Key takeaways from the 2025 elections

Harold Ford Jr.: This was a good night for Democrats

Panelists Dana Perino, Martha MacCallum, Shannon Bream, Harold Ford Jr., Bret Baier and Charlie Hurt discuss the implications of 2025 election results.

After last year's stunning electoral setbacks, Democrats needed a big night on Tuesday.

And they got it.

"Democrats Sweep Election Night, Fueling Momentum Going Into 2026 Midterms," screamed the headline from a Democratic National Committee (DNC) email late in the evening, as the party pointed to double-digit victories in the gubernatorial elections in blue-leaning New Jersey and Virginia, and convincing victories in crucial ballot box showdowns in Democrat-dominated California and battleground Pennsylvania.

In arguably the most closely watched election this autumn, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani made history as the first Muslim and first millennial elected New York City mayor.

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New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill speaks during an election night party in East Brunswick, N.J., Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (Matt Rourke/AP Photo)

While Mamdani's victory in the nation's most populous city is a shot in the arm for the rise of the socialist movement, it also appears to be a political gift for Republicans.

Here are three key takeaways from Election Night 2025.

Since Mamdani's Democratic mayoral primary victory in June, Republicans have repeatedly aimed to make the now-34-year-old Ugandan-born state lawmaker from New York City the new face of the Democratic Party, as they work to characterize Democrats as far-left socialists.

And as Mamdani was on his way to a roughly 9-point win in Tuesday's general election over former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was running as an independent, the GOP struck again.

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"Democrats have officially handed New York City over to a self-proclaimed Communist, and hardworking families will be the ones paying the price," Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Joe Gruters claimed in a statement. "His election is proof that the Democrat Party has abandoned common sense and tied themselves to extremism."

National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesman Mike Marinella charged that "the Democrat Party has surrendered to radical socialist Zohran Mamdani and the far-left mob who are now running the show."

Socialist Zohran Mamdani won his New York City mayoral race over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

And as Fox News Digital first reported on Wednesday morning, the NRCC immediately launched ads linking Mamdani to House Democrats who face challenging re-elections in next year's midterms, when the GOP aims to defend its fragile majority in the chamber.

Longtime Republican strategist Colin Reed told Fox News Digital that Democrats "are now going to have an ascendant and emboldened Mayor-elect Mamdani dominating the national spotlight."

WHAT THE RESULTS OF THE 2025 ELECTIONS MAY MEAN FOR DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS

But veteran Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo, pointing to the gubernatorial victories by moderate Democrats Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, emphasized, "tonight proved that the Democrats' pathway back to majorities in both chambers and the White House runs directly through the idea of building a big enough tent to encompass moderates and progressives."

Democrats lost control of the White House and Senate and failed to win back the House majority in last year's elections, as Republicans made major gains with key parts of the Democratic Party base, including minorities and younger voters.

And Democrats have been mostly powerless to blunt President Donald Trump's unprecedented and explosive second-term agenda.

But Democrats see Tuesday's impressive victories as the first step in a political rebound, and an affirmation of the party's campaign trail emphasis this year on the issue of affordability.

"American voters just delivered a Democratic resurgence. A Republican reckoning. A Blue Sweep. And it happened because our Democratic candidates, no matter where they are, no matter how they fit into our big tent party, are meeting voters at the kitchen table, not the gilded ballroom," DNC Chair Ken Martin highlighted.

And Martin argued, "To all the Republicans who have bowed a cowardly knee to Trump all year, consider this: We're coming after your jobs next."

Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger celebrates as she takes the stage during her election night rally at the Greater Richmond Convention Center on Nov. 4, 2025. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Caiazzo said that the Democrats' ballot box victories show that "voters are hungry for candidates that speak to their concerns and offer to unite, not divide."

But Reed countered that "Democrat candidates winning in blue parts of the country isn't unexpected. The fact that there was any suspense at all heading into the evening was the more surprising development."

And he pointed out that "the battle for next year's midterms is taking place in friendlier terrain."

While he lost both New Jersey and Virginia in last year's presidential election, Trump made major gains in both states.

And a big question heading into the 2025 elections was whether MAGA supporters, who tend to be low-propensity voters, would cast ballots in an off-election year when Trump wasn't on the ballot.

Many didn't.

The president, in a quote on social media that he attributed to "pollsters," said that "TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT."

Veteran Republican strategist Chris LaCivita, who served as a co-campaign manager for Trump's 2024 White House bid, highlighted, "Candidate quality matters. Tonight was a great lesson for the Republican Party: running squishy Rs who are lukewarm on Trump and MAGA, even in "purple" states, doesn’t work."

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears greets supporters on Election Night in Leesburg, Virginia. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

LaCivita specifically called out Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the GOP gubernatorial nominee who lost to Spanberger by 15 points.

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And he warned that "Republicans must get smart and run only MAGA candidates moving forward; otherwise, there will be massive turnout problems when @realDonaldTrump is not on the ballot!"

Reed emphasized that for the GOP, "the task remains re-assembling the winning Trump coalition without his name on the ballot. The good news for the Republican side is the deep bench of talented and proven leaders to carry that flag into battle."

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast."