Democrats on Tuesday night swept election races in New Jersey, New York City, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, leaving Republicans saying they weren’t surprised and Democrats gloating on Wednesday.
In New Jersey, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., triumphed over former New Jersey General Assemblymember Jack Ciattarelli, cementing four more years of Democrat control over the executive branch of the Garden State.
In Pennsylvania, all three Democrat justices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court won additional terms in office with potential consequences about how late ballots and redistricting are decided in the future.
Democrats wrestled back control of the Virginia governor’s mansion after four years of Republican rule. Virginia voters elected former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger to succeed GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin, while Jay Jones defeated incumbent Republican Jason Miyares to become the next attorney general of Virginia. Jones was widely seen as the underdog after text messages from 2022 were leaked in which he fantasized about killing a Republican legislator and his children, but he still won.
And in New York City, Zohran Mamdani bested former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in a three-way race for mayor.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, D-Wyo., told The Daily Signal that she was not shocked by the outcomes of the elections.
“Well, these were solidly Democrat states and cities, where [then-Vice President] Kamala Harris secured strong victories in 2024, so frankly, last night’s results came as no surprise to me,” Lummis said, adding that she worried more about the effects of the federal government shutdown on the American people.
“What concerns me now is whether my colleagues across the aisle will finally abandon the reckless strategy of holding our government hostage to energize their progressive base. [Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.] and congressional Democrats made a calculated decision that shutting down the federal government and inflicting real hardship on American families was an acceptable price to pay for political points,” the Wyoming lawmaker said.
“The result is that Mamdani is now the leader of their party, and Democrats are going to have to live with that decision,” she concluded.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, concurred with Lummis about the sorts of states Democrats won in last night.
“Blue states went for blue candidates,” he told The Daily Signal before adding, “This includes radical socialist Zohran Mamdani, who is going to deeply damage New York City, and Jay Jones as Virginia’s attorney general, who fantasizes about the murder of Republicans and their children.”
“Democrats have picked their champions—and the rest of America is watching,” Lee said.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., also emphasized the ideological component of the electoral results in a comment to The Daily Signal.
“It shows the Democratic Party is only moving farther and farther to the left. Mamdani, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, is now the mayor of our largest city, and in Virginia, Jay Jones won his election to be attorney general despite his heinous comments fantasizing about the death of the former speaker of the Virginia state House [of Delegates] and his children,” Schmitt said.
“The bottom line is—the Democrats have not hit rock bottom yet, but every day they barrel closer and closer,” he said.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, deputy secretary of the Senate Democratic Caucus, attributed the Democrat wins to the affordability crisis.
“I can save you a dozen hours of podcast listening: People are pissed about high prices and corruption,” Schatz posted on X.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., meanwhile, emphasized the populist component of the elections, writing on the social media platform X, “Populist Dems won. Moderate Dems won. We won in blue states. We won in purple states,” adding, “Maybe the take is that (a) people think [President Donald] Trump is out of control; and (b) people like Dems when we’re taking a stand and fighting for what we believe in—as we have been for the last month.”
