Election Day 2025: A strong signal in the noise.

November 5, 2025

The results on Election Day 2025 were a strong signal in a noisy political environment that frequently borders on chaos. The signal was clear: Democrats are on the right path. Americans voted for democracy, decency, the rule of law, and people before party and profits. They voted against Kings, creeping authoritarianism, corruption, and deceit.

The period from November 2024 to November 2025 has been challenging for many reasons. A difficult emotional challenge has been the constant barrage of lies about what happened in 2024. The presidential election was excruciatingly close. But for two hundred thousand votes in three states, Kamala Harris would be president. Trump did not win a majority of the popular vote. Indeed, most people who voted in 2024 voted against Trump! His narrow plurality was distorted by the “winner-take-all” rules of the Electoral College.

As Republicans unleashed an unprecedented reign of lawlessness, retribution, and mean-spirited actions motivated by bigotry, they claimed the right to do so because of Trump’s alleged “landslide victory”—a lie. They claimed Trump had a “mandate” to override the Constitution. Another lie. They claimed that “the people” supported Trump’s anti-democratic assault on democracy. The biggest lie of all.

After Trump’s narrow victory, concerned Americans began to rise in increasing numbers with each national day of protest. Despite their rising numbers, Trump and the corporate media ignored, dismissed, and derided American citizens who stood in defense of their beloved country.

Even as the efforts of the grassroots movement were being patronized and mocked, we knew. We could feel the depth and breadth of commitment to democracy among our fellow Americans. We could feel the passion of people who refuse to give up on democracy. We could feel the righteous anger and commitment to justice that motivated millions of Americans to rise in protest for the first time in their lives.

We knew the truth.

We knew that for every pro-democracy protester in the streets and on overpasses and town halls, there were hundreds who joined us in spirit.

We knew that our voices were resonating with those understandably fearful of exercising their First Amendment rights because of the color of their skin or their parents’ country of origin.

We knew that, given a chance to make their voices heard, a strong majority of Americans would oppose the lawless, hate-fueled regime of Donald Trump, and support democracy and the Constitution.

But knowing and feeling can sustain us only for a limited time. Eventually, our activism and belief in the righteousness of our cause must be put to the test. That test came on Election Day 2025.

It was worth the wait.

On Tuesday, we passed the test in every imaginable way. We exceeded high expectations. We changed the electoral landscape. We delivered a statement that cannot be ignored by Trump, his enablers, or the corporate media.

We have every right to breathe a sigh of relief and to celebrate with unbridled joy.

Indeed, the victories on Tuesday were so overwhelming and widespread that we must restrain ourselves. We cannot engage in irrational exuberance. After a few days of well-deserved celebration, we must resume our efforts to defend democracy.

No, that is not right. We cannot simply “resume” our efforts; we must redouble them and then redouble them again.

But we will do so with confidence that our message is resonating with the American people in a way that is being obscured by the corporate media and lying Republican spokespeople. They will spin their lies, claim that elections were rigged, and slander the winners.

But the people know what happened on Election Night 2025. The signal in the noise was so strong that it echoed off the walls of the Fox News studio. It blared through the dozen television screens surrounding Trump in the residential quarters of the remnants of the White House still standing. It even reached the covered ears and tightly closed eyes of Speaker Mike Johnson, who will claim on Wednesday that he hasn’t had time to learn about the election results.

But the signal also reached Americans who are anxious and fearful about the future of America. It reached Americans who are worried about their liberty and dignity under a regime that seeks to punish immigrants, LGBTQ people, and women. It reached Americans who thought that resistance is futile.

We should reflect on the results of Election Day with seriousness of purpose and a healthy dose of humility. It was an exceptional night that should give hope to all Americans. And the reward for all our hard work is that we get to do it all over again, and again, and again—starting tomorrow.

Congratulations to everyone who volunteered, donated, called, knocked, texted, protested, and cared about the future of our nation. The election results on Tuesday tell us that Democrats, and all Americans who value democracy, are on the right path. That is a strong and reassuring signal in the noise.

A brief roundup and a few reflections on the results.

There is so much good news on Tuesday evening that it is not possible to do it justice. I will focus on a few highlights and offer a few reflections that should give us confidence heading into the 2026 midterms.

Large margins of victory matter. Before addressing specific election outcomes, it is worth noting that many races that were expected to be “close” were won by large margins. Large margins of victory protect outcomes from bad-faith challenges.

Trump sent “election monitors” to California to “observe” the vote on Prop 50, presumably to challenge ballots in a close election. However, Proposition 50 won 65% to 35% on a huge turnout. The margin of victory makes the result incontestable, even as Trump’s chief propagandist, Karoline Leavitt, claimed that the California election was “rigged” and “fraudulent.” Sour grapes and petty grievance, Karoline. You look foolish.

