Buckle up, kids – the Democrats are going to be partying tonight.

Unfortunately, the states of New Jersey and Virginia, and New York City, have chosen… poorly. Let’s start in New Jersey, where Mikie Sherrill, who carried plenty of baggage, has now been swept into the governor’s mansion thanks to that magical “D” after her name.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill handily beat Republican Jack Ciattarelli Tuesday after making her New Jersey gubernatorial campaign all about President Trump.

The three-term North Jersey Dem began the general election contest as the clear frontrunner with a near-double-digit lead in most polling, but the contest narrowed dramatically in the closing weeks — prompting Democrats to pour cash into her campaign and dispatch their top stars.

In the end, Sherrill won a decisive victory, nabbing 56.5% of the vote to Ciattarelli’s 42.9% with 69% of ballots counted.

Ciattarelli had nearly upset outgoing Governor Phil Murphy in 2021, but ended up with a worse showing this time, despite running a good campaign.

The news was worse in Virginia, where the Democrats swept the big three state races for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general.

Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger will defeat Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in the Virginia gubernatorial race, CBS News projected Tuesday, marking one of Democrats’ first major victories since President Trump’s win last year.

Spanberger will be Virginia’s first female governor.

Virginia’s off-year gubernatorial race tends to serve as a referendum on the president who was elected a year prior — and historically, the president’s party has almost always lost.

Spanberger carried herself and Ghazala Hashmi – who outright refused to debate her opponent – across the line. And then the magical “D” helped Jay “Two Bullets” Jones to an electoral win as well. But not before he – checks notes – pretended to kick a dog on Election Day.

Jay Jones just tried to kick a dog outside a polling place in Virginia.

In fairness, he may have confused it for a small child with Republican parents.pic.twitter.com/k4RMtL5Q9e

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 4, 2025

You picked a real winner, there, Virginia! Enjoy the guy who has no problem doubling down on wanting children to die if it advances his political cause as your new attorney general. Jay Jones can thank early voting for his close win.

But then the real party tonight is in New York City, where Zohran Mamdani took the win.

The Associated Press called the race for Mamdani, 34, about 40 minutes after polls closed, and with at least a few hundred thousand votes still to be counted.

Mamdani carried 50.4% of votes to Andrew Cuomo’s 41.3% at around 9:40 p.m. The projection — which came with 75% of votes counted — also found GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa with rock-bottom 7.5%.

The Uganda-born Mamdani will be the Big Apple’s first Muslim and first socialist mayor, as well as one of the youngest.

We’ve discussed Mamdani quite a lot on this blog – but now New York City will get to live the socialist dream for themselves. You punch the ticket, you take the ride. To add insult to injury, Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg was also re-elected.

So, what happened? Well, Democrats went all out for these candidates – and focused on Donald Trump. No less a Democrat than Barack Obama is gloating right now.

Congratulations to all the Democratic candidates who won tonight. It’s a reminder that when we come together around strong, forward-looking leaders who care about the issues that matter, we can win. We’ve still got plenty of work to do, but the future looks a little bit brighter.

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 5, 2025

These wins are definitely a reaction to Donald Trump being president, and each of these candidates made sure that they were campaigning against Trump. Now, this will end up being a double-edged sword, because President Trump will not be on the ballot in the future, so Democrats using him as the boogeyman will quickly go away. These are also states that Kamala Harris won easily in 2024, so Democrat wins are not exactly an abberation. BUT, Republicans need to now seriously address the economy. Things are softening up, and frankly, if the Supreme Court rules against the president on tariffs, it could unintentionally save the economy. But the Trump administration needs to develop economic plans that DON’T involve tariffs.

People are still poor (and getting poorer). AI is taking jobs. Groceries are high. Electricity is up. Healthcare just increased astronomically. I said it before and I’ll repeat it: If Americans don’t feel real material relief, the rightwing vibe shift will be a one-hit wonder.

— Bridget Phetasy (@BridgetPhetasy) November 5, 2025

However, the Democrats now get to live with the consequences of their votes – especially in New York City. Ironically, Mamdani’s win may have just sealed Governor Kathy Hochul’s doom, as she is now tied to him. When his pie-in-the-sky socialist dreams fail to materialize because he can’t raise taxes or freeze the rent, the voters aren’t going to blame him – at first, anyway. Mamdani will point the finger at Hochul, and guess who is up for election next?

Democrats also have a terrible habit of overplaying their hand. The Republicans would do well to scrupulously vet every single candidate that they intend to run during the midterm elections, and let the Democrats put up the Nazi tattoo apologists. The GOP needs to focus on “the normies” and address issues that everyday, normal voters care about, and not counter leftist crazy with right-wing crazy.

The off-year election is over. Let the postmortem analysis begin, because the midterm election cycle essentially starts right now.

Featured image: Adobe Stock standard license