Big Takeaways From Tuesday's Election

Democrats scored sweeping victories across major states in Tuesday's elections, signaling a sharp backlash to President Trump's policies and offering their party new momentum ahead of the 2026 midterms. Voters turned out in "extraordinary" numbers for an off-year contest, per the New York Times, delivering wins for Democrats in high-profile races in Virginia, New Jersey, California, and Pennsylvania. The results—widely seen as a referendum on Trump—reinvigorated Democrats after a year largely spent out of power in Washington, with the party now eyeing redistricting fights and next year's congressional races as opportunities to blunt the Trump agenda. More takeaways from Tuesday night, per the Times, CNN, NPR, and Politico:

• Governorships: In Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the governor's race by spotlighting Trump-era federal worker cuts, becoming the state's first woman governor—an honor her rival, Winsome Earle-Sears, also would've claimed. Meanwhile, New Jersey's Mikie Sherrill rode criticism of Trump's infrastructure policies to victory, beating Jack Ciattarelli, who CNN notes "had a strong statewide performance under his belt after his near-miss in the 2021 governor's race," as well as "a 'Jersey guy' appeal that he hoped would give him some separation from Trump," who'd endorsed him.

• New Big Apple leader: New York City elected Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old progressive and self-described democratic socialist, as mayor. Mamdani's rapid rise and focus on cost-of-living issues have made him a new face for the left, though his appeal outside the city remains to be seen.
• California: Golden State Gov. Gavin Newsom bolstered his national profile by championing a successful ballot measure to redraw congressional districts in Democrats' favor, urging other blue states to follow suit. "Tonight, after poking the bear, this bear roared with an unprecedented turnout in a special election with an extraordinary result," Newsom said Tuesday night.
• Pennsylvania: Democratic justices on the state Supreme Court hung on to their majority for new 10-year terms, "in a perennial battleground state where legal challenges over voting rules are all but certain," per CNN.
• Economy: In both the two big gubernatorial races, as well as in New York City and in California, exit polls revealed that the economy was the most important issue or close to it, with the Dems claiming the win in most cases, per NPR.
• Suburban shift: Residents on city outskirts especially came through in Virginia for Spanberger, who "ran up the score" in key suburban areas like Loudon and Prince William counties, where she received 64.3% and 66.7% of the vote, respectively, per Politico.
• A 180 for people of color: Politico notes that minority groups seem to be shifting support away from MAGA camps, especially in New Jersey, where exit polls "showed Sherrill with large margins among Black, Hispanic, and Asian voters—demographics national Democrats spent millions of dollars to reengage during the campaign."
• More GOP vs. Dems: Republicans failed to capitalize on scandals dogging some Democratic candidates, such as Virginia's Jay Jones, whose victory as his state's attorney general despite controversy highlighted the depth of anti-GOP sentiment. The elections also reinforced a pattern: Democrats tend to outperform when Trump isn't on the ballot, as seen in recent nonpresidential contests.