Wins in New Jersey and Virginia governor races, California’s Proposition 50, and key mayoral contests signal strong Democratic momentum ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani has won the New York mayoral election to become the city’s first Muslim mayor, polls projected late on Tuesday after voting closed in the closely watched election.
By the time 91 percent of votes had been counted late on Tuesday night, Mamdani, who stood as the candidate for the Democratic Party, had won more than one million votes in the mayoral race, compared with about 850,000 votes for Andrew Cuomo, standing as an independent.
Democrats also won gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia on the same day, and Californians voted to allow the state’s Democratic lawmakers to redraw the congressional map.
Here are some key takeaways from the local United States elections:
Test of Trump’s popularity
The votes took place in states considered strongholds for Democrats, who indeed have won the elections.
Voting in different US states marked the first round of elections since President Donald Trump’s second term began in January this year.
Off-year elections, which take place during years when there is no presidential election, are usually viewed as an early litmus test of popular opinion on how an administration is performing and which parties voters are aligning themselves with.
According to NBC’s exit poll on Tuesday, 55 percent of voters in New Jersey, 56 percent of voters in Virginia, 69 percent of voters in New York City, and 63 percent of voters in California said they disapproved of Trump.
Off-year elections can also serve as an early indicator of how midterm elections – due next year – might go. Historically, support has started to turn away from the party in the White House by the time of the Trump appeared cautious ahead of the elections. He was most vocal about the mayoral race in New York, where polls forecast that Mamdani would win comfortably.midterms.
Before voting began, Trump threw his support behind former Democratic governor of New York state, Andrew Cuomo, calling Mamdani a “communist” and even threatening to cut federal funding to the city if Mamdani won.
That did not stop New Yorkers from voting for Mamdani, however. On Tuesday night, when 91 percent of votes had been counted, his tally of 1,036,051 votes was already the highest any New York mayoral candidate has won since 1965, when Republican John Lindsay secured 1,149,106 votes, according to the city’s records.
Trump endorsed but did not name the Republican lieutenant governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, who was a candidate in the gubernatorial race in Virginia. On October 20, he told reporters on Air Force One: “I think the Republican candidate is very good and I think she should win because the Democrat candidate’s a disaster.”
Late on Tuesday, he appeared to reject any notion that voters might be turning against his administration, posting on his Truth Social platform: “‘TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT,’ according to Pollsters.”
Democrats won all
Here is a closer breakdown of what the results look like for each race.
New York’s mayoral race
With 91 percent of the votes counted, Mamdani was well on the way to winning with 1,036,051 votes, about 50.4 percent. Cuomo had 41.6 percent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa was trailing far behind with just 7.1 percent of the vote share.
New Jersey’s gubernatorial race
Democrat Mikie Sherrill was ahead with 1,792,760 votes, or 56.2 percent of the vote share, by the time 95 percent of the ballots had been counted. Republican Jack Ciattarelli had received 43.2 percent of the vote. Sherrill would take over from outgoing Democratic Governor Phil Murphy.
Virginia’s gubernatorial race
Democrat Abigail Spanberger had won 1,961,990 votes, or 57.5 percent of the vote share, by the time 97 percent of the votes had been counted. Republican Earle-Sears had received 42.3 percent of the vote.
Virginia also elected Democrat Ghazala Hashmi as lieutenant governor and Democrat Jay Jones as attorney general.
While some of the winning Democrats, including Mamdani, represented the party’s more progressive wing, Virginia’s race was won by Spanberger, a moderate.
Other elections on Tuesday
Other votes included mayoral races in Cincinnati, Atlanta, Detroit and Pittsburgh, as well as for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
In Cincinnati and Atlanta, Democratic incumbents Aftab Pureval and Andre Dickens won their races. In Detroit, Democrat Mary Sheffield won, becoming the first woman to lead the city. Democrat Corey O’Connor won the race for Pittsburgh mayor.
Pennsylvania voters also voted to retain liberal Supreme Court Justices David Wecht, Christine Donohue and Kevin Dougherty.
Mamdani’s night
Mamdani’s win marks several firsts for New York.
Aged just 34, he is the first Muslim, the first person of South Asian descent, and the first born in Africa to become mayor of the city.
His win was met with fanfare. “Tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it. The future is in our hands,” he told a crowd of supporters.
“My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty. New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city we can afford,” he declared.
Mamdani pledged to deliver on his campaign promises, which include introducing rent freezes, free buses and universal childcare, and to serve all of the many diverse communities which make up the city. “I speak of Yemeni bodega owners and Mexican abuelas, Senegalese taxi drivers and Uzbek nurses. Trinidadian line cooks and Ethiopian aunties … to every New Yorker in Kensington and Midwood and Hunts Point,” he said.
New York City mayor election results
Democrat Zohran Mamdani has won the race to lead the largest city in the United States, defeating independent Andrew Cuomo. He will be sworn in on January 1
Cost of living key issue
Mamdani contested the mayoral election on promises of a free bus programme, universal childcare and the freezing of rent increases on rent-stabilised apartments, to be funded by higher income tax for millionaires and a hike in the corporate tax rate.
Sherrill ran her campaign on the promise of lower electricity costs. New Jersey’s electricity rates increased by 22 percent this year, the second-highest increase among all states after Maine. Sherrill has promised to freeze electricity rates and make it easier to add new power generators to the power grid.
Spanberger’s campaign focused on the cost of living in Virginia. She promised to lower the cost of housing, energy and healthcare, alongside improving public schools in the state.
California to redraw congressional districts
Californians voted on an amendment which will allow the Democratic-controlled state legislature, led by Governor Gavin Newsom, to implement new congressional district maps starting with the 2026 elections.
A majority of 63.8 percent of voters had voted in favour of the amendment by the time 71 percent of the votes had been counted.
While California has been a reliably “blue” state, some districts in its rural northeast have often flipped red. With the redistricting plan set out in Proposition 50, five of these districts could now turn back to blue in the upcoming House elections.
The proposition was, in part, a response to Texas’s mid-cycle redistricting, which benefits Republicans and could allow them to gain five House seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
In June, Trump had floated this idea with Texas Republicans, prompting Governor Greg Abbott to call a special session to redraw the congressional district maps in Texas. In August, the redistricting was enacted in the state.
After the vote, Newsom told reporters: “We stood tall and we stood firm in response to Donald Trump’s recklessness, and tonight, after poking the bear, this bear roared with an unprecedented turnout in a special election with an extraordinary result.”
Source: Al Jazeera
