Nov.06

electoral-vote.com

Dem 47

   

GOP 53

Some Media Takeaways from the Elections

The dust hasn't quite settled yet from Tuesday, but there have been a number of "takeaway" pieces from media outlets. Let's take a look at some of them:

The Washington Post:

• Democrats won handily in New Jersey
• Democrats swept in Virginia—despite a text scandal
• California pushes back on Trump
• Younger voters powered Mamdani
• Broad signs of trouble for Trump, Republicans

The New York Times:

• Democrats finally showed some fight
• It was a bad night for Donald Trump
• Mamdani gives Democrats a new leader
• Even Democrats will shrug at a scandal
• No Trump on the ballot? Advantage, Democrats

Politico:

• Trump remains off-year gold for Democrats
• Black and brown voters swing back
• Newsom's big redistricting risk pays off
• Democrats storm back in the suburbs
• Jay Jones wins in a new post-cancellation era of politics
• Mamdani is the GOP's new face of the Democratic Party
• Democrats find a midterm message

AP:

• A new Democratic playbook emerges
• It's (still) the economy, stupid
• A referendum on Trump
• A new star for Democrats (and Republicans) in New York City
• More Democratic wins

ABC News:

• Democrats turn the tide
• It's the economy again
• Voters are not happy with the state of the country
• Record turnout helps propel Mamdani
• Historic win for Muslim candidates
• Wins send message to Trump

NBC News:

• Trump remains the big factor in elections
• Democrats find success on the economy
• 2026 starts now
• GOP struggles with Trump coalition continue
• Candidates matter
• Partisanship persists

NPR:

• It's still the cost of living, stupid
• Republicans still have a Trump problem—in two different ways
• The Trump slump with Latinos appears to be real
• The redistricting race is on and Democrats got a boost
• The Democratic Party will have to wrestle with its identity next year

The Post's takeaways are pretty feeble—just repeating the election results. The recurrent themes with the other outlets are: (1) Trump is electoral poison, even with minority citizens who voted for him; (2) the economy is king and (3) Democrats got their mojo back. Here is our list of takeaways:

• In politics a week is a long time
• The "Democrats are in disarray" meme will disappear
• Black and Latino people who voted for Trump are not actually Republicans
• The Democrats now have actual momentum going into 2026
• Attacking Trump for his failed promise to lower prices is the way to go for Democrats
• Democrats should look for moderate women in many races
• Candidate quality generally doesn't matter except in extreme cases; the (D) or (R) matters most
• Democratic redistricting in California, Virginia, Maryland and more may cancel most GOP gains
• Promising to end gerrymandering nationwide could be an electoral winner
• Republicans will redouble their efforts to rig the 2026 election since they can't get the most votes
• Newsom will get a lot of attention now, but that doesn't make him frontrunner in 2028

Two of the most instructive maps are these:

The map on the left above shows Tuesday's gubernatorial results in Virginia by county. The map on the right shows the partisan shift compared to the 2024 presidential election. What is noteworthy is that most counties are still red, but every county in the state—even the reddest ones—moved toward the Democrats. There is a message here for Democrats, although they may miss it. It is that campaigning in red areas matters. Losing a red county by 10,000 fewer votes is just as important in statewide elections as winning 10,000 more votes in a blue county. Showing up and making a pitch that Trump lied to people about affordability could be a winner. If Democrats don't even show up, the message is "We don't care about you." (V)