(Photo courtesy of Yuki Iwamura) “Zohran Mamdani declares victory at watch party”
Benjamin Heffner
Connector Editor
On November 4, Americans headed to the polls to make their voices heard in state and local elections, marking the first test of President Donald Trump’s second administration, as the country grapples with the longest government shutdown in history.
It was a strong evening for Democrats, who outperformed and exceeded expectations in several national high-profile races. Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill were elected as the governors of Virginia and New Jersey respectively, with Spanberger becoming the first female governor of that state.
In New York City, Zohran Mamdani was elected as the city’s first socialist and Muslim mayor, defeating Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa. In his victory speech, Mamdani said, “In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light. Here, we believe in standing up for those we love, whether you are an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the many Black women that Donald Trump has fired from a federal job, a single mom still waiting for the cost of groceries to go down, or anyone else with their back against the wall. Your struggle is ours, too.”
Ben Rader, a biochemical engineering major and Deputy Political Affairs director of the College Democrats chapter, said that socialism has moved in a path that feels less intimidating. Rader said, “[Zohran] was really pushing forward these policies and these ideas that were resonating with people, even if they were technically called socialist, or if they were being attacked by conservatives as being unachievable.”
Connor Malito, a double psychology and history major, feels that Zohran’s victory indicates that the country is moving in the right direction. Malito said, “You can tell the tide is changing as America and workers are growing more fed up with capitalism as crisis after crisis keeps us down.”
In California, voters overwhelmingly voted to pass Proposition 50, which would redistrict the state’s congressional map to give Democrats at least five Republican-held seats. The move came from Gov. Gavin Newsom after Trump urged Republicans to gerrymander Texas’ congressional map.
Here in the city of Lowell some noteworthy races stood out.
In District 7, representing The Acre, including South Campus, incumbent Paul Yem lost in an upset to challenger Sidney Liang. Yem said in a statement, “Together, we lifted important conversations about housing, safety, opportunity, and community pride in the Acre and throughout District 7.
The race in District 3, representing Belvidere, is likely to enter a recount after unofficial returns showed Belinda Juran defeating Daniel Finn by just four votes.
Other notable races included Sean McDonough defeating incumbent Wayne Jenness in District 4 and socialist candidate Marcus Candido narrowly losing to incumbent John Descoteaux in District 8. Rader, who had largely supported Candido’s campaign, said he felt “ruined.”
National exit polls showed voter dissatisfaction with President Trump, differing views on the economy, and an overall dissatisfaction with both the Democratic and Republican parties. Turnout varied from state to state. In New York City, over 2 million votes were cast marking the largest turnout in over 50 years.
Max Kaplan, a sophomore physics major, said that the elections are showing that voters are rebuking against President Trump’s policies, but warned Democrats not to be complacent. Kaplan said, “With the shutdown, the Trump administration has attempted to push sole responsibility onto the Democrats, and the ballet boxes signal a strong mandate to continue their course of action. Overall, Democrats should be optimistic.”
Christopher Jordan, a junior computer science major, feels that nothing much will come out of the elections. Jordan said, “Most of the time, Congress is in a deadlock on most policies, and most government intervention is by Supreme Court rulings or presidential vetoes/policies.”
