrat Jay Jones. Weeks before election day, texts Jones had sent while he was a state delegate a few years ago surfaced. In the texts, Jones fantasized about killing the Republican speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, said he hoped the speaker’s children died in their mother’s arms, and hoped more police officers would die. Jones apologized for the texts but refused to drop out of the race, and Democrats faced outcry from Republicans for not calling on Jones to step down. Jones defeated Miyares 52.7% to 46.9%.
Due to Virginia state law that prohibits consecutive terms as governor, Republican incumbent Governor Glenn Youngkin was not allowed to run for reelection.
Democrats also retained the governor’s mansion in New Jersey, where Mikie Sherrill defeated Republican nominee Jack Ciatterelli 56.4% to 43%. The current governor, Phil Murphy, is a Democrat and has already served the maximum of two consecutive terms in office. Polls had shown the race as closer than it turned out to be, which had made it a closely-watched contest.
Lastly, in California, Proposition 50, which asked voters to decide whether to approve proposed congressional redistricting, was overwhelmingly approved, 64-36%. The redistricting is expected to give Democrats up to five more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, which is aimed at countering similar efforts in Texas that look to give around five seats to Republicans. Maryland, Virginia, and other states now plan to pursue redistricting of their own in response.
