A Good Night for Democrats

From the New York Times, I'm Natalie. Kitroof. This is the Daily. >> Now to election night in the high stakes. races marking the first electoral test. [music] of President Trump's second. term. >> We can now make a major projection. >> In Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spamberger. will be the first woman to serve as. governor. >> Mike Cheryl is the next governor of New. Jersey, defeating Jack Cherelli. CNN. projects that Democratic socialist Zoran. Mdani, the Democratic candidate, will be. elected [music] the next mayor of New. York, New York.

>> Last night, [music] in the first big. elections of the new Trump era, Democrats won. In New Jersey, >> man, with this vote, you guys should. scream from the rooftop. Virginia, >> we sent a message to the whole world. that in 2025, Virginia chose pragmatism. over partisanship. [cheering]. >> And New York City, >> New York, tonight you have delivered.

a mandate for [music] change. >> and up and down the ballot across the. country. So, Donald Trump, since I know. you're watching, I have four words for you. Turn the volume up. Today, national political correspondent. Shane Goldmaker explains what these. elections tell us about how voters feel.

about Trump and whether Democrats have. finally found their footing. It's [music] Wednesday, November 5th. Did you choose blue M&M's? >> No, it just like came out. There was. extra blue. >> That's It's very I mean. >> on brand. >> You did a good job. Okay, so Shane, New. York City, Virginia, New Jersey, the.

Democrats won maybe on one level. Not. that surprising. These were all blue. states, blue city. But the races were. called pretty early. We are talking. before midnight. >> Well before midnight. >> Well before midnight. I honestly was. hoping to have a little more late night. pizza. We did both have cupcakes, so. we're ready to go. [gasps]. The big question going into this. off-year election was would voters. soften on Trump from just a year ago. This is the first temperature check on. how voters are feeling about the.

president one year in after everything. he's done in office. The other question. was how would the Democrats perform? So. what do these results tell us? >> I think that there's almost nowhere on. the ballot that you can look this year. that there isn't good news for the. Democratic party. You can look at the. top of the ticket where there's. governor's races in Virginia and New. Jersey where the Democrats are not just. winning but winning pretty big. You can. look at the ballot measure in California. to redraw five congressional districts.

that that's winning overwhelmingly right. now. You can look at the Pennsylvania. Supreme Court. You can look really, really far down the ballot in Georgia. where there's a public utilities. commission election where Democrats are. are ahead really all up and down the. map. The House of Delegates in Virginia, Democrats are winning almost everywhere. right now. >> So, this was a good night for Democrats, bad night for Republicans and Trump. himself. It was also a good night for. Democratic socialists too, right? >> Yeah. I mean, I think one of the biggest.

names to win is Zoron Mdani here in New. York City. And look, it wasn't a. surprise that he won this election, right? He won the primary. Uh he's been. the front runner in the polls. But if. you would asked me in January who was. going to win this November, Mani was not. on my or almost anyone's radar. No, he. wasn't on the map. >> Yeah. He was at 1% virtual unknown. assembly member in New York in a city. where nobody knows any of the assembly. members frankly and you know built a. campaign that built a huge following and.

obviously is now the mayor elect as a. 34year-old democratic socialist. >> Yeah. And I think that gets at this. second and maybe bigger question around. these races which has been what kind of. vision were the Democrats going to put. forward here? Would the Democrats coales. around a coherent version of themselves. that presented a path for the future? And what's interesting about tonight is. that we saw two very different versions. of Democrats win.

>> I mean, I think we saw two divergent. pathways in Mikey Cheryl, who's now the. governor- elect of New Jersey, and. Abigail Spanberger, the governor-elect. of Virginia. moderate women with. national security credentials, centrists, aim for the middle of the. political electorate, >> right? >> And then you have in New York City a. Democratic socialist who inspired. thousands of people to big rallies and. juiced turnout in the city to basically.

double more than double the last mayor's. race just four years ago. just to kind. of linger for a moment on the fact of. Mamani's [snorts]. victory, the extent of it, the breadth. of it, it's fair to say that he did. something remarkable even in a place. like New York City, progressive New York. City. We're getting a pretty clear. sense, as you said, that the turnout was. historic. Over 2 million people turned. out. More than a million of those voted.

for a democratic socialist in the. capital of capitalism. I think it's a. huge election. I think it tells you a. lot about where the Democratic Party is. today, right? The Democratic Party today. is unhappy with the Democratic. establishment, right? And so, yes, in. these states like Virginia and New. Jersey, they picked sort of more. traditional candidates, people who'. first won in the 2018 midterms. But in. New York, they they took a a flyer a.

