PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Democrats dominated the first major Election Day since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
And while a debate about the future of the Democratic Party may have only just begun, there are signs that the economy may be a real problem for Trump’s GOP heading into next year’s higher-stakes midterm elections.
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The Election Day romp of Republicans stretched from deep-blue New York and California to swing-states Georgia, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
In Pennsylvania, Democrats swept not only three state Supreme Court races, but every county seat in presidential swing counties like Bucks and Erie Counties, including sheriffs. Bucks County elected its first Democratic district attorney as Democrats there also won key school board races and county judgeships.
One man who will be smack in the middle of this national conversation as the sprint to the midterms has now begun. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is one of a few names often mentioned as a potential face of the Democratic Party, perhaps even as a presidential candidate in 2028.
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“I think there’s two takeaways. One is that it was a clear message to Donald Trump that folks are tired of the chaos. They’re tired of the extremism. And the second storyline is they want people who are focused on meeting their needs, who wants to get stuff done for them,” Shapiro told Action News’ Brian Taff while reflecting on the headlines from Tuesday night’s election.
“Whether you’re talking about the Luzerne County Council County race, or the Bucks County DA’s race, or the Erie County executive race, or of course, the governor’s races in Virginia, New Jersey, or the mayor’s race in New York, there was a throughline throughout that the candidates spoke about the issues that mattered in their communities. They had plans to lower costs. They had plans to address unique needs in that community, in that state. And at the same time, voters went to the polls to say to Donald Trump, ‘We don’t like what you’re doing.’ And what you’re doing is making prices go up, bringing chaos into our communities and restricting our freedom and compromising our democracy.”
Despite Trump’s distance, his policies – including his “big, beautiful” budget bill and his massive cuts to the federal workforce – played a central role in Virginia, New Jersey and even New York City’s mayoral contest. And the Republicans in each refused to distance themselves from the president or his agenda.
Trump took to his social media account Tuesday night, saying, “TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT.”
It’s the economy, again
Preliminary exit poll data compiled by ABC News in the three races showed that the majority of Americans were concerned about the cost of living.
Nearly half of Virginia voters said that the economy was the most important issue facing the commonwealth.
In New Jersey, six in 10 voters said that the economy in the state was doing “not so good” or “poor,” while about four in 10 said it was “excellent” or “good.”
More than half of voters in New York City said the cost of living was the most important issue they faced.
Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill and Zohran Mamdani in New York City all campaigned with affordability as the main focus.
Although each candidate has different proposals to lower costs — with Mamdani being the most vocal with raising the tax rate on the wealthiest to pay for services such as child care — voters in huge numbers were attracted to their messages.
Voters are not happy with the state of the country
Just as with last year’s elections, where nearly every Democratic led state shifted red, voters appeared to want change from the status quo.
A large majority of voters who said they were angry supported Sherrill, saying they were unhappy with how things were going on in the country. New Jersey has never elected a governor from the same party in three cycles in a row.
ABC News and the AP contributed to this report.
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