Victory Lap!

Connector editors weigh in on Tuesday night

Fingers crossed, not wanting to jinx any outcome, Democrats faced Tuesday night with caution. An “off year” election. Just a warmup for the midterms.

In truth, grassroots groups were highly invested and impressively active. Between making signs for No Kings rallies and attending One Million Rising trainings and meetings, grassroots groups sponsored billboards, canvassed, powered phone banks, educated voters about “retention” of judges, and kept focused when opponents tried to undermine candidates who won their primaries.

But the string of blue victories from coast-to-coast brought more than the usual cheers and champagne.Taking something of a “victory lap,” Grassroots Connector editors offer their takes on Tuesday night, state-by-state.

From Maine — Martha Merson

Since 2020, more than a dozen states have adopted or expanded strict voter ID laws. Maine voters broke that trend, defeating Question 1 and its proposed restrictions on voting. The outcome wasn’t even close — 64-36%. If voter suppression were a fire, Mainers decisively stomped it out.

Last weekend I joined close to 100 volunteers fanning out across Portland to remind voters of the importance of opposing Question 1. The initiative would have limited absentee ballots and required voter ID with stricter guidelines for valid documents.

Almost every doorstep had a carved pumpkin. Add to the seasonal decorations, visible house numbers, street signs, a license plate spelling out abundance (ABNDNCE), and an occasional ocean view. I was on my dream canvass.

Speaking to Portland voters was both easy and hard. Many could summarize the points better than I could. “That’s the one about keeping absentee ballots and making it easier to vote. I’m with you.” Others remembered an election where they had caregiving responsibilities or a medical condition that made voting in person nearly impossible.

Heads shook when I mentioned a Question 1 poll showing a 50-50 split in likely voters. “It should be easier to vote, not harder,” person after person told me. And although rural voters in rural Aroostook County will probably vote in opposition to policies Portland voters support, people across Maine still care that their fellow Mainers can cast their votes. That knowledge kept my hands and smile warm as I knocked on yet another door, marveling at the beautiful door knockers and carved pumpkins.

In defiance of so much Republican money and brand messaging, rejecting Question 1 sent a message. Shenna Bellows, Maine’s Secretary of State, summed it up: “Our democracy and fundamental rights to vote and choose our own leaders are not for sale.”

From New Jersey — Bruce Watson

There’s probably a Springsteen lyric that explains Tuesday’s Democratic rout in the New Jersey gubernatorial election. “Born to Run?” “Prove It All Night?” “Deliver Me From Nowhere?” But I’ll leave that to the Boss and his fans.

Because when a Democrat wins the Jersey statehouse, that’s not news. But when a woman wins, when she wins with a solid anti-Trump campaign, and when she doubles all poll estimates in winning by 13 percentage points (56-43), that carries lessons for Democrats nationwide.

Mikie Sherrill’s resounding win tells Democrats how to win and win big. The answer is to show up. The numbers tell the story. Even as Phil Ciattarelli doubled down on his embrace of Trump, the GOP candidate got more votes this year than in his 2021 run for governor. 150,000 more. But Sherrill got a half million more than Democrat Phil Murphy in 2021. Grassroots groups, including two New York City based groups who offered their services to Sherrill’s campaign, deserve credit for encouraging voters.

So. . . You want to win an election? Get out the vote!

Sherrill’s rout also boded well for Democrats concerned about the black and Latino vote. In 2024, in every last Jersey county that vote shifted towards, though not in favor of, Trump. This year, though countywide totals are not finalized, every county shifted back.

Take Hudson County, across the river from Manhattan, as the bellwether. Hudson is half black and Latino, mostly the latter. And while Kamala Harris won Hudson County last year, Mikie Sherrill upped the Dems vote count there by 20 percent.

So onwards to 2026, with clear lessons. Show up. Be anti-Trump. And deliver us from nowhere.

From New York City — Kristin Battista-Frazee

When Tuesday’s race was called, making democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani the first Muslim and youngest person elected mayor of New York, Mamdani posted this video on social media. The video shows a subway car arriving at City Hall. Last stop — City Hall, with the banner” ZOHRAN for New York City. The video now has 16 million views.

The simple gesture was symbolic of the intent and purpose of Mamdani’s campaign. The subway is the everyday citizen’s mode of transportation and the fastest and best way to get anywhere in the city. The subway is also where you see the best and worst of the city. It’s dirty and smelly at times, but a beloved feature of this metropolitan area.

Now Mamdani has arrived (at his stop) at City Hall, and I have hope he will do good things. The way he ran his campaign provides lessons for the Democratic Party.

The pundits are in overdrive about what the New York City, Virginia, and New Jersey wins mean for the Democratic Party moving forward. Does the party move further left or center? The answer may depend on the district or the state, but what’s clear is that affordability is the right throughline. Above all else, if candidates speak to our common humanity, we all win.

From California - Steve Schear

California’s redistricting initiative, Proposition 50, won by a massive 28 points, with 64 percent of the vote. That victory will likely give Democrats at least five additional seats in the House of Representatives and possibly more.

The highlight of the Prop 50 campaign for me was receiving an email from Gavin Newsom on October 28 telling me not to donate. Wow, I thought. I’ve never seen a campaign do that a week before an election. Most raise money up to the very end, even though the late money can’t possibly help with persuasion or GOTV.

More importantly, Newsom’s email reflected what most impressed me about the Prop 50 campaign – its exceptionally high level of competence. The initiative was brilliantly written to make Democratic gerrymandering acceptable. The redistricting only goes into effect if Republicans gerrymander in other states; it is temporary, lasting only until 2030; it explicitly preserves the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission; and it does not touch state legislative districts.

Prop 50 messaging was likewise superb. From the get-go, the campaign used an anti-Trump message, “Stop Trump’s Power Grab.” My own canvassing showed how well that message worked. With voters on the fence, in most cases all I needed to do was ask, “Do you like Trump?” After receiving a negative response, I would say, “Then you should vote for Prop 50. It will take power from Trump.” That almost always ended hesitation about gerrymandering. TV ads featuring Obama and others were highly effective at using the anti-Trump message.

The Newsom team running the campaign also did an exceptional job of fundraising, raising $174 million, almost twice as much as Republicans. More than 107,000 individuals donated to the campaign from all over the country. A week before the election, the GOP’s “No” Campaign had only 420 individual donors. So the Democrats had about 250 times as many individual donors!

The competence of the Yes on 50 campaign and the wisdom of California voters gives the pro-democracy movement a lot of momentum for the midterms. We can take the House next year. With a ton of work left to be done to make that possibility a reality, the passage of Prop 50 is a reminder that we’re up to the challenge.

Coming tomorrow in the Connector: Virginia — By Robbin Warner