flyer on somebody totally different. who's speaking almost a different. language of expansiveness in his agenda. Right? You know, there's a real. frustration in the year since Trump won. from Democratic voters with the. Democratic party. And I think that his. rise represents that. You know, it. really is that that encapsulation of. what I think we're going to see all. across the country next year, which is a. fight between the old guard of the. Democratic Party, age and otherwise, and.

a frustrated new guard that wants to. push the party to take bigger and. broader positions on issues. >> So, let's dig in to how Mamani did it, how he pulled this off. You're starting. to talk about it a little bit, and we've. we've covered this quite a bit on the. show. He was a candidate who almost. relentlessly focused on these. affordability issues, free buses, rent. freezes, free child care. That was. clearly a very potent message. And I'm.

curious, how much of his victory do you. think is that message in and of itself? or if it's that message plus everything. else that comes with this candidate, which is someone who's a very capable. messenger who can deliver that message. >> I mean, it's so hard to tell because, right, it's hard to separate the. candidate from the message and the. messenger from the message, right? We. all know the three things that he's. standing for because they delivered it.

so well and so repeatedly, right? Many. candidates don't have. >> that kind of message. discipline, but. then they might not also have a message. that's quite as expansive and memorable. Right? Mikey Cheryl running in New. Jersey has promised repeatedly to. declare on day one a state of emergency. for utility bills. That was a winning. message, right? The utilities bills have. been going up in New Jersey. This is. something that sounds clearly like a. poll tested winner. Voters are. frustrated about that. Does that sound. like the kind of thing that she dreamt.

her whole life of running for governor. to declare a day one emergency on. utility bills? Like probably not. Right. Right. Right. It also doesn't quite roll. off the tongue like freeze the rent, you. know? >> Not quite freeze the rent and not not. quite free childare, right? That's not. going to change the complexion. fundamentally of New Jersey as a place. to live, >> right? >> The things that mom Donnie is talking. about could, right? They are hard. He's. unlikely to get that full agenda very. quickly, right? But it's the idea that. he came up with something. transformational that I think that has.

drawn so much attention to his candidacy. and made him sort of a unique figure. right now. >> And he was also very much a kind of. representative of this deeply. progressive wing of the Democratic. party. I mean, just thinking about his. message on Gaza and his pro Palestine. stance that he did not compromise on, even though, you know, there were Jewish. New Yorkers who were alienated by it. >> I mean, this this felt like the table.

stakes of his candidacy in the primary, it wasn't the emphasis of his campaign, certainly in the general election. I. think he did make a big pivot to reach. out to the Jewish community and to. Jewish voters, especially as Andrew. Cuomo hammered him on this issue. So, it. wasn't that he ever shied away from the. topic, but I think it was less his focus. and more the basis of of his campaign at. the very beginning. >> You're saying he didn't make that the. centerpiece of his campaign. And. neither, right, was a message about.

Trump being a threat to democracy. It. was these economic concerns that he just. kept hammering on the cost of living. issues that really resonated. >> every single day. That was that was his. focus. >> You mentioned Shane that Mamani had. something like 90,000 volunteers. Our. our colleagues have reported that his. campaign became like an antidote to. loneliness for the Gen Z, you know, volunteers who were involved and they. came out, they canvased for him. They.

made friends. They explored this city. They touched grass. They got out there. Like his personality, that charisma, it. obviously genuinely inspired people. Maybe people who had never been invested. in politics before. And I'm I'm. wondering how much weight we should give. that. >> I mean, I think you should give that a. lot of weight, right? I think that, you. know, we reported over the weekend that. former President Obama called Mam Donnie.

ahead of the election and spoke to him, offered to be a sounding board for him. and basically praised the campaign he. had just run so far. And people have. been drawing parallels between these two. men who have brought hope to Democratic. voters at a time where they feel pretty. bleak and dark. And there's a whole lot. of Obama veterans and alumni who have. said, "Hey, this is the first time I've. actually seen somebody else who's. inspiring hope like that.".

>> And there's a lot of responsibility for. that. New York's big and complicated, and he's 34 years old, has managed a. very small staff as a member of the. legislature, a fairly large campaign. team, but this is a daunting thing, and. he has to fulfill the hope and promises. that people have put. Otherwise, this. ultimately is going to be a struggle for. the left. He's become this really. important figure for the left of the. Democratic party. Not just his victory, but can he actually accomplish things?

