Democrats gain political momentum heading into 2026

Art by Sara Polster

On Nov. 4, there were elections in New York, Virginia, New Jersey, and California. Each election resulted in favorable outcomes for the Democratic Party. 

In New York, Democrat Zohran Mamdani defeated the former governor Andrew Cuomo, as well as Curtis Silwa, winning 50.4 percent  of the popular vote. Mamdani is scheduled to succeed current mayor Eric Adams on Jan. 1, 2026. Adams, who was the incumbent, or mayor at the time of election, withdrew from the race in Sep. 2025. Mamdani’s campaigns focused on affordability in the city of New York, emphasizing the needs of low-income families. 

According to the New York Times, this election featured the highest turnout for a New York City since 1969. Of the 2,037,183 votes, Mamdani secured 1,036,051. This was mainly due to the young voter turnout. 

Ayan Lakhani (’28) anticipated that Mamdani’s age and the use of social media in his campaign were important to reaching an audience of younger voters. 

“I did think that he was kind of the first guy that really took advantage of social media. And, because he’s 35, he was able to understand how this stuff works.” Lakhani said.

Mamdani’s mayoral election was not the only election with a Democratic outcome on that night. Abigail Spanberger, a former Democratic representative, won the race for governor against Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in Virginia. This win made her the first female governor of the state of Virginia.

 In New Jersey, Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherill won the race for governor against Republican Jack Ciatarelli. 

These results could possibly offer an indication of the possible outcome of the midterm election, which is being held in November 2026. Because mid-term elections occur two years into a president's term, these results have the potential to impact the direction of a nation in the following presidential election. Stella Callen (’26) expresses that Mamdani’s win has aided in the setting of a Democratic example and allowed the party to gain more momentum on a national level. 

“I think politically, this will be kind of wider than just New York. It’ll keep pushing New York in a liberal way, which it has always been. But I think it will stand as an example for the rest of the US,” Callen said.

According to a YouGov poll, 46 percent of registered voters said they would vote for a Democratic candidate if elections for US congressional seats were held on Nov. 11, while 39 percent said they would vote for a republican candidate. According to Reuters Institute, YouGov is a non-partisan online data analysis platform that conducts public surveys. 

In line with this Democratic momentum was the approval of Proposition 50 in California. This was promoted by Gov. Gavin Newsom in response to House Bill 4 in Texas, which redraws the congressional district maps. Redrawing district maps is done to change the voting majority of districts, and give more seats in the US House of Representatives to a certain party. The approval of Prop 50 means that the state of California would redraw its own congressional maps, and potentially gain more Democratic seats in the House, in response to republican states doing the same.

A central part of Mamdani's campaign was making city bus fares free, as well as expanding bus lanes to increase the speed of traffic. Mamdani also plans to create a universal childcare program, which would provide free childcare from children of ages six weeks to five years old. The idea of government-subsidized grocery stores was also included, each placed in one borough. The government grocery stores would operate on city land, buy food at wholesale prices, and not charge owners property taxes. 

The implementation of these policies has generated much controversy, as Mamdani planned to fund these proposals by increasing taxes on high income individuals and corporations. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was one figure who was opposed to this type of funding. 

“No, I’m not raising taxes on people at a time when affordability is the big issue.” Hochul said as a guest on Pix 11’s podcast.  

Mamdani was first elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020. He represented the 36th district, which included neighborhoods in Astoria, Queens. Prior to his position as an assemblyman, Mamdani worked as a foreclosure prevention housing counselor, helping low-income renters avoid eviction. This former job and its ideals were shown in his campaign, as Mamdani promised to freeze rents and lower the cost of housing. Rent stabilization has been a prominent issue, dating back to the 40s’ and 60s’ where rent control was enacted by multiple administrations. Preceeding Adams was Mayor Bill de Blaiso, who froze rents for three years in a row. 

As the Democrats gain momentum in US politics, these results are likely to foreshadow outcomes of upcoming elections.