Virginia, previously governed by Republican Glenn Youngkin, has elected Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former member of the U.S. House, as its next governor. New Jersey, which at times appeared surprisingly competitive, ultimately delivered a decisive victory for Democratic governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, marking the first time since the 1960s that the state has voted for the same party for governor three cycles in a row. And in New York City, the nation’s largest metropolis, voters are poised to elect Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old Muslim democratic socialist, as their next mayor.
Across the board, election day proved a decisive win for Democrats. Until that night, the party had seemed adrift, uncertain of its direction after being decisively rejected by voters in the 2024 general election. A February New York Times article captured the anxiety with the headline, “‘We Have No Coherent Message’: Democrats Struggle to Oppose Trump.” And just days before the vote, an NBC poll found that only 30% of Americans viewed the Democratic Party favorably.
There is still a long way to go, but now following the party’s success, there appear to be rays of clarity on the party’s path ahead of the 2026 and 2028 elections: affordability. From the party’s DSA wing to its centrist flank, candidates of all ideological stripes wooed voters with the promise of driving down prices and reigning in the country’s cost-of-living crisis. It’s an issue that helped drive voters away from Democrats last year — and now one that is helping win them back, as President Trump fails to deliver on his promises to do what Democrats couldn’t.
What made the Democratic message on affordability effective was not uniformity, but how it was tailored to each candidate’s unique constituency. In Virginia, Abigail Spanberger pushed data centers to help address rising energy bills in a state that hosts more of them than anywhere else in the country. In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill focused on tax relief in one of the most heavily taxed states in America. And in New York City, Zohran Mamdani targeted housing and transit costs in his plan to make the city more affordable.
But while the night’s success has given Democrats a policy lodestar and revived electoral hope across the board, it has also reignited a lively debate over where the party should go next. The election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s next mayor has energized the national progressive wing: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders both endorsed and campaigned with him, and former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn even hosted a last-minute phone bank on his behalf. For many on the left, Mamdani’s victory has been taken as proof that Democrats should embrace a more openly left-wing agenda nationwide.
Zohran Mamdani is a talented and charismatic candidate, but his election is more of an anomaly than a roadmap for the rest of the party. He benefited from a uniquely polarizing opponent: former governor Andrew Cuomo, whose scandal-ridden reputation turned voters against him regardless of who stood across the ballot. And New York’s leftward shift wasn’t mirrored elsewhere. In Minneapolis, Mayor Jacob Frey beat back a challenge from the left, even from a candidate once endorsed by the city’s own Democratic Party.
The lesson provided by Mamdani’s victory isn’t how Democrats can win over Republicans, it reveals only how Democrats can beat other Democrats. That’s not what the national party needs to learn. New York offers few broader takeaways anyway: it hasn’t voted for a Republican president in more than a century, and of the thirteen congressional districts touching the city, only one is held by a Republican.
By contrast, the victories of Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill offer a better playbook for 2026 and 2028. Both had to win over swing voters in genuinely competitive states. Kamala Harris carried their states by about five points; both women won theirs by more than twice that margin. Spanberger and Sherrill are vocal moderates – Spanberger a member of the conservative Blue Dogs, Sherrill a member of the centrist New Democrats – and both consistently ranked among the most bipartisan members of the House.
Every election is said to be the most important of our lifetimes. But this time, that may be more true than ever. Donald Trump’s renewed threat to American liberal democracy makes the stakes unmistakably clear. A Democratic Congress is the only real check on his abuse of power. And to win back the House and Senate, Democrats must run on a message that persuades independents and even some Republicans. The recent gubernatorial victories in Virginia and New Jersey show the way forward: a roadmap for how Democrats can broaden our coalition, win decisively, and stop Trump’s agenda in its tracks.
