NY Post: “On Your Marx, Get Set, Zo!”

Democrats did well in Wednesday's off-year elections. The party significantly outspent Republicans on advertising in the high-profile races, which are being watched as a preview of the 2026 midterms. And turnout was extraordinary, with races drawing their highest voter numbers in decades.

• New York City Mayor: Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, will be the next mayor of New York City, becoming the youngest mayor in more than a century, and the city's first Muslim mayor. Mamdani defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo by roughly eight points despite Cuomo’s campaign and super PAC spending exceeding $65 million. The race drew more than two million voters, almost double the 1.1 million who voted for mayor four years ago. Republican Curtis Sliwa did not earn enough votes to cost Cuomo the race. Mamdani ran on freezing rent for millions of New York City residents, providing universal childcare, making city buses free, and opening city-run grocery stores.

"We will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve and no concern too small for it to care about.” — Zohran Mamdami, at his election victory speech

• Virginia Governor: Democrat Abigail Spanberger won by 15 points to become Virginia's first woman governor, propelling her party to a broad sweep of the state's top offices. Democrats gained unified control of state government for the first time since 2021, picking up at least 10 seats in the House of Delegates. Jay Jones became Virginia's first Black attorney general, in spite of a scandal revealing disturbing texts he sent fantasizing about the murder of Republican opponents.
• New Jersey Governor: Democrat Mikie Sherrill cruised to victory by over 400,000 votes, besting Republican Jack Ciattarelli in a race that polls had projected would be neck and neck. Sherrill and aligned groups invested $61 million on ad spots since June, compared to $41 million by Ciattarelli and GOP groups. The New Jersey governor's race topped three million votes for the first time.
• Pennsylvania State Supreme Court: Three Democratic justices won retention in a contest seen as a bellwether ahead of the midterms.
• California Gerrymandering Approved: California voters overwhelmingly approved Gavin Newsom's congressional gerrymandering proposal with roughly 64% support, suspending the independent California Citizens Redistricting Commission until after the 2030 census and temporarily putting the drawing of electoral maps in the hands of the state's legislature. The move will likely give Democrats five new House seats. The California GOP announced a federal lawsuit alleging the measure “unconstitutionally gerrymanders districts in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments.”

More News

✈️ Government Shutdown Forces Flight Cancellations: As Day 39 of the shutdown dawns, this is now the longest shutdown in U.S. history, breaking the record set in the 2018-2019 shutdown during President Trump's first term. The FAA ordered airline traffic to be reduced by 10% at 40 airports while air-traffic controllers work without pay, with cuts ramping up as Thanksgiving approaches. On Friday, a 4% reduction in operations took effect, which will ramp up to 6% by Tuesday, 8% by November 13 and 10% by November 14, the FAA says.

⚖️ Supreme Court Skeptical of Trump Tariffs: In oral arguments on Wednesday, a majority of Supreme Court justices reportedly asked questions skeptical of Trump's use of emergency powers to impose sweeping tariffs. A decision invalidating his tariffs is coming soon and will be one of the most consequential of his presidency so far.

💸 Wall Street Leaves New York: From 2020 to 2023, more than 150 financial firms managing nearly $1 trillion moved their headquarters out of New York. Floriday and Texas have been popular relocation destinations. The election of Zohran Mamdani shows how much the city's identity has changed from just over a decade ago, when the mayor was Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire who made his fortune on Wall Street. Do you know what they call the emerging financial district in Texas? “Y’all Street!” (Actually not a joke.)

🏛️ Nancy Pelosi Announces Retirement: Nancy Pelosi made her long-anticipated retirement announcement Thursday after nearly four decades in Congress, including 8 years as Democrat Speaker of the House. She will remain in office until her term ends in January 2027.

📰 Dick Cheney Dies at 84: Former Vice President Dick Cheney died on Tuesday from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease. He helped define Republican foreign policy for 30 years and was a key architect of the Global War on Terror. Cheney survived five heart attacks, multiple surgeries and a heart transplant in his lifetime. His funeral will be held at 11 a.m. ET on Thursday, November 20.

🚀 Trump Restores NASA Nominee: President Trump ended a fierce behind-the-scenes tussle and restored Jared Isaacman as his nominee to run NASA months after abruptly canceling his nomination earlier this year after a feud with Elon Musk.

🇮🇱 Israeli Torture Video Leaked: Benjamin Netanyahu labeled the leak of a video allegedly showing IDF abuse of a Palestinian detainee as perhaps the most “severe public relations attack” on Israel since its founding. An Israeli top military lawyer resigned and was arrested after leaking the footage.

🇳🇬 Trump Threatens Nigeria Aid: Trump threatened to “immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria” if its government “continues to allow the killing of Christians.” Muslim extremists have reportedly slaughtered thousands of Nigerian Christians this year.

🇸🇩 Sudan Crisis Worsens: The city of El Fasher, capital of the North Darfur State, fell to a rebel paramilitary in Sudan's civil war two weeks ago. The Sudanese civil war has displaced 12 million people and some reports have the number of those killed at nearly 400,000. Learn more.

🤑 Tesla Approves Potentially Trillion-Dollar Pay Package: More than 75% of Tesla shareholders approved a pay package for Elon Musk that could make him the world's first trillionaire, albeit with ambitious stipulations. Musk won't receive a salary but could earn over 400 million additional Tesla shares worth around $1 trillion if he meets milestones, including delivering 20 million vehicles and one million robots, getting 10 million Full Self-Driving subscriptions, bringing one million Robotaxis into operation, earning up to $400 billion in core profit, and lifting Tesla's market value from $1.4 trillion to $8.5 trillion by 2035.