Wednesday, Nov. 4th was an exciting day for citizens all across the country, as positions for city, county, and state governments were contested for. In this article, we will be focusing on the New Jersey governor’s race and the New York mayoral race, and discuss the results and the significance of the two results.

The current political climate is quite tumultuous, and the context of this election reflects that fact. Going back to the 2024 general election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, it was clear that the country was looking for change. People were deeply unsatisfied and wanted change from the incumbent Biden-Harris administration, which turned into the Harris campaign shortly after Biden dropped out. The economy, border, and foreign policy were on top of the minds of millions of Americans when they voted in November. Kamala Harris was unable to distance herself properly from the previous administration, mostly because of her role as Vice President. This solidified within voters her status-quo candidacy, and was the beginning of the end of her short campaign. On the other hand, Donald Trump came in as a change candidate despite his previous presidency. The rest is history.

However, despite the overwhelming victory which President Trump won, his popularity has since tanked, with it being a meager 39 percent approval rating as of November 5th, right after the elections. This sets the context for the current election, with an unpopular Trump administration which has clearly turned away moderate voters. This is reflected in the many campaigns, notably the Sherrill and Mamdani campaigns, which tried their utmost to tie their competitors to a “MAGA agenda” which they swore to fight against. While this may seem banal, the very fact of this move proves the usefulness of tying a competitor to Trump.

In New Jersey, this was reflected in the widening gap of Jack Ciattarelli’s campaign from 2021, when he ran against incumbent democrat Phil Murphy. In the 2021 gubernatorial election, the gap was close for a blue state like New Jersey: 51.2 percent Phil Murphy to 48 percent Jack Ciattarelli. Murphy pulled away with nearly 1.4 million votes. 

This year, Mikie Sherrill triumphed over Ciattarelli with a not-so-close race of a 56.2 percent to 43.2 percent victory. This large gap was unprecedented, given that the entire country shifted red in the last general election. The 3 point gap in the 2021 election was projected to be much closer, especially given that Sherrill was not an incumbent like Murphy. This reflects not necessarily the power of Sherrill as a change candidate, but the growing dissatisfaction of voters with the current Republican administration’s actions. The red shift of 2024 was indeed not carried over into the 2025 Gubernatorial election. It still proved to be an important race, where Sherrill earned nearly 1.8 million votes to Ciattarelli’s near-1.4 million votes. The voter base showed up this year despite troubles with voting and multiple threats. 

In New York, the story was different. Despite being only a mayoral election, the scale of NYC combined with the transformative candidate Zohran Mamdani meant the election was a precedent-setter. The NYC election, without getting into the history of the sides, featured the incumbent mayor Andrew Cuomo running as an independent against Democrat nominee Zohran Mamdani, and Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate. Zohran, a self-declared democratic socialist, was a transformative character due to his uniquely left-wing views and radical takes on NYC social policy. His advocacy for free buses, reduced policing, government-run markets, and rent freezes are a radical take compared to the typical democratic platform. His unique and unorthodox identity also is a new introduction to what the DNC may hail as a model for the currently dubious future of the party’s leadership.

His youthful exuberance and popular socialist policy allowed him to pull away with 50.4 percent of the vote with just over 1 million votes. Now, NYC is waiting to see what he can accomplish with his new ideas and perspective. However, critics have expressed that he may simply be unable to enact his policy due to lack of support or a feasible game plan, especially in the funding department. Still, it is a big change in which New York City, and the whole country, is waiting to see what happens. The success or failure of the Mamdani mayorship will help to decide the future of the Democratic party platform.

BBRecap:

The democratic sweep of the New York and New Jersey major elections proves as a strong starting point for the rebound of the democratic party after the major defeat in the 2024 election. While Sherrill seems to be a status quo candidate with limited transformative ideology, the real test for the city of New York and the country at large is the success of Zohran Mamdani. It is still too early to tell, but change is sure to come. 

Sources:

https://www.economist.com/interactive/trump-approval-tracker 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2025-elections/new-jersey-governor-results 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/04/politics/nyc-mayor-zohran-mamdani-wins