Five Takeaways From a Good Night for Democrats

The party won the New York City mayoral election and gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey.

One year after losing the election to Donald Trump, Democrats finally got to celebrate. The party scored a victory in New York, where democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani won the mayoral race. It also held on to the governor’s mansion in New Jersey and flipped a gubernatorial seat in Virginia, electing the state’s first female governor. An effort to redraw congressional maps in California to favor Democrats was successful.

Supporters of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani gathered on Tuesday night in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Democrats say victories">their victories are a verdict on President Trump’s second term. Candidates backed by the president—former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo in New York and former state lawmaker Jack Ciattarelli in New Jersey—were soundly defeated. But divisions between moderates and those in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party persist.

In New York, progressives—and maybe even Republicans—get a win

Mamdani will be New York City’s next mayor. The 34-year-old democratic socialist is a political novice who was able to build support by focusing on the cost of living and using a modern digital campaign to reach a wide audience. Liberals say his strategy is a road map for Democrats who want to reach voters. Centrists say a New York City mayoral race isn’t representative of the several dozen swing seats that the party will need to compete in during next year’s midterms.

Zohran Mamdani campaigned in Brooklyn as New Yorkers headed to the polls Tuesday.

In a last-ditch effort to stop Mamdani, Trump urged voters to back former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat-turned-independent, over the Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa, who wasn’t seen as a likely contender in the race. Still, Republicans can take some solace from Mamdani’s victory. Democrats running in tight races often try to distance themselves from the party’s left wing and some of their views, such as Mamdani’s longstanding pro-Palestinian stance and his past calls to defund the police. The mayor-elect now says he doesn’t support defunding the police department.

Federal workers still appear to back Democrats in Virginia despite shutdown

Abigail Spanberger’s win in the race for Virginia governor is a signal to Democrats that—so far at least—the party’s strategy over the federal government shutdown hasn’t backfired.

Few places are more affected by the government shutdown than Virginia, which is home to more than 147,000 federal workers, according to government data. The shutdown, which on Wednesday will become the longest ever, has meant federal workers aren’t receiving paychecks.

Democrats are taking a gamble by refusing the votes in Congress to reopen the government unless Republicans cut a deal and agree to healthcare subsidy extensions. Democrats united around an election strategy focused on affordability, which they see as a way of unseating Republicans who currently hold all levers of federal government. So far, most polls show the president and Republicans are taking more blame for the shutdown but voter frustration at both parties is high.

While Virginia has leaned toward the Democrat in recent years, voters there backed a Republican governor in 2021. The state moved toward Trump in 2024, even though Democratic nominee Kamala Harris ultimately won. Northern Virginia, home to many federal workers, overwhelmingly backed Spanberger, a former congresswoman and Central Intelligence Agency officer on Tuesday.

Some minority voters go back to Democrats

Mikie Sherrill’s victory in New Jersey’s gubernatorial race was a signal that the Democratic Party had won back at least some of the Latino and Black voters who had voted Republican in 2024. New Jersey has a significant nonwhite population. Sherrill was leading Essex County, the home of Newark, N.J., by 2-to-1 Tuesday night. Essex County is a majority Black and Latino county. Former President Barack Obama attended a rally for Sherrill in Newark in the campaign’s final days.

Former President Barack Obama spoke at a rally in Newark, N.J., on Saturday for Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic candidate for governor.

Trump made huge gains with minority voters nationwide in the 2024 election. While New Jersey still voted Democratic in 2024, it did so by a smaller margin than in 2020. Sherrill had a clear lead over opponent, Ciattarelli, when the race was called. But the matchup made Democrats nervous as Election Day neared and polls showed Ciattarelli had moved within striking distance.

Democrats get a shot of adrenaline, but no clear answers

After a bruising year plagued by infighting, fundraising woes and frustrated voters, Democrats finally had a good night.

Since Trump won the White House a year ago, Democrats have struggled to provide any significant counter to his efforts to consolidate power. Voters have repeatedly urged them to do more as their approval ratings plummeted. A Wall Street Journal poll this summer found they had their lowest approval in 35 years.

The off-year elections could be a sign of tides turning Democrats’ way, but the mix of candidates and their range of ideology still leave major questions about the party’s path forward in next year’s midterm elections. Tuesday’s winners—centrists in New Jersey and Virginia, and a socialist in New York City—give each of the party’s factions something to celebrate.

Abigail Spanberger, Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Virginia, greeted supporters on election night in Richmond, Va.

Democrats currently don’t have a clear leader, and those who are being considered as potential 2028 presidential candidates are all over the spectrum on ideology and personality, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former chief of staff who most recently was ambassador to Japan.

Trump wasn’t on the ballot, and he won’t be in 2026 either

As Democratic victories came in on Tuesday, Trump posted on social media that Republicans did poorly because he wasn’t on the ballot and the government was shut down. At least one of those things isn’t going to change in next year’s midterm elections, when the entire House of Representatives, some Senate seats and other key state offices will be contested.

For Democrats, Trump was a key part of their campaign and they were able to mobilize voters over frustrations about his leadership. In New Jersey, much of the race centered on Trump, despite Ciattarelli’s efforts to make it about Democrats. In New York City, Cuomo, who as governor had sparred with Trump during the pandemic, tried to distance himself after the president told voters to back Cuomo in an effort to stop Mamdani.

Republicans, however, could have had a more difficult time getting their voters to turn out without the president on the ballot. The party in power historically struggles during the midterm elections. Tuesdays results will make some Republicans nervous about the party’s ability to hold on to narrow majorities next year, especially in the House.

Write to Eliza Collins at eliza.collins@wsj.com