And then even if he is right able to. have success in New York City, I think. there's a question about whether you can. be this kind of Democrat and put. together a winning coalition, not just. in New York City, but at the state. level, you know, at the purple state. level in swing state America. What can you say about that? >> I mean, I don't think we can say much of. anything about that yet because they. haven't tried. This is why he's plowing.

new ground. This is why it's a historic. candidacy, right? A democratic socialist. running a city of 8 million people is. new, right? New York City is bigger than. a whole bunch of states in the country. And so, no, we don't know whether it's. politically viable, but that's the whole. idea of the project, right? Which is if. you are successful, then there will be people who will. emulate you. And if you're not, there. will be fewer people. So then what is. the lesson do you think that Democrats. take from Mani's win at the end of the.

day? >> I mean talking about Mum Donnie with. Democrats has been a total roarshock. test in recent weeks. The centrist and. moderates look at his candidacy and say. like he had an enviable message. discipline on the issues of. affordability and that can work. everywhere. that that focus on the cost. of living is exactly right, exactly what. the party needs to be doing to win in. 2026 all over the country, red states. and purple states and blue states. And. you talk to people on the left and they.

say, "Sure, he had a focus, but that's. not what made him a success. What made. him a success was the scope of the. solutions that he was proposing to the. problem. >> that he was meeting people with their. level of frustration with the system. that he was saying is broken that we. need such big solutions because the. system has stopped working. It's. illequipped to handle your problems and. that that is the secret to his appeal. >> Right? It's not just that he was. diagnosing the problems correctly. It's.

that he was offering people policy. solutions that were bold enough that. they could get behind. >> Absolutely. That that is what the people. around him would say is the actual. secret. >> to his appeal. And of course, his election is only one. piece of the puzzle that we got tonight. because there were places in bluish. purple states with big races and you had. Democrats win there too with a totally. different set of solutions that they.

were proposing. >> Right? So bottom [music] line at this. moment in New York City, this is a big. loss for the moderate centrist Democrat. But in Virginia and New Jersey, moderate. Democrats won handily. [music] So, how. do we understand that? After the break. [music].

Shane, for the purposes of understanding. what the lessons are here in these races. for Democrats about what kind of. Democrat can win with what message and. how, tell me about how these two women. won their races for governor. How'd they. pull it off? Let me start with two. words, Donald Trump, and then give you. some specifics in each state, which is.

there's probably no state that has been. more impacted by Trump and his cuts to. the federal government than Virginia. >> And that is where Abigail Spanberger. won. And one of the issues she. campaigned on, she was running against a. Republican opponent who never won. Trump's endorsement. And yet she's still. relentlessly tied that Republican. candidate to Trump, holding her to. account for his cutbacks from Doge in. the Elon Musk era to the recent cutbacks.

during the federal shutdown. At the same time in New Jersey, Mikey. Cheryl similarly ran against a candidate. who she relentlessly tied to Donald. Trump and then got a big boost during. this recent federal government shutdown. when Trump threatened New Jersey and. specifically the tunnel. It's known as. the Gateway Tunnel that connects New. Jersey to New York. This new artery that. they're going to build to help with. traffic, a huge infrastructure project. He said, "I'm cutting off that funding.". And the Republican candidate wouldn't.

criticize him for it. >> And she pounced all over that issue. And. so it wasn't just Trump, it was Trump. specifically in these places and finding. a way to say, "You need to elect a. Democrat because I will push back on a. president who doesn't have your interest. at heart." This idea of running against. Trump, this is something Democrats have. been criticized for, right? The idea. that, you know, you have to have some. more identity and vision than just being. against Trump. But in this case, it.

sounds like it was a very potent message. in these places. >> I mean, I think the answer is that if it. ain't broke, don't fix it. And in these. cases and in these states at this. moment, running against Trump was the. easiest, simplest, and best way to go. about it, >> right? You can win doing this. So, when. you dig into the demographics of all. these results in New York City, in. Virginia, and in New Jersey, what do. they tell us? Like can you say anything.

meaningful yet about how specific. populations voted? How that's different. maybe from how they voted last year? You. said Democrats did better than in 2024. So who shifted? If you want to compare. the results tonight to the results a. year ago in basically every single. county in both New Jersey and Virginia, the Democratic Party is doing better. What does that tell you? It tells you. that there is a movement away from the.

president. That's not just one. demographic group, but all the. demographic groups, right? That's sort. of what you saw a year ago in the other. direction. All those red arrows across. the whole country. >> You're seeing blue arrows across all of. these counties. Now, it's only two. states, but you're seeing it in the red. corners of Virginia and the blue corners. of Virginia. The red pockets of New. Jersey and the blue pockets of New. Jersey. >> Across the board. across the board, the. Democrats are improving how they did. from a year ago.

