Democrats sweep the night's biggest elections: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to a special-post election edition of From the Politics Desk, a newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

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Democrats sweep the first major elections of 2025

Democrats scored a series of victories across the country Tuesday on the first major Election Day of President Donald Trump’s second term.

The NBC News Exit Poll found that voters in Virginia, New Jersey, New York City and California expressed broad dissatisfaction with Trump. Most voters in those elections were also sour on the direction of the country as they expressed worries about financial issues and the economy.

Even though voters generally did not hold positive views of either party, Democratic campaigns were able to capitalize on other areas of concern, giving the party a desperately needed boost one year out from the midterms.

Here are the most notable results from the night:

Virginia: Democrat Abigail Spanberger defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears to flip control of the state’s governorship, setting her up to become the first woman to lead the state.

Democrats found success across the board in Virginia. Jay Jones won the election for Virginia attorney general, overcoming a text message scandal that threatened to derail his candidacy in the final stretch of the race. State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi became the first Muslim American woman elected to statewide office in the U.S. with her victory in the lieutenant governor’s race. And the party expanded its majority in the state House of Delegates.

New Jersey: Democrats won the other governor’s race of the evening, with Rep. Mikie Sherrill defeating Republican Jack Ciattarelli after a race she worked to make a referendum on Trump.

New York City: Democrat Zohran Mamdani won the mayoral race, after the 34-year-old democratic socialist energized progressives around the country. In his victory speech after vanquishing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani claimed a broad mandate and set himself up in direct opposition to Trump, who made a late endorsement against him. “In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light,” Mamdani said.

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For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between killed New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

FOR SUBSCRIBERSMore oil is getting out of the Middle East. Why is it still so expensive?

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe complicated bargain between ‘looksmaxxing’ influencer Clavicular and the women in his orbit

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenators unveil bipartisan bill to deliver essential newborn supply kits to new moms

California: Voters approved a new congressional map drawn by state Democrats, giving the party the chance to gain up to five House seats next year and counter Republican redistricting efforts in other states.

Pennsylvania: Voters approved the retention of three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices, preserving Democrats’ 5-2 majority on the battleground state’s high court.

The rest: Maine will soon become the 22nd state to have an “extreme risk protection” gun law, also known as a “red flag law” — part of a slew of state ballot measures voters around the country considered, on issues from raising taxes on higher earners to parental rights and voting rules.

The GOP’s view: No one thought Tuesday was going to be Trump’s election night, but there were even fewer silver linings than many Republicans had hoped, Matt Dixon, Henry J. Gomez, Jonathan Allen and Garrett Haake report. Still, Republicans were brushing aside the off-year races as aberrations that aren’t predictive of the 2026 midterms.

That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.

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