Election night, 2025
The Democrats win big
It’s late on the night of Election Day and it appears that Democrats, who have repeatedly persuaded me that they strongly prefer to sit in opposition, appear to have won important state and local elections.
According to projections, Abigail Spanberger will be the next governor of Virginia, Ghazala F. Hashmi will be the state’s lieutenant governor, and Jay Jones will be the state’s attorney general; Mikie Sherrill will be governor in New Jersey; Zohran Mamdani will be New York City’s next mayor; and California has endorsed a gerrymander that might give Democrats five more seats in the House of Representatives. Many of these victories appear to have been by wide margins.[1]
Donald Trump was, of course, not on the ballot but these results will surely come as an astonishing rebuke. Beyond that, it remains to be seen how Republican politicians who have been sycophants in word and deed to Trump will react as the white Christian nationalist coalition appears increasingly to be breaking up.[2]
One thing that’s clear is that Trump does not now have the “mandate” he claimed following the 2024 election. One thing that’s not so clear is what this portends for 2026 or for 2028—both of these elections will include races for seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate and it is at the federal level that Democrats have convinced me they prefer to sit in opposition.
[1] Washington Post, “Mamdani wins NYC mayor race, California passes Prop 50, Democrats take governor races in N.J., Va.,” November 4, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/11/04/election-2025-live-updates/
[2] David Benfell, “Will there be a surprise ending?” Not Housebroken, October 31, 2025, https://nothousebroken.substack.com/p/will-there-be-a-surprise-ending