New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (Screenshot courtesy of Zohran Mamdani’s YouTube channel)
As the Trump-Vance administration continues to ramp up conservative policies at the federal level, Democrats on Nov 4, scored big wins in New Jersey and in New York City.
Former Navy lieutenant and Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill won the New Jersey governor’s race, while Zohran Mamdani won New York City’s mayoral race over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, becoming the first Indian and Muslim person to hold the office.
Off-year elections are widely considered to be a kind of report card for the sitting president. When there’s general disapproval of the current commander-in-chief, the opposing party tends to perform better. If this past election cycle is any indication of how the American public views the Trump-Vance administration, things aren’t looking good for the Republican Party.
One of the night’s biggest winners was Sherrill, who defeated former Republican state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, becoming New Jersey’s first Democratic female governor in the state’s history. She was also endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign for her work in advocating for the LGBTQ community.
Before becoming governor-elect of the Garden State, Sherrill served as a federal prosecutor and attorney, then as a member of multiple committees during her tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives. The most notable include the Armed Services Committee, which oversees military-related legislation, and the Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, which works to “strengthen the economy, rebuild [our] supply chains, speak out for human rights, [and] stand against military aggression” as China emerges as a global power.
In addition to those committee roles, Sherrill was a member of several Congressional caucuses — including the Congressional Equality Caucus, which advances LGBTQ rights nationwide; the Black Maternal Health Caucus, which aims to improve maternal health outcomes for Black women; and the New Democrat Coalition, which promotes centrist, or slightly left-of-center, policy initiatives in the House.
During her campaign, Sherrill focused on lowering the cost of living in New Jersey and addressing the surging cost of energy through an electricity price freeze.
Her campaign, however, wasn’t without controversy.
Ciattarelli criticized her over a cheating scandal at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1994, where she was ultimately barred from walking at graduation for refusing to turn in classmates who cheated. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore publicly condemned the Trump-Vance administration for releasing unredacted military records from Sherrill’s time at the academy, a move she also denounced in her victory speech, saying, “this nation has not ever been, nor will it ever be, ruled by kings.” The remark was a clear allusion to the massive “No Kings” protests and to President Donald Trump’s increasingly authoritarian rhetoric.
Another major win for Democrats came across the Hudson River with Mamdani’s victory in New York City’s mayoral race.
Mamdani ran a progressive campaign focused on improving the city for its most vulnerable residents — proposing free city buses, public childcare, city-owned grocery stores, expanded LGBTQ rights with particular attention to transgender rights amid a tumultuous time for that community, a rent freeze on rent-stabilized units, expanded affordable housing, public safety reform, and a $30 minimum wage by 2030. He plans to fund these initiatives through a tax increase on New York City residents earning $1 million or more annually.
Before becoming mayor-elect, Mamdani was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020 and was re-elected twice before deciding to run for mayor.
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