November 06, 2025 01:44 PM UTC

Left Wing Takes Weird Lesson from Big Election Victories

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• by: Colorado Pols

As The Washington Post reports, Republicans across the country are still trying to understand how the 2025 elections went so horribly wrong for the party in control of Congress and the White House:

Republicans are reeling after Democrats swept off-year races in several blue and purple states across the country on Tuesday, blaring a warning siren that their party may be in trouble ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

But they appear divided on how to course-correct and what lessons the losses could hold for the midterms, with some strategists and officials believing President Donald Trump needs to flex more muscle in upcoming contests to fire up the base and others believing congressional Republicans need to develop their own distinct brand on the economy ahead of 2026 in the face of Trump’s tariffs…

…The tone of urgency from the very top of the party comes as Democrats found success in key contests across the country — including in New York, New Jersey and Virginia — where they criticized Trump’s second-term agenda and vowed to pursue policies to address the high cost of living. Tuesday’s wins also extended into key purple states such as Pennsylvania and Georgia, where Democrats retained several state Supreme Court seats and ousted two GOP incumbents on a state utility board, respectively.

Oddly enough, it isn’t just Republicans who seem confused by Tuesday’s Democratic sweep. As The Associated Press reports, some on the far left took a really strange lesson from 2025:

“Of course, there’s a division within the Democratic Party. There’s no secret,” Sen. Bernie Sanders told reporters at a Capitol Hill press conference about the election results.

Sanders and his chief political strategist pointed to the success of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, as a model for Democrats across the country…

…Sanders’ political strategist, Faiz Shakir, warned Democrats against embracing “cookie cutter campaigns that say nothing and do nothing” — a reference to centrist Democrats Spanberger and Sherrill. [Pols emphasis]

Um…what?

Abigail Spanberger won the race for Governor in Virginia with a 14 point victory (57-43) over Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears.

In New Jersey’s gubernatorial race, Democrat Mikie Sherrill defeated Republican Jack Ciattarelli by 13 points (56-43).

Zohran Mamdani, meanwhile, was elected Mayor of New York City by an eight point margin…but Mamdani just barely earned more than 50% of the vote in an area with a much heavier concentration of Democratic voters than Virginia or New Jersey.

Look, we get that some Democrats are divided on the best approach to campaigning in 2026 and beyond, but you have to be intentionally obtuse to attempt to argue that Spanberger and Sherrill pursued the wrong strategy in winning statewide office by double-digit margins.

Reality may have a liberal bias, as the saying goes, but this is a bit much.