>> So, in the last election, President. Trump made these huge gains among Latino. voters. And now there have been. questions, as you know, as you've been. covering, about whether fear over ICE. raids might keep them home, whether. anger over ICE raids and tactics might. motivate them to go to the polls. This. is a hugely critical voting block in New. Jersey, for example. Can we say anything about what this. election told us about shifts within. that community about whether they are.

moving to the right for good or maybe. not? So, I spent some time in parts of. New Jersey with big Latino populations. and that's one of my central questions. going into this election. And one of the. places I went is Paya County, which is a. place that has shifted three times. consecutively in Trump's direction and. that Trump actually won narrowly last. year. >> This is one of the counties you. discussed with us on the show. >> Yeah. This is this is a diverse county.

just outside of New York City and with. more than 95% of the vote in Mikey. Cheryl is winning that county by 15. percentage points. >> And so. >> what do you make of that? >> I can't tell you which demographic. groups cuz there's little towns within. the county that are more diverse and. less diverse. What it does tell you is. that these places that have diverse. populations have not continuously. permanently shifted to the right. Okay, I want to ask broadly about the lessons.

that Trump and the Republicans might. take from these races. We've talked a. lot about the Democrats. Yes, these are blue states where. Democrats were favored to win, but as. you've explained, these results seem to. show that the cost of living issues and. concerns are really reaching a broad. swath of people. It's something a lot of. people care about. people who've voted. for Trump. So, how worried should Trump.

and the Republicans be? >> I mean, I think that there's not really. a way to read the election results and. the polls that have led up to them as. anything other than a warning shot for. the Republican party that Trump's. promises to fix the economy, to slow. inflation, to lower prices, that voters. are going to hold him to those promises. And polls, not just in these states, but. nationally leading up to this have shown.

that voters are increasingly mistrustful. that Trump is actually focused on those. issues. Really bad numbers in recent. surveys from NBC and CNN and other. pollsters that show somewhere around 30%. of voters are really satisfied with. Trump's efforts on these issues. And. historically, the economy has been an. area of strength for Trump. Ever since. he emerged on the political scene as the. former host of The Apprentice, people.

had seen him for years as a decisive. businessman and trusted that he had a. good sense of the economy, right? And. this is what he ran on. >> But it's not the only thing he's focused. on, right? I've talked to Democrats in. the last week who have been just sort of. almost over the moon with Trump's. inability to focus on this issue. and. instead his pursuit of a new ballroom at. the White House and raising the East. Wing, posting photos of the the. remodeled Lincoln bathroom in the White. House, hosting a Gatsby-esque party at.

Mara Lago just before benefits are going. to be suspended because the government. shutdown that he's not focused on these. sort of breadandbut issues that brought. so many voters to him a year ago. And so. now you have Democratic candidates who. won in these states focusing on. affordability issues. >> Trump and his management of the economy. were quite a drag for Republicans in. these races, which is really interesting. because the president just posted on.

Truth Social kind of the opposite. message. She said, and I'm quoting, "Trump wasn't on the ballot and shutdown. were the two reasons that Republicans. lost elections tonight." What you're. saying is actually he was on the ballot. and it wasn't good for Republicans. This. is a fundamental challenge for the. Republican party in the Trump era, which. is that there's a whole set of voters. who have only come out for Donald Trump.

and can other Republicans go get them. out? Or is Trump's presence on the. political scene only helping Democrats. unless he's the one you actually get to. cast your ballot for? >> This is one of the questions I had going. into this election. We knew that was the. case in term one, right? Republicans. lost down ballot races pretty regularly. in his first term. This is the first. test in term two. And the stakes are. ultimately next year who will control. Congress and whether Trump's second term.

will include complete Republican control. for four years or only two years. Okay, just to return to the other part of that. truth social post, he says that one of. the reasons that Republicans lost is. because of the shutdown. And that does. make it seem as though he thinks. Republicans are getting blamed for the. shutdown. I'm wondering if you think. that's the case and if so whether that's.

