Last night’s results were pleasing for Democrats, who found themselves completely locked out of power in the federal government following the 2024 presidential election last year.
Here are four things to know about Tuesday’s election results.
1. Virginia: Democrats sweep statewide races, secure a trifecta
Virginia had three statewide offices on the ballot Tuesday, and Democrats won all three races. Democrat Abigail Spanberger defeated Republican Winsome Sears in the gubernatorial race. With over 95% of the vote reporting, Spanberger has captured 57.5% of the vote to Sears’ 42.5%. Spanberger, who will become the first female governor in Virginia history, will replace the term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
In the lieutenant governor’s race, Democrat Ghazala Hashmi defeated Republican John Reid. With over 95% of the vote counted, Hashmi has won 55.6% of the vote to Reid’s 44.4%. Hashmi will occupy the office currently held by Sears, who gave up her post to run for governor.
The attorney general’s race was closer than the other two races, likely due to fallout from the release of past text messages revealing Democrat Jay Jones fantasized about murdering the former Republican Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, Todd Gilbert. However, Jones still defeated the incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares. With over 95% of the vote counted, Jones has won 53.2% of the vote to Miyares’ 46.8%.
All 100 seats in the House of Delegates were also up for grabs in Tuesday’s election. Going into the election, Democrats held 51 of the 100 seats. Unofficial results of the races, compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project, show Democrats have flipped 13 seats held by Republicans, giving them 64 seats to Republicans’ 36.
In addition to having a supermajority in the House of Delegates, Democrats will have a trifecta, controlling the governorship and both houses of the state Legislature for the first time since after the 2019 election. Democrats also hold a narrow majority in the Virginia Senate, where seats are not up until 2027.
2. New Jersey: Democrats win the governorship, trifecta continues
Like Virginia, the governorship in New Jersey was open this year, as Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy is term-limited. Democrat Mikie Sherrill has defeated Republican Jack Ciattarelli, keeping the governorship in Democratic hands. With 93% of the vote counted, Sherrill has won 56.2% of the vote to Ciattarelli’s 43.2%.
With Sherrill scheduled to take office as the next governor of New Jersey, her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives will become vacant and must be filled in a special election. New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District supported Democrat Kamala Harris by 9 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, making it likely that the district will remain in Democratic hands.
All 80 seats in the New Jersey General Assembly were also on the ballot. Democrats have held onto the chamber by capturing both seats in 27 districts, while Republicans won both seats in eight districts.District 30 is slated to send one Republican and one Democrat to the General Assembly, while the results in the remaining seats are too close to call.
The trifecta in New Jersey will continue for at least the next two years, as seats in the Democrat-controlled New Jersey Senate are not up until 2027.
3. New York City elects democratic socialist mayor
The largest city in the U.S. held a mayoral election that made headlines worldwide. The multi-candidate race included Democrat Zohran Mamdani, Democrat-turned-independent Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa. Mamdani, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, has come out on top.
With 98% of the vote reporting, Mamdani has won 50.5% of the vote to Cuomo’s 41.7% and Sliwa’s 7.2%. Mamdani replaces incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who originally sought re-election as a Democrat before running as an independent. In the waning weeks of the campaign, Adams dropped out of the race.
The race has received heightened national attention due to Mamdani’s proposals calling for the establishment of government-run grocery stores, raising the minimum wage to $30 an hour, his call for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the event that he travels to New York City, and his support for defunding the New York Police Department.
Denouncing Mamdani as a “Communist,” President Donald Trump vowed to withhold federal funding from the Big Apple if Mamdani won the election.
4. California voters approve Proposition 50
Billed as an emergency measure to respond to mid-decade redistricting in Texas and elsewhere, Proposition 50 asked voters in California to set aside the congressional map adopted by the state’s Redistricting Commission and replace it with a map explicitly designed to benefit Democrats.
California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 50. With 77% of the vote reporting, unofficial results show Proposition 50 passing with 64.4% of the vote. The new map is expected to have drastic implications for California’s congressional delegation.
Currently, Democrats hold 43 of California’s 52 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The new map turns three districts currently represented by Republicans into seats that backed Kamala Harris for president by double digits in the 2024 presidential election: California’s 1st Congressional District, California’s 3rd Congressional District and California’s 41st Congressional District.
California’s 48th Congressional District, which backed Republican President Donald Trump by double digits in the 2024 presidential election, will transform into a seat that supported Harris by 4 percentage points. California’s 22nd Congressional District will see Trump’s margin of victory drop from 6 percentage points to 2 percentage points. The map is likely to increase Democrats’ number of seats in the state to at least 46 and possibly 48 in a good year for the party.