So, too, with the winning margins of New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, and the three Pennsylvania state supreme court justices who stood for “retention.’

Voters made their voices heard—loudly and emphatically. No amount of nitpicking ballots will overturn the victories won on Tuesday.

As Republicans rattle the sabers of voter suppression heading into the 2026 midterms, the results on Tuesday teach us that the complete, unassailable answer to voter suppression is turnout and large margins of victory.

Incontestable margins are driven by turnout. The amazing victory of California’s Proposition 50 is all the more remarkable because nearly 11 million voters showed up to vote during a special election that did not include a single candidate on the ballot.

Instead, voters turned out in historic numbers for a special election that showcased an abstract and nuanced idea—that congressional districts should be fairly drawn, and that unfair advantage in one state, Texas, should be offset by a temporary remedy in another state, California.

Proposition 50 is a complex and challenging idea to explain, let alone convince voters to support. Early polling showed that the election might be close. And yet, when polls closed on Tuesday evening, tens of thousands of voters were still in lines stretching for blocks, voters who will undoubtedly increase the commanding 65% winning percentage.

We must study how California generated historic turnout in an off-year special election with no candidate on the ballot. So, too, with Zohran Mamdani’s victory, which was fueled by the largest voter turnout in a mayoral election in NYC since 1969.

Trump’s “election monitors” were overwhelmed by turnout and Democratic election monitors. Trump sent DOJ election monitors to California in a transparent attempt to intimidate California voters. The effort was a flop and an embarrassment. The overwhelming turnout rendered the monitors useless. Moreover, California reciprocated with thousands of its own monitors—a number that eclipsed the paltry showing by Trump’s handful of DOJ monitors.

Per the NYTimes,

Rob Bonta, the California attorney general, said he planned to send his own monitors to guard against any voter intimidation. And the state Democratic Party sent out more than 2,000 of its own observers — a record number of volunteers in the role — and had about 150 lawyers stationed around the state.

Sending monitors from the DOJ to suppress votes is reprehensible. But California demonstrated that the remedy is to overwhelm those monitors with voters and pro-democracy monitors.

The signal in the noise was strong, indeed. And it was an “anti-Trump” signal.

Democratic victories on Tuesday demonstrated that the discontent with Trump spills over to Republican candidates and causes.

Mikie Sherrill’s race for New Jersey governor was expected to be close, with last-minute polling suggesting that she could lose to Trump’s hand-picked candidate. Instead, Mikie Sherrill won by a commanding margin. See The Hill, Mikie Sherrill’s victory could boost Democrats in midterms.

Per The Hill,

The New Jersey governor’s race turned increasingly tight in its final stretch, with polling from Emerson College Polling, PIX11 and The Hill even showing the contest as a toss-up.

Despite earlier concerns that Black and Hispanic voters wouldn’t turn out in the numbers Democrats needed, and against the backdrop of key elections where the party won statewide by only single digits, Sherrill’s win quelled some of those concerns, particularly with Decision Desk HQ calling the race only 13 minutes after polls closed.

Abigail Spanberger’s commanding win in Virginia helped fuel a Democratic rout of Republicans in the Virginia House of Delegates, where Democrats increased their seats from 51 to 64. See Virginia Mercury, Blue wave rebuilds the House: Democrats soar to at least 64 seats in Virginia • Virginia Mercury | Suburban surge and abortion-rights messaging fuel sweeping gains as GOP bid to retake chamber falls flat, signaling a shifting electoral map ahead of 2026.

The unexpected election of Democrat Jay Jones as Virginia’s Attorney General despite horrific private texts should be viewed as an anti-Trump vote, at least in part. See AP, Democrat Jay Jones wins race to be Virginia attorney general despite texts endorsing violence.

Per the AP article,

Democrat Jay Jones was elected Tuesday as Virginia attorney general, riding a wave of voter dissatisfaction with the White House to overcome the revelation that in 2022 he sent widely condemned texts embracing violence against a fellow state lawmaker.

It is also worth noting that the races in Virginia were marred by heavy Republican messaging that attacked transgender people. The strong wins by Democratic candidates despite the anti-trans messaging by Republicans is a repudiation of Trump’s politics of hate and attacks on transgender people. See Erin in the Morning (Substack), “A Stunning Rebuke Of Anti-Trans Politics”—Dems Win Elections Nationwide Despite Anti-Trans Ads.

