Democrats Sweep With Big Wins in New York, Virginia and New Jersey

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Find out what Elastic can do for your business at elastic.co.uk/searchai. Democrats are starting to get their groove back after key election victories in New York, New Jersey and Virginia.

Aaron Zitner (0:30)

Democrats have been struggling for the last year to figure out how to regain their political footing, given the dominance of Donald Trump. Well, tonight we learned that Republicans have a similar problem.

Caitlin McCabe (0:40)

Plus, President Trump calls Republican senators to a White House breakfast meeting as the government shutdown becomes the longest in history. And Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk lowers its profit guidance amid intensifying competition for weight loss drugs. It's Wednesday, November 5th. I'm Caitlin McCabe for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM Edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today. Democrats have a lot to celebrate this morning after sweeping victories in a series of crucial elections. Most prominently, 34-year-old democratic socialist Zoran Mamdani cruised a victory to become New York City's 111th mayor, dealing a blow to former governor Andrew Cuomo.

Zoran Mamdani (1:26)

New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city we can afford, and a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that.

Caitlin McCabe (1:51)

The race had been closely watched due to Mom Donnie's progressive campaign promises that included rent freezes, fare-free buses and universal child care, which would be paid for with an additional 2% tax on millionaires and higher taxes on businesses. His candidacy turned out to be deeply energizing, with the city seeing its biggest voter turnout since 1969 With most votes counted, results showed Mom Donnie captured just over 50% of the vote.

Zoran Mamdani (2:19)

This will be an age where New Yorkers expect from their leaders a bold vision of what we will achieve, rather than a list of excuses for what we are too timid to attempt. Central to that vision will be the most ambitious agenda to tackle the cost of living crisis that this city has seen since the days of Fiora LaGuardia.

Caitlin McCabe (2:47)

Wall Street and business leaders mounted a fierce campaign against Mom Donnie, but some extended an olive branch as results came in. Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, who spent more than $2 million to stop Mom Donnie's win, congratulated him on social media and offered to help.

Democrats also secured key victories in the New Jersey and Virginia governor's races, with Virginia Democrat Abigail Spanberger beating her Republican opponent by roughly 15 percentage points. In New Jersey, Democrat Mikey Sherrill defeated Republican Jack Cicciorelli by a comfortable 13-point margin. Both candidates had focused on the rising cost of living and touted their national security backgrounds in the face of growing executive power in the US. Mikey Sherrill used her victory speech to repeatedly hit out at the Trump administration.

Mikey Sherrill (3:38)

Here in New Jersey, we know that this nation has not ever been, nor will it ever be, ruled by kings.

Caitlin McCabe (3:50)

Similarly, Spanberg blamed the government shutdown squarely on Congress, invoking loud cheers from the many federal workers present in the Virginia crowd.

Abigail Spanberger (4:00)

Right now, our federal workforce is under attack, and the chaos coming out of Washington is killing Virginia jobs and creating economic uncertainty for tens of thousands of families, government employees, government contractors, small business owners who are impacted by the chaos coming out of Washington. Virginia's economy doesn't work when Washington treats our Virginia workers as expendable.

Caitlin McCabe (4:37)

As results rolled in, Trump lashed out on social media, blaming the shutdown and the fact that he wasn't on the ballot for Republican losses. Earlier yesterday, he was critical of California's ballot measure to temporarily redraw the state's congressional maps in favor of Democrats, calling it, quote, a giant scam. California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 50, putting Democrats in a position to potentially flip five seats in next year's midterms, countering Republican efforts in other states to redraw congressional maps. Taken together, our editor for political polling, Aaron Zitner, says the sweep of Democratic victories are being seen as an upbeat sign for a deeply divided party ahead of next year's midterm elections.

Aaron Zitner (5:22)

They're very big Democratic wins and they're much bigger than most people expected, much bigger than polls suggested we would see. That's kind of where all of our analysis has to start because it takes these elections out of the realm of being close and really being crushing defeats for the Republican Party and something that even Republicans are already saying they need to think about.