The people are fed up and can’t take more.
That’s the main message from Democratic gains in midterm elections across the country. In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul easily won reelection, as did Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James. The five ballot measures, which overall try to cut red tape and allow more outdoor dining, bike and bus lanes, all passed. And House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who represents Brooklyn and a tiny sliver of Queens, is poised to become the first Black speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
New York’s experience holds big lessons for a country polarized in every direction, namely that a shared result is not a shared world view. Here are some key takeaways:
The Mamdani effect is real
In New York, eight of the candidates Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed in the June primary appeared on the general ballot and won. But thousands of miles away, his playbook also inspired politicians who took to both the streets and social media, galvanized first-time voters, many of whom are young and immigrant, danced and sang their way to victory.
A common meme nicknamed Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed the “mean Mamdani” for his blunt, direct style. And while she lost, Florida State Representative and U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon frequently incorporated dancing and rallies into her campaign trail. Like him, politicians campaigned among influencers, podcast hosts and college students, trying to create pop culture moments along the way.
Closer to home, the mayor’s push around ballot proposals paid off, as all five passed and bolster his ability to get approval around city projects.
Most importantly, the Mamdani effect on politics, hardly his to claim alone, is a new wave of voter engagement. We’re not only seeing people vote for the first time. We’re also seeing creative formats that tap into the zeitgeist: young voters posting remixes of popular songs to encourage their followers to vote, and creators such as Georgia-based Lisandra Vázquez sharing celebrity gossip as key voter information sits on the laptop screen in front of them, a way to work around the algorithm and reach wider audiences. On the ground, DJs at the Polls, a nonpartisan, national get-out-the-vote initiative, dispatched thousands of deejays at polling sites around the country.
You tried to kill DEI, but “diverse” voters clapped back
Can we finally agree that we can’t cancel diversity? The Dems’ astonishing performance in Texas came on the backs of Latino voters who left MAGA politics in droves, electing the state’s first Latina governor Gina Hinojosa and first Democratic senator since 1988 in James Talarico. In Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms became the country’s first Black female governor as Black voters formed a critical part of her coalition that reversed decades of Republican leadership in that office. California will also have the first elected Latino governor with Xavier Becerra, despite trailing in early polls in a crowded primary in which party leaders pushed lower-polling Democrats to drop out.
The rollbacks in diversity, equity and inclusion have been steady since 2023, when the Supreme Court banned race-conscious admissions, essentially ending affirmative action in universities. Since the election of Donald Trump, the retreat has been a drumbeat: Texas’ ban on university DEI offices, Florida’s restrictions on campus diversity funding, the dismantling of federal DEI programs and affirmative-action requirements for contractors, and corporate pullbacks such as ridding entire DEI divisions.
This was not simply a referendum on Trump. Voters are also enraged by aggressive ICE operations, federal cuts that hit Black women especially hard, and policies that stripped millions of people of SNAP benefits.
Now what?
The presidential election starts now — but action, too, please?
Buoyed by the gains in the House, Senate and across local offices, the Democrats’ jockeying inevitably begins now. Pundits have said the Dems won despite not having a cohesive platform or strategy but that becomes harder to mask on the long road ahead. Indeed, part of this win was a rejection of Trump, with some Republicans even crossing the aisle to vote blue. But progressive candidates also won on their own terms across the country.
So what type of umbrella will the Democrats hoist?
Not so fast. With both chambers of the legislative branch in Democratic control, it would be a mistake to jump ahead to 2028 right away. Voters are clearly frustrated and craving change — now. As my colleague Felipe De La Hoz laid out last week, real work can still be done in Congress. Presidential vetoes might await but legislators can iron out the kinks on Medicare for All and immigration reform. And Felipe also pushes them to say no to tariffs and war, and for real accountability: “There is probably a lot that we don’t know about how the administration is actually collapsing the rule of law, not to mention the likely staggering scale of corruption that Trump, his family and high-level executive officials are engaged in. A serious Senate committee could probe all of this and lay it out fully for the public record.”
Our media consumption is fractured, dangerous and needs repair
At Epicenter, we’ve been dismayed by the misinformation and lack of transparency online around elections. In June as we tried to report on the New York primaries, we found conflicting information on AI platforms about who was running and for what office. This midterm election we rolled out at a chatbot to help voters navigate and rely on more trusted sources.
Even my behavior on getting results in this election has been fragmented — text groups, WhatsApp, several influencers going “live” on YouTube and Instagram, navigating CNN’s main cable feed with a more casual set for online audiences, NBC’s multiple streams toggling between panels and live cams on interactive maps a la Steve Kornacki.
Our civic infrastructure needs repair. Instead of being threatened, we might view creators and citizen journalists as partners to help create more points of entry to civic life. Earlier this year, I profiled Sumana Harihareswara, who pulls up at farmers markets in Queens and shares research on the judges’ races and ballot questions. This DIY democracy can reach someone who might not turn on cable news or be on TikTok.
The challenge is not to force everyone back to one accepted news agenda. But we should commit to making reliable information easier to find, transparent on the conditions under which it’s being delivered, and continue to meet people where they are.
Every state is a swing state
Each election, I return to this refrain: Every state is a swing state. This time is no different.
In New York, Rep. Tom Suozzi, the Democratic incumbent representing parts of Queens and Nassau County, faced millions of dollars in attack ads funded by a Trump-aligned super PAC. Looking at the results, I can’t help but wonder: What might have happened if Democrats had invested comparable sums in Florida or Tennessee?
New York also reveals a polarization that goes beyond red versus blue: the divisions within a party. Issues like Israel and Gaza are not going away, and invoking a “big tent” will not make those disagreements disappear.
Rather than treating local races as merely “down-ballot,” Democrats need to build from the ground up: invest in local candidates, listen to communities and give voters a reason to believe their participation matters — even in places the party has written off. A state cannot become competitive if no one is willing to compete — or financially support.
