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California governor Gavin Newsom hailed the vote as a "line in the sand for American democracy". Alamy Stock Photo
Blue Wave
Big wins for Democrats across US as California votes to redraw districts to counter Republicans
Democrats won major races across Virginia, New Jersey and New York yesterday.
DEMOCRATS SCORED MAJOR victories across the US last night, with decisive wins in New York, key governor races and the passage of a controversial redistricting measure in California aimed at countering Republican gerrymanders in several conservative-led states.
In California, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 50, a high-stakes initiative that effectively scraps the state’s independent redistricting commission and hands temporary map-drawing powers to the Democratic-controlled legislature.
The move is designed to help Democrats gain up to five additional seats in the US House of Representatives, potentially crucial in the battle to retake control of Congress from Donald Trump’s Republican party.
Republicans currently have 219 representatives in the House, while Democrats have 213.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who spearheaded the Proposition 50 campaign, hailed the result as a “line in the sand for American democracy”.
“We stood tall and stood firm in response to Donald Trump’s recklessness,” Newsom said.
Tonight, California sent a powerful message to Donald Trump. We will fight for our democracy. And we will win. pic.twitter.com/tEcPlxVbi4
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 5, 2025
“After poking the bear, this bear roared.”
The measure, dubbed the ‘Election Rigging Response Act’, was widely seen as the Democrats’ counterpunch to Trump’s pressure on Republican-led states (including Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina) to redraw and gerrymander congressional maps in his favour.
Texas’ redistricting alone is expected to give Republicans five new House seats.
With the passage of Proposition 50, California Democrats are poised to reshape several competitive districts to strengthen their national hand.
Republicans condemned the result as an abandonment of fair redistricting principles.
Kevin Kiley, a California GOP congressman whose seat could be affected, called it “a dangerous escalation in the redistricting arms race”.
“Fighting fire with fire burns everything down,” Kiley said yesterday.
Despite concerns about partisanship, the measure drew strong national backing from Democratic heavyweights including Barack Obama, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Kamala Harris.
Trump, who has repeatedly claimed without evidence that California’s elections are “rigged”, posted a brief reaction on Truth Social as results came in: “GIANT SCAM”.
Governor races
Last night also brought significant Democratic wins on the East Coast, with Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey both elected as state governors.
The Democrat wins marked a clean sweep of the country’s most closely watched contests last night.
In Virginia, Spanberger, a former CIA officer and centrist Democrat, comfortably defeated Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, a vocal Trump ally.
“Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship,” Spanberger said in her victory speech.
“We chose our Commonwealth over chaos.”
Her campaign focused heavily on affordability and opposition to Trump’s sweeping federal layoffs, which have hit Virginia’s large public-sector workforce hard.
In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill, a moderate Democrat and former Navy pilot, prevailed over Republican businessman Jack Ciattarelli.
The bitter race was defined by Trump’s decision to freeze federal funding for the Hudson River tunnel project, a vital commuter link for the state.
The victories in Virginia and New Jersey mark the first time in more than half a century that both states have elected Democratic governors in the same cycle, a symbolic rebuke to Trump’s leadership.
Mamdani elected
As California and the East Coast’s races were called for Democrats, the night’s brightest spotlight was on New York, where 34-year-old democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Queens, secured victory in the city’s mayoral race.
Mamdani, who will now become the city’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor, defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo in one of the most closely watched and dramatic contests of the night.
Mamdani’s campaign was grounded in housing reform and a promise to make New York “a city for everyone, not just the billionaires”.
The campaign drew national attention as a test of whether progressive politics could prevail in America’s largest city amid widespread economic anxiety and deep political polarisation.
While Democrats celebrated victories from coast to coast, it was Mamdani’s strong campaign that captured the imagination of a party still searching for its post-Trump identity.
Additional reporting from AFP
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