going to affect the negotiations over. the shutdown. >> It certainly appears to be the case on a. plain reading of this posting. That. said, I gave up a long time ago about fully. interpreting the plain meaning of. Trump's postings. >> Yes, a fool's errand. But I do think. that there's no question that the. results tonight are going to impact the. negotiations about when and how to end.

the shutdown. And I think that's going. to start tomorrow when Trump is already. scheduled to meet with Republican. lawmakers who he appears to be blaming. at least a bit for the defeats tonight. Because if there's one thing we know. about paying attention to Donald Trump. and election losses is that he never. thinks it's actually his fault. >> Can you just say more about how the. races themselves might impact the. negotiations over the shutdown? Because. there is a world in which you could see. Democrats saying, "Okay, look, we did.

what we needed to do. We won. People are. angry over the shutdown. Time to end. this thing. You know, pack it up. We got. what we needed.". >> Yeah. I think that that's one world. There's another world where they dig in. and think they have more leverage and. they see this post and they think we. need to make sure we extract very. specific concessions, not just a vote, but a policy outcome. You know, one of. the most remarkable things about. tracking what is now the longest. shutdown in federal government history.

is how little negotiations have been. happening. It's really only in recent. days where we've started to hear. flurries of conversations, but for the. most part, the two sides haven't even. been talking to each other. >> Shane, we started this conversation. talking about what these races told us. about whether Democrats had actually. coalesed around a vision after this. really painful election year in 2024. And while these races were really.

different and these candidates were. different, there were two kind of. different pathways here, a moderate and. a much more progressive profile. It does. sound like in general Democrats have. actually begun to coalesce around a. single message that they think is. winning and that one on this night and. that's affordability. that is hammering. these cost of living issues. Whether you. do it from the Mandani perspective with.

these very resonant policies that people. got excited about in New York or whether. you do that in a kind of more moderate. way in New Jersey and Virginia, it's. hammering Trump on the thing that people. care about the most in elections, which. is the economy. >> I would put it this way. People were unhappy about the economy a. year ago and they blamed Democrats.

People are unhappy about the economy now. and they're blaming Republicans. This is the difference about being the. party in power. And so if you're. Democrat, step one is being the. opposition party and blaming them for. things that they're unhappy about. And. the number one thing people are unhappy. about and have been unhappy about is. economic issues. And polls show and the. results of this election suggest that.

the amount of rope that they're willing. to give the Republicans on this issue is. running out. That said, it might be enough to oppose. Trump on economic matters to win the. House in 2026, but there are bigger fish. to fry if they really want to take back. power. To win the Senate, you're going. to have to win states where Trump is. still pretty popular. And you're going. to have to come up with a bigger and. broader message. And eventually, if you. want to win the presidency in 2028, you're going to need a message of your.

own. And maybe it's some combination of. the inspiration from mom Donnie and the. moderation from Spanberger and Cheryl. We don't know what that looks like yet. And frankly, that's going to be the huge. fight of the Democratic Party in the. coming years. [music] But what we know. right now is that after a year of being. on the mat, the Democratic Party has. been desperate for a fight. And I think. the elections on Tuesday are the first. real punch that they've landed in that. fight.

>> [music]. >> Thank you so much, Shane. Thank you. [music]. We'll be right back. Here's what else you should know today. Dick Cheney, who was widely regarded as. the most powerful vice president in. [music] American history and a singular.

figure in an era of terrorism, war, [music] and economic change died on. Monday. As vice president under George W. Bush, Cheney was a key architect of the. administration's [music] war on terror. in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. He. helped engineer [music] the passage of. the Patriot Act, which expanded the. government's powers of surveillance, and. he was a dominant voice behind [music]. President Bush's decision to invade Iraq.

in 2003, and then [music] to justify. that war. In recent years, Cheney. denounced President [music] Trump, saying he was a grave threat to American. democracy. And in 2024, Cheney surprised. both parties by announcing [music] that. he would vote for Vice President Kala. Harris in the presidential election. Today's episode was produced [music] by. Asta Chhaturved, Caitlyn O'Keefe, and.

Michael Simon Johnson. [music] It was. edited by Paige Cowitt and Mark George. contains music by Dan Pal, Pat McCusker, [music] and Alicia Baub, and was. engineered by Chris Wood. [music]. That's it for the daily. I'm Natalie. Kitroof. See you tomorrow.