The November 2025 elections are in the books… mostly. The West Coast is still counting, but let’s be honest: we already know it’s going to be blue. As for the rest? Well, let’s just say it could have gone worse — but also, not much better, realistically. The terrain up for grabs was Democrat-heavy, and that fact alone meant that expectations for a “good” night were always, shall we say, modest.
Still, this evening leaves a distinctly sour taste. Zohran Mamdani is now the mayor-elect of New York City, and my first thought is: congratulations, New Yorkers, you did this to yourselves. Let it never be said that the city didn’t enthusiastically embrace its own downfall. Chicago 2023 comes to mind — the city elected Brandon Johnson in the tightest mayoral race in its history, with 38 percent turnout, and predictably, it has been a mess ever since. New York is about to experience a sequel, and spoiler alert: it won’t be pretty.
Mamdani, whatever else you can say about him, won a majority — and with higher turnout than the city has seen in a mayoral race in decades. That is remarkable, not least because it signals a level of youth engagement in politics that is unprecedented. Young voters are hungry for bold, radical change. But bold and radical doesn’t automatically mean competent — and for a city like New York, the distinction is critical. Residents are about to find out what happens when an avowed socialist takes the helm of the most complex, chaotic, and expensive city on the planet.
To flex on Monday morning, Mamdani announced he voted for himself on the socialist Working Families Party line instead of the Democratic Party line. Translation: he’s already signaling contempt for the very party that will have to defend his tenure. That’s right — the national Democratic Party now owns Zohran Mamdani, despite his clear indifference, and maybe even outright disdain, for them. This wasn’t just an election — it was a shotgun wedding between New York’s rebellious left and the party establishment. Only New Yorkers could make a political arrangement so awkward look so enthusiastic.
Over in New Jersey, Jack Ciattarelli, a genuinely likable and competent candidate, lost to Mikie Sherrill. That’s unfortunate on multiple levels: for the state, for Ciattarelli, and for anyone still clinging to the fantasy that a Republican can reliably win statewide in New Jersey anytime soon. Low Latino turnout and disappointing Republican performance suggest that Trump’s unique 2024 strength in the state was more Trump than GOP. If New Jersey Republicans want a win, they may have to wait until 2029 for the stars to align. Until then, residents can look forward to four more years of gray misery — budgeting from the couch cushions for electricity bills, and wondering how they got stuck here again.
Virginia, predictably, went the way everyone expected: Abigail Spanberger thumped Winsome Earle-Sears for governor by eleven points. Republicans controlling the presidency is historically a death knell for statewide candidates in Virginia, and Earle-Sears was a mismatch for the state’s political environment.
Earle-Sears’ loss also dragged down Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares, who fell five points short against Jay Jones. Miyares ran ahead of Earle-Sears, but there’s only so much distance you can put between yourself and the top of a sinking ticket. Virginia voters now have as their top law enforcement officer a man whose public persona is, to put it mildly, dramatic — someone with a penchant for threatening political opponents in ways that make you question his judgment. And apparently, that’s what they wanted.
So what are we looking at here? Blue strongholds solidifying, Republican opportunities constricted, and a political landscape shaped less by competence or vision than by demographic trends, voter enthusiasm, and historical patterns. In New York, voters rewarded ideological boldness over pragmatism. In New Jersey, they opted for continuity over change. In Virginia, they followed predictable historical patterns. Across the board, the pattern is unmistakable: the GOP faces structural challenges, while the Democratic Party continues to weather internal contradictions with surprising resilience.
The New York outcome is particularly noteworthy. Young voters are making their presence felt in ways that could redefine urban politics. Enthusiasm, ideology, and radical energy are shaping results more than experience, policy expertise, or competence. New Yorkers are about to get a front-row seat to what happens when ideology meets the reality of municipal governance — a reality that includes budgets, public safety, transit, and a never-ending stream of bureaucratic headaches.
Meanwhile, Republicans are left wondering where to go from here. Even when candidates are strong, the combination of demographic shifts and voter apathy among core constituencies creates formidable barriers. Ciattarelli’s and Earle-Sears’ losses underscore the need for recalibrated messaging, better candidate selection, and realistic expectations about where and when GOP victories are possible. Without it, the next cycle will likely look a lot like 2025.
The larger lesson is clear: elections are messy, unpredictable, and often unkind to those hoping for neat outcomes. They reflect both public sentiment and structural realities, and they reveal the sometimes harsh consequences of ideological experimentation. For New Yorkers, the next four years will be a trial by fire under Mamdani. For New Jerseyans and Virginians, continuity and predictability reign — but the lessons are there, if anyone is paying attention.
In the end, the November 2025 elections leave us with one inescapable truth: bold experiments in governance are exciting, but they are also risky. Voter enthusiasm doesn’t always equal competence, and party establishments can be dragged along, willingly or not, into uncharted territory. America is navigating a political landscape that is increasingly unpredictable, polarized, and ideologically charged. And as these results remind us, the consequences of what voters want — versus what voters actually need — can be immediate, dramatic, and sometimes alarming.
