Despite the rampant rage at the recent surrender of several Democratic senators to end the government shutdown, the larger story lies in the political results of November 4.

Voters delivered an old-fashioned shellacking to Donald Trump and the Republican Party. The results were more impressive than Democrats themselves likely anticipated. Zohran Mamdani thundered to an impressive victory over the Trump faction and segments of the Democratic-establishment-endorsed Andrew Cuomo to become the first Muslim as well the youngest mayor of New York City in over a century. Additionally, Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger won the governors’ races in New Jersey and Virginia by commanding percentages. This marks the first time Democrats have won three consecutive gubernatorial elections in New Jersey since 1961.

The blue wave continued. California voters decisively approved new congressional-district boundaries as Democrats seek to halt Republican redistricting efforts ahead of next year’s battle for the House of Representatives. Democrats also retained three pivotal seats on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In Virginia, House Democrats flipped 13 seats for their biggest majority in nearly four decades.

Below the Mason–Dixon line in the Deep South, Democrats switched two seats on Georgia’s statewide Public Service Commission by sizable margins. It’s the first time Democrats have won a nonfederal statewide office there since 2006, fueled by soaring energy costs and displeasure with incumbents. In ruby-red Mississippi, Democrats switched two seats held by the GOP for decades.

What was notable was Mamdani, Spanberger, and Sherrill reigned victorious in three very diverse campaigns. Mamdani defeated an older, flawed opponent in a very blue city. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, Spanberger handily won over an admittedly eccentric, politically problematic Republican candidate in a state that landed in the center of government job cuts. Mikie Sherrill, whose race was supposed to be close, emerged the winner in New Jersey by a 15-point margin.

Certain right-wing personalities were quick to voice their disdain at fellow conservatives. “We got our a–es handed to us,” said Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy in a video on the social platform X, arguing Republicans need to focus more on affordability and less on identity politics in their messaging. Right-wing provocateur Dinesh D’Souza opined, “A very loud group on the Right said, ‘Indians go home,’ and so many of them did — to the Democratic Party.” Conservative commentator and podcaster Tomi Lahren said on X, “The Republican Party is gonna have to learn how to close the gender gap and Republicans are not gonna like when I say this but . . . Stop lecturing women on how they should stay home and be wives and mothers. It’s not your business. Focus on what women VOTERS actually care about, the economy and safety.”

House speaker Mike Johnson dismissed the Democratic wins as entirely predictable. “There’s no surprises… I think people are frustrated and angry as we are. I am. The president is, and we express that in different ways.”

Johnson is correct. Voters across the political spectrum are angry over the seemingly callous shenanigans and indifference that appears to have paralyzed the government (largely due to the actions of Republicans). This has rendered the legislative body impotent in its ability to assist the millions of Americans who are in desperate need of help.

Another factor that solidified every victory was the Democratic candidates’ ability to turn the issue of affordability into a major source of concern against the current president, dissolving a November 2024 Republican advantage into a 2025 liability. New York Times columnist Shane Goldmacher argued: “Democratic victories in New Jersey and Virginia were built on promises to address the sky-high cost of living in those states while blaming Mr. Trump and his allies for all that ails those places. In New York City, the sudden rise of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist with an ambitious agenda to lower the cost of living, put a punctuation mark on affordability as a political force in 2025.”

The results were in part a referendum on Trump, whose approval rating has never been lower. His authoritarian grandstanding is a show of weakness rather than strength. From ICE raids to frustratingly high grocery prices, tariffs, stubborn inflation, and other anxiety-inducing factors, including the $300 million White House ballroom and Trump arrogantly hosting Gilded Age, Great-Gatsbyesque parties, recent developments demonstrate a searing level of tone deafness on his part.

In the simplest terms, his presidency is immensely unpopular, and such a resentful climate does not bode well for Republicans in 2026.

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Copyright 2025 Elwood Watson, distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate

Elwood Watson is a professor of history, Black studies, and gender and sexuality studies at East Tennessee State University. He is also an author and public speaker.