Per Erin in the Morning,

According to MSNBC, more than 57 percent of Republican ad spending in the Virginia governor’s race went toward anti-transgender messaging, an effort to revive what the party saw as a winning wedge issue in 2024. But a year later, with prices still high and anti-trans rhetoric solving none of voters’ real problems, the strategy appeared to backfire. Voters seemed tired of the culture wars and frustrated that Republicans remained fixated on scapegoating instead of governing.

The resounding wins by three Democratic state supreme court justices in Pennsylvania also bode well for free and fair elections in 2026. See Democracy Docket, In Win for Democracy in Pennsylvania, Dems Retain Majority on Supreme Court.

Per Democracy Docket,

If the justices had not been retained, it could have allowed Republicans to flip control of the state’s highest court in 2027, which could have had major implications right before the next presidential election. As a result, GOP-aligned groups and megadonors launched a well-funded, misleading campaign to convince voters not to allow the three justices to serve another term.

In another positive sign, voters in Maine rejected a Republican effort to enact voter suppression measures. See Talking Points Memo, Voters Reject Republican Push for Voter ID and Restricted Vote by Mail in Maine

And JD Vance’s half-brother lost badly in his bid to unseat Cincinnati’s Democratic mayor. See The Economic Times of India, JD Vance’s half-brother loses Cincinnati mayor election as Indian-origin Aftab Pureval wins re-election.

And finally, the strong showing by Zohran Mamdani must also be seen, in part, as a rebuke to Trump, who endorsed Andrew Cuomo (as did Stephen Miller). But many leaders in the Democratic establishment opposed Mamdani, so his election—and the strong turnout—may signal disaffection with the entrenched, institutional wing of the Democratic Party in New York. There is much to reflect upon in Mamdani’s win—for Republicans and Democrats alike.

Mamdani’s victory speech on election night was exceptional and deserves to be studied and emulated. See C-SPAN, Zohran Mamdani Delivers Victory Speech on Election Night.

Opportunities for Reader Engagement

Join Focus for Democracy as it looks forward to the 2026 midterms

This Thursday, November 6th, at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET, Focus for Democracy will be sharing an updated analysis of 2026 races and the challenges ahead.

It’s clear that next year will be pivotal for the future of our democracy. The threats are real, and the stakes could not be higher, so join Focus for Democracy on Zoom to learn how we can make a difference in winning back the House through support of key races and initiatives.

Register at this link.

Concluding Thoughts

The success of Election Day 2025 is a collective victory. Everyone who contributed in any way should take immense pride in and confidence from the outcome. A job well done, everyone! Pat yourself on the back!

Rebecca Solnit published another excellent essay in her blog, Meditations in an Emergency, Protect Our Neighbors: The Journey of a Sign. Rebecca tells the story of a protest sign printed by her brother and its journey with her as she travelled across town to a speaking engagement. The story of the journey and the effect of the sign on the people she encountered is moving.

In her essay, Rebecca writes about the nature of the challenge we face in defending democracy. She writes,

In other words, we are not primarily trying to convert those who do not agree with us; we are trying to reinforce and rally those who do.

We have enough and more than enough people on our side: the job is not to recruit people to our worldview but to recruit them to action.

“Our job is to recruit them to action”—“them” being people who already agree with us.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the futility of changing the hearts and minds of those who support Trump. We do need to convert them. As Rebecca writes, there are “more than enough people on our side,” and our task is to “recruit them to action.”

Viewed through that lens, our task is more realistic and achievable in the near term than we might otherwise think. Indeed, the outcome of Tuesday’s elections more likely reflects converting Democratic voters to action than it does changing the minds of Trump supporters.

There are more of us than there are of them. There always has been. The challenge has always been motivating people who agree with us to take action—by voting, protesting, donating, and resisting. That message was in the air on Tuesday evening. A strong signal in the noise, beckoning us to greater victories to come.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Pro-democracy protest photos

The downloadable signs below are referenced in Rebecca Solnit’s article, discussed in Concluding Thoughts, above.

From Portland, Maine: I usually vote absentee because I am out knocking on doors or making phone calls on election Day. But this year my husband and I opted to vote in person. Just a little more satisfying if we are available. The election workers told us that the turnout was absolutely unbelievable today. Way more than a normal off-year election. We voted No on the voter ID law promoted by MAGA and Yes to a red flag law for Maine. Hopefully, this bodes well for elections everywhere!

Des Moines, Iowa: Installing the 25th Anniversary observation of Dia de los Muertos at the Des Moines Art Center. A continuing tradition of inclusivity.
All handmade by local artists . . . Will be on display through 16 November.

Northampton, MA, No Kings Day:

Daily Dose of Perspective