President John F. Kennedy once said, “victory has a thousand fathers while defeat is an orphan.” Democrats won big Tuesday with solid victories in the high-profile races in California with the passage of Proposition 50, Virginia in the election of the entire statewide ticket, New Jersey in the gubernatorial contest and in the New York City mayoral fight. But my party also triumphed in battleground Electoral College states with the retention of three Supreme Court Justices in Pennsylvania and the election of two state Public Service Commissioners in Georgia.
Anytime a party wins bigly, there will be lots of parents. And here they are.
First on the paternity list is President Trump. The Democratic wave owes more to Trump than anyone else. Last night, voters on the East Coast, the West Coast and almost everywhere in between soundly repudiated Trump. His approval rating in exit surveys of Tuesday’s voters by NBC News was buried as deeply as the wreck of the Titanic. His net job rating in the Big Apple was minus-40 percentage points. He was at minus-25 percent in the Golden State, minus-15 in the Old Dominion and minus-12 in the Garden State.
Trump’s last-minute support for Andrew Cuomo in the Big Apple might have been the nail that sealed his coffin in his independent bid for mayor. The situation would have been even worse for Republicans if Trump had actually been on the ballot.
It won’t be easy to raise this sunken ship to the surface. Trump promised to bring consumer prices down on Day One of his second term and voters decisively reacted negatively to his broken economic promise. The Democratic sweep is reminiscent of the 2018 midterm elections when Republicans lost dozens of congressional seats and Democrats took control of the House of Representatives after Americans repudiated Trump’s first two years of his first term.
Then, there’s California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Months ago, when Democratic fortunes looked less than bright, he rode to the party’s rescue. After Texas redistricted to create five additional congressional seats, the governor struck back quickly to put Proposition 50 on the ballot to create more Democratic House districts. His baby, the Election Rigging Response Act passed overwhelmingly on Tuesday and is the gift for his party that keeps on giving. While many Democrats were sulking in the shadows over the summer, he stood strong with an aggressive social media blitz that put him in the forefront of 2028 presidential contention and pushed King Donald back on his heels.
Democrats deserve credit for choosing the correct candidates. An avowed democratic socialist, Zohran Mamdani matched the progressive tendencies of New York City voters like a glove. But centrist gubernatorial candidates with strong national security street cred, Abagail Spanberger in Virginia and Mikie Sherill in New Jersey won big in the moderate states.
That mix and match ideological mashup should work well in House and Senate races next year if Democrats select good candidates. Contenders who don’t distract voters from the glaring failures of Trump’s imperial presidency. The tricky part for my party will come in 2028 when it must find a candidate who can bring together moderate and progressive voters.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) deserves honorable mention. He didn’t lift a finger to help his fellow New York City resident in the mayor’s race. But he has held firm in opposition to the MAGA spending bill that rewards bankers and billionaires at the expense of the financial security of hard-working American families.
Trump blamed the Republican defeat on the government shutdown, and for once he is right. Americans despise tax giveaways for plutocrats and aristocrats when mothers and fathers can’t afford to feed their kids or secure affordable health care for their families. Democrats stuck to their principles while Republicans defended greed. Most Americans don’t believe that greed is good.
The Democratic Party has an image problem because many Americans feel the party is weak in the knees. Democrats stood strong and voters rewarded them Tuesday for their strength.
Brad Bannon is a national Democratic strategist and CEO of Bannon Communications Research which polls for Democrats, labor unions and progressive issue groups. He hosts the popular progressive podcast on power, politics and policy, Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon.
