Voters shifted sharply to the left across Virginia, New Jersey, and New York City in elections held Tuesday, November 4, 2025, sweeping Democrats into office. These candidates focused on affordability and capitalized on growing frustration with President Donald Trump.
More than 2 million New York City voters—the highest turnout since 1969—turned out to elect a democratic socialist as mayor, rejecting a former governor who was once a standard-bearer for the Democratic Party.
Four years ago, Republicans enjoyed a wave of support that gave them the governorship in Virginia and made the New Jersey race much closer than Democrats had expected. Meanwhile, a moderate Democrat replaced a more liberal one in New York City Hall. This time, however, the political energy in all three places shifted distinctly toward Democrats and the left wing of the party.
### Virginia: A Leftward Shift Across the State
In every county and independent city in Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger outperformed Terry McAuliffe—the Democrat who lost to Republican Glenn Youngkin in the 2021 gubernatorial race. According to a Washington Post analysis, Spanberger exceeded McAuliffe’s vote share by a median of 13 percentage points across these areas.
She also outperformed Kamala Harris, last year’s Democratic presidential nominee, in more than 95 percent of Virginia’s counties and independent cities, topping her vote share by a median of three percentage points.
Spanberger flipped six counties or independent cities that Trump had won in 2024, including three that had shifted from President Joe Biden to Trump—Prince Edward, Surry, and Lynchburg.
Her gains were comprehensive, spanning rural, suburban, and urban areas. Spanberger won both Democratic strongholds and swing areas, while also chipping into traditionally Republican counties. Notably, she secured large margins in the Washington D.C., Richmond, and Virginia Beach metropolitan areas. Whereas McAuliffe won those regions by 251,000 votes in 2021, Spanberger was leading them by about 700,000 votes based on incomplete tallies available as of Wednesday morning.
She also flipped 15 counties that McAuliffe had lost, most located in metropolitan areas such as Virginia Beach, Stafford, and Spotsylvania—counties that Youngkin won by large margins in 2021. In other areas, she lost by smaller margins than McAuliffe, outperforming him by nearly 20 points in Republican-dominated Southwest Virginia, including Bristol and Montgomery.
Spanberger dominated Loudoun County, winning it by 29 percentage points compared to McAuliffe’s 11-point win there four years ago, and Harris’s 16-point margin last year.
Similarly, Jay Jones, who won the attorney general’s race but lagged behind Spanberger, outperformed Harris’s margin in Loudoun County, winning by 19 points despite bipartisan condemnations related to violent texts he authored years ago.
### New Jersey: Solid Democratic Support
In New Jersey, Democrat Mikie Sherrill won by a much wider margin than Governor Phil Murphy (D), who narrowly secured a second term four years ago. Both faced Republican Jack Ciattarelli, but Sherrill secured a more comfortable victory by earning significant support across the state.
Sherrill outpaced both Murphy and Harris in every county. Her strongest performances compared to Harris came in counties that had shifted most toward Trump in 2024, including Passaic and Hudson counties, where Latinos make up over 40 percent of the population.
Trump had made notable gains in these counties last year and flipped Passaic. However, Sherrill won both counties, outperforming Harris by 11 points in Hudson and by nine points in Passaic. She also won four other counties that Trump carried the previous year.
### New York City: A Democratic Socialist Victory
In New York City, 34-year-old Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and member of the State Assembly, defeated former governor Andrew M. Cuomo by a larger margin on Tuesday than he did in the Democratic primary five months ago.
Mamdani expanded his earlier coalition of younger, college-educated, and liberal voters in Manhattan and nearby gentrifying neighborhoods. He performed particularly well in precincts with fewer voters over age 60, where turnout was higher in this election compared to 2021.
He carried four of the city’s five boroughs in early, unofficial results, with Cuomo carrying only Staten Island, the city’s most conservative borough—one that Trump had won in each of his elections.
Cuomo attempted to rebuild the coalition formed by Mayor Eric Adams four years ago, which primarily included non-White and conservative-leaning voters in the outer boroughs. Cuomo gained additional support after Adams withdrew from the race and Trump endorsed him at the last minute, encouraging Republicans to abandon their nominee, Curtis Sliwa.
Despite this, the strategy failed. Cuomo lost by a wider margin than Sliwa’s total vote share.
In the Bronx, Mamdani made his strongest gains relative to Cuomo in the general election. Cuomo’s supporters had sought to weaken Mamdani’s momentum by highlighting his criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Mamdani, who aims to become New York City’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest in a century, managed to draw widespread support across the city and made significant inroads in areas where Trump had gained ground last year.
He increased his support among Black and Hispanic voters, gaining 35 percentage points in areas with a Black plurality and 11 points in Hispanic neighborhoods compared with the primary.
### Looking Ahead
Democrats interpret these off-year election victories as a clear sign that voters are unhappy with President Trump and are ready to deliver them the House majority in next year’s midterm elections. Currently, Republicans hold a narrow 219-213 majority in the House, and several races could be pivotal in determining the chamber’s control.
—
*Graphics courtesy of The Washington Post*
[https://washingtonpost.com/](https://washingtonpost.com/)
https://newsindiatimes.com/mapping-a-democratic-sweep-across-virginia-new-jersey-and-new-york/