Oh wow, baby, last night was something else. We’re still perspiring, wrapped in a Frette sheet and smoking a cigarette. What just happened? We’ve never felt anything like that. Historic. The earth moved!
All over the country, from tip to tail, Democrats didn’t just win a little—they came, ate, and swept up the crumbs, even in many places where Kamala Harris lost. Even down to the Georgia Public Service Commission, Democrats won two seats there for the first time in 25 years!
All signs point to one simple truth: It’s The Groceries, Stupid. That, with an assist from the whole erosion-of-democracy Trump saga, and a side of ICE controversies. Voters in all four states with major races—California, New York, Virginia, and New Jersey—told exit pollsters that trusting the Democrats with the economy was their primary motivation.
Guess Trump can’t just declare that grocery prices are down when they’re going up, and expect nobody to notice. Independents noticed in particular! Latino support for Republicans has understandably cratered as well.
Meanwhile, Trump’s approval ratings are lagging everywhere, scraping along with just 37 percent. Sad.
### California
The Election Rigging Response Act, aka Proposition 50, is poised to pass with nearly 64 percent of the vote so far and 70 percent of votes counted. And there have been no shady incidents with Trump’s monitors, who were sent to skulk outside a selection of primarily Latino polling stations—like nearly half-Latino Passaic County, New Jersey—glowering at voters.
That means a strong chance that Republican Representatives Doug LaMalfa, Darrell Issa, Ken Calvert, Kevin Kiley, and David Valadao will be out of jobs next year. Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch! Governor Gavin Newsom savored rubbing it in.
### Virginia: For Lovers and Leaders
Virginia was truly for lovers this time! Abigail Spanberger became the first woman ever elected governor there, thanks to independent voters favoring her by 19 points and Latinos by a 2-to-1 margin.
In Virginia, where the Lieutenant Governor is elected separately, the Democrat won that post too: State Senator Ghazala Hashmi will be the first Indian person to hold statewide office in Virginia and the first Muslim woman to win a statewide race in the US.
Virginia’s House of Delegates flipped seven seats to give Democrats control of both chambers of the legislature. So, soon they will likely be redrawing districts of their own—nice!
### New Jersey
Mikie Sherrill, Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger’s former Washington D.C. roommate, won the governorship over Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli by 13 points. Independent voters gave her a big assist with 13 percent support, and Latino voters backed her by a 2-to-1 margin, helping flip three districts that Trump had won.
Despite Trump’s “monitoring,” Sherrill won Passaic County by 15 points, a huge turnaround from Trump’s 3-point win there in 2024. Well, that sure doesn’t bode well for the GOP in future midterms!
### Other Notable Races
In Pennsylvania, TikTok boss and Trump ally Jeff Yass’s groups poured in millions trying to buy three state Supreme Court seats, but failed. Democrats held their 5-2 majority there. Remember this guy? Womp womp.
Also, Detroit elected its first female mayor, City Council President Mary Sheffield. Is that not enough DEI SocialCommieMarxism for you?
Voters in Colorado approved a measure to offer free breakfasts and lunches to every student enrolled in K-12 public schools.
### Saving the Best for Last
Now we may bid adios to racist Islamophobe, sex pest, and granny killer Andrew Cuomo. For the second time in five months, New York City voters rejected him in his bid for mayor. He’ll now have to do his groping in the private sector.
We must also bid farewell to Curtis Sliwa—just as we were figuring out how to pronounce his name! It’s not “sligh-wah,” it’s “slee-wa.” Mamdani told NY1 he was the only other candidate who gave him a congratulatory call last night. Presumably, Cuomo and Eric Adams were too busy packing up their fleece vests to move out of the city they hate so much.
Sliwa’s a kook, with 17 cats, but we got kind of fond of him toward the end. He seemed to genuinely care about the city and said of Cuomo what we’re all thinking: “Hopefully he goes back to the Hamptons with his billionaire friends, crawls under a rock, and leaves all of us alone, because he’s a prince of darkness.”
Let’s end with Mamdani’s victory speech—a reminder of what a night, and what a guy! It’s The Groceries, but it’s also about the candidates, inspiring voters and getting them out. Mamdani’s rise—from polling at one percent in January to winning more than 50 percent of the vote yesterday—is simply incredible, unprecedented.
He is the first Muslim mayor of New York City and, at 34, the youngest mayor in more than a century. Whatever “it” is, he’s got it!
Now, fetch a towel and freshen up! It’s a new day, and we’re back on the good foot!
—
*Source: NPR*
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https://www.wonkette.com/p/this-is-one-nice-time
