In a time of political unrest and instability, Tuesday’s elections provided some much needed light with historic wins by women, democrats and more across the country. Voters’ attitudes about President Trump and his agenda were central to their choices.
Democrats added more than ten seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, along with Abigail Spanberger being elected as the state’s first female governor, winning by over 14%. The seat was previously held by Republican Glenn Youngkin, and her win seemed to be heavily impacted by the large number of federal workers in Virginia, many of whom were either laid off before the government shutdown or have faced unemployment for the past 36 days.
Spanberger gave a meaningful victory speech to her fellow Virginians. She told the crowd that in 2025, “Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship” and “commonwealth over chaos,” and that Virginians would stand united as Americans in a time of division. At the end of her speech, Spanberger told the crowd a sentence that her husband had told her daughters on election night — one that has never been said before: “Your mom is gonna be the governor of Virginia.”
In New Jersey, Congressman Mikie Sherill won the seat of governor as the second ever woman to do so. The navy veteran’s election keeps the governorship blue for the third term in a row. Sherill beat the Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli, who Trump endorsed and held rallies for. Sherill slammed Trump for the government shutdown and used the New Jersey motto of “Liberty and Prosperity” to tell crowds that “liberty alone is not enough if the government makes it impossible to feed your family and get a good education.”
Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York seemed to be the expected result in a deeply blue city, despite presidential support for Andrew Cuomo. While Mamdani polled low among Jewish voters due to accusations of fueling antisemitism, he managed to gather support from other groups.
In other great news, Maine voters approved a “red flag” gun law, which empowers family members to petition a court to restrict a potentially dangerous person’s access to a gun, providing some justice to the family members of the victims of a Maine mass shooting that killed 18.
In Atlanta, Democrats flipped two seats on Georgia’s statewide Public Service Commission by wide margins — a surprising victory in the state where Democrats have just begun to become competitive. The party arose as more favorable against the backdrop of President Trump and his administration.
California voters approved the redistricting of the state that intends to make several Republican-held congressional districts in California more favorable to Democrats in the 2026, 2028 and 2030 midterm elections. The victory was one of many in Tuesday’s elections that brought comfort and hope to Americans in despair during the unjust times of today.