Overview
- Abigail Spanberger won Virginia’s governorship over Winsome Earle-Sears, becoming the state’s first female governor and telling supporters that voters chose pragmatism over chaos.
- New Jersey’s election authority declared Mikie Sherrill the winner over Jack Ciattarelli, keeping the governor’s office in Democratic hands.
- In New York City, left-wing Democrat Zohran Mamdani won the mayoral race, while Republican Curtis Sliwa finished a distant third.
- A Reuters/Ipsos poll put President Trump’s approval around 43 percent, and a Virginia survey found 98 percent of voters motivated by opposition to Trump backed Spanberger, with concerns including federal-employee dismissal threats, the shutdown, and blocked Hudson River tunnel funding.
- Democrats framed the outcomes as momentum heading into the 2026 midterms, Barack Obama posted congratulations on X, and President Trump attributed Republican losses to his absence from ballots and the ongoing shutdown while deriding Mamdani.