They are the first general elections in the US. They arrive just one year after Donald Trump's victory in November 2024 against Kamala Harris. And the result has been bad for the president. In the same way that if the Republicans had kept Virginia, won New Jersey and defeated Zohran Mamdani it would have been read as a great victory for Trump, the fact that exactly the opposite happened has a negative reading for the US president.
But he does not want that to happen, and has rushed to publish on social networks that the defeat is due to the fact that he was not on the ballot.
Indeed, Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has taken the mayoralty of the main American city against the candidate publicly supported by Trump, the former Democratic governor who resigned after 13 sexual harassment complaints, Andrew Cuomo. And this despite million-dollar donations and extraordinary pressure from the White House for the opposite to happen.
Furthermore, the Democrats have managed to wrest Virginia from the Republicans.
Thus, Abigail Spanberger will become the first woman governor of Virginia after defeating the until now Republican lieutenant governor Winsome Earle-Sears. Spanberger takes over from outgoing Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin.
“We sent a message to every corner of the state, a message to our neighbors and our countrymen across the country,” Spanberger told cheering supporters Tuesday night in Richmond. “We sent a message to the world: Virginia has chosen pragmatism over partisanship, state over chaos.”
Spanberger, a former congressman and former CIA agent, won by campaigning on economic issues, a strategy that could serve as a model for other Democrats in the midterm legislative elections against the Republican majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Democrats retain New Jersey
Mikie Sherrill has been elected governor of New Jersey after defeating a Trump ally. The until now congresswoman secured Democratic control in a bastion for her party that had shown signs of turning to the right in recent years.
Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot and four-term congressman, defeated Jack Ciattarelli, who had the backing of President Donald Trump.
Sherrill, 53, a former prosecutor and military veteran, represents a type of traditional moderate Democrat seeking to appeal to some conservatives disenchanted with Trumpism.
Victory in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
All three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices up for re-election on Tuesday have retained their positions, ensuring that Democrats retain the majority on the highest court in this key presidential state, a court that is at the center of important debates over voting rights, redistricting and elections.
The result marks the composition of the court, made up of seven members, until the next presidential elections in 2028. The three justices had been elected as Democrats, and voters decided whether to extend the Democratic majority on the court.
Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht won new terms. His re-election cements the Democratic majority — currently 5-2 — on a court that has been at the center of crucial battles over voting rights, redistricting and elections.
The California referendum goes ahead
California voters approved this Tuesday (64% to 36%) the new electoral map that will benefit Democrats ahead of the November 2026 legislative elections in order to help determine which party will control the US House of Representatives in order to influence Trump's agenda.
The passage of Proposition 50 gives Democrats the opportunity to gain up to five more seats, which would be enough to counter Texas Republicans' push to redraw their own maps to gain another five Republican seats. Texas' action and California's response have set off a wave of redistricting efforts across the country, where red states appear to have the advantage.
Midterm elections often hurt the party in the White House, with Trump struggling to maintain his slim majority in the House of Representatives. Republicans have 219 seats compared to 213 for Democrats.
Tuesday's results represent a political victory for Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who presented the measure as an essential tool to counter Trump and protect American democracy.
Speaking to reporters, Newsom framed the vote in California as part of a broader national rejection of Trump's policies, which led to the election of Democratic governors in New Jersey and Virginia. However, he warned that the most momentous battle will be fought next year.
If Democrats win the majority in the House of Representatives, they will be able to “end Donald Trump's presidency as we know it,” Newsom said: “Everything is at stake.”