On Tuesday, Democrats took home several major east coast election wins, including the mayoral race in New York City and gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey.
Entering the New York City mayoral race relatively unknown, Democratic nominee and self-identified democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani garnered 50.4% of the vote, compared to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 41.6%. This year saw record-breaking turnout in New York, marking the first time since 1969 that over 2 million ballots were cast.
For some Dartmouth students, Mamdani’s win is a cause for hope.
“He’s for people our age,” Ryantony Exuma ’26 said. “He’s only 13 years older than me. So, I think it speaks as a testament that young people can get involved and start to change things.”
Dartmouth Democrats executive director Lucia Vitali ’26 said Democratic candidates’ communication strategies led them to victory.
“We really saw, especially in New York, how ... grassroots mobilization is an effective strategy, and that communicating with voters directly is really important,” she said.
Mamdani’s proposals include freezing rent, increasing affordable housing and free childcare, according to his campaign website.
Vitali said that she believes that Mamdani’s focus on the “affordable living crisis” and campaigning "directly" to voters is what people are “looking for.”
Other students disagreed. Turning Point USA at Dartmouth president Vittorio Bloyer ’28, said that he believes that Mamdani’s policies will cause the “demand” to live in the city to “fade.”
“The most logical way to lower food and rent prices would have been to elect a mayor whose goal was to stop the city from hindering the free market’s ability to efficiently fix the supply issue,” he said. “Unfortunately, what we will likely see in the next four years will be some of the most cost-ineffective, poor-quality government-run housing projects and grocery stores that this nation has ever seen.”
Dartmouth Conservatives president Jack Coleman ’26 said although he “wasn’t surprised by the outcome of any of these races,” he believes the outcome does not reflect a nation-wide change in political views.
“There is still a real attraction to the far left in some of these more liberal cities,” Coleman said. “I don’t think, though, that translates to national support for these types of candidates.”
In New Jersey, Democratic congresswoman and former prosecutor Mikie Sherrill won with 56.4% of the vote over Republican Jack Cittarelli. Her election marked the first time since the 1960s that a governor from the same party was elected three times in a row in the state.
Vitali said that she believes that right now, Americans are “seeking leaders” who are “actively going to fight back” against Trump’s “attacks on our rights and freedoms.”
In Virginia, Democratic congresswoman and former intelligence officer Abigail Spanberger won the gubernatorial race with 57.2% of the vote over Republican candidate Winsome Earle-Sears, becoming the first female governor of the state.
Spanberger’s campaign focused on affordability, lowering healthcare costs and strengthening public schools, according to her campaign website. Tamia Kelly ’27, who voted absentee in the election, said the results “weren’t unexpected.”
“From what I experienced and what I saw, the Virginia climate was really pointing in her direction from pretty much the beginning,” Kelly explained.
Kelly also championed Virginia electing its first-ever female governor.
“I’m interested in eventually becoming the governor of Virginia myself,” Kelly said. “When I see a development like this, it gives me hope that my career aspirations aren’t that unattainable.”
These elections yielded victories for Democrats across the political spectrum, from democratic-socialist Mamdani to the other, more moderate candidates. Vitali said that she believes that Democrats are “happy and hopeful” seeing these “overwhelmingly Democratic” results “across the nation.”
“Regardless of people’s opinions on any one specific candidate, the Democratic party can focus on the fact that we are beginning to win again,” Vitali said. “We need to look at what worked well now and realize that we need to stand up and be the voice that so many Americans are looking for.”
Coleman said that the outcomes of these elections lead him to believe that the Democratic party is “favored to retake” the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections. He added that the “challenges” for the Republicans will be centered around “making sure” that voters who “turn out for President Trump” will also “turn out for Republicans” in non-presidential elections.
For Democrats, these elections were a reason for optimism and a symbol for political change.
“Democrats, and honestly many Americans, are looking for an aggressive pushback against what’s happening in the Trump administration,” Vitali said. “I think those are things that the [Democratic] party needs to learn from.”
Jack Coleman ’26 is a member of The Dartmouth’s podcast team. He was not involved in the writing or editing of this story.
