On November 4, 2025, voters across the country cast their ballots in elections for the New Jersey Governor, Virginia Governor, and New York City Mayor. What some call a “blue wave” has swept the country, with Democrats Mikie Sherrill (NJ), Abigail Spanberger (VA), and Zohran Mamdani (NY) remaining the victors of their state elections.
According to CNN’s readily updated “Election 2025: News, Results, and Analysis,” Mikie Sherrill defeated her opponent, Jack Ciattarelli, by taking 56.9% of the votes. As for Spanberger of Virginia, she defeated her Republican counterpart, Winsome Earle-Sears, with 57.6% of the votes. Lastly, Mamdani received 50.4% of the votes against his competitors, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa. Though each election was quite close, the Democratic triumph has been the political discussion of the country.
In the November 1st article from USA Today, “Obama rallies for Democratic governor candidates in New Jersey, Virginia,” the reporter described how former President Barack Obama endorsed both Spanberger and Sherrill in their races for governor. On the other hand, the November 3rd piece from NBC News, “Trump endorses Andrew Cuomo on eve of New York mayoral election: ‘You really have no choice,’” depicted how current President Donald Trump endorsed Ciattarelli and Cuomo in the New Jersey Governor’s Race and the New York Mayoral Race. Though Trump did not directly endorse Virginia’s Republican candidate, as stated in Politico’s “Trump endorses dozens ahead of Tuesday elections — but doesn’t name Earle-Sears” on November 3rd, he did tell reporters before the election that Earle-Sears should win “because the Democrat candidate is a disaster.”
In NBC News’s “Takeaways from the 2025 elections: Trump looms over every race, while Democrats win on the economy” from November 5th, the Democratic candidates in New Jersey and Virginia used Trump as a factor in their campaigns, leading people to cast their vote in an effort to oppose and push back the President. Sherrill and Spanberger won approximately 40% of the voters in their state who oppose Trump. Also, 60% of voters in Virginia and New Jersey said they were dissatisfied with the state of the country; among that group, 77% voted for Spanberger, and 75% for Sherrill. Trump’s actions in these elections were a contributing factor to voter outcomes.
The 2018 article from The Guardian, “’Blue wave’ sweeps Democrats back to majority in House of Representatives,” depicts the last blue wave, which was in 2018 during President Trump’s first term. The Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives after the midterm elections, which, like the 2025 election, reflected the country’s thoughts regarding the then-current state of the executive branch. Along with this win for the Democrats, 2018’s blue wave was also a year for women. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress at the age of 29, Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland became the first Native American women to be elected to the House, and with the Democratic majority, Nancy Pelosi reclaimed her role as Speaker of the House. Though the seemingly current blue wave is smaller in comparison to the wave seen in the 2018 midterms, there still remains a trend that can be observed. As seen in the 2025 election, Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger’s accomplishments have also demonstrated a similar swing to 2018, being two Democratic women who have both won their state elections for governor.
Lastly, there is some curiosity as to whether this election can predict the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections. The New York Times polling data, “Control of Congress 2026: Latest Polls,” as of December 11th, conveys a lead in the Democratic Party by single-digit margins. Out of 194 polls, many were even, and others depicted the Republicans leading by a few points; however, the vast majority predict a Democratic success.
Though I made an effort to gain perspectives from active state politicians, as of the date of this paper’s publication, I was unable to acquire an interview with a New Jersey Democratic legislator; however, I will continue to reach out to local legislators as we move into the 2026 mid-term elections. I was, however, fortunate in obtaining an interview with Republican Assemblywoman Aura Dunn. The discussion we had will be featured in a future article about the role of women in politics.
Though there remains speculation as to whether this recent election can be considered a “blue wave,” many news sources have indicated that this is, in fact, the best classification for the outcome.
