Deep red and swing states making election flip to Democrats indicate Trump's plunging popularity

The 2025 off-year elections proved to be a major success for Democrats, as candidates at state and local levels managed to make inroads into and even flip several Republican strongholds across the country.

Much of the national spotlight was centered on Zohran Mamdani’s landmark win in New York, along with Democratic victories in the gubernatorial races of New Jersey and Virginia. And in both Virginia and New Jersey there were several precincts or voting blocs that voted for Trump in 2024 that then voted for Democrats this year.

Yet, results in smaller districts may have offered an even greater insight into the political landscape heading into the midterms.

In Erie county, Pennsylvania, a region that narrowly favored Trump in the 2024 election, Democrat Christina Vogel won the county executive race by a commanding 24-point margin. Meanwhile, in Virginia’s 66th state house district, Democrat Nicole Cole unseated Bobby Orrock, a Republican who had held the seat for 36 years and was the state’s longest-serving GOP delegate.

Democrats also secured two statewide victories in Georgia’s public service commissioner races, marking their first non-federal statewide wins since 2006 and their largest margins of victory in more than two decades. Alicia Johnson defeated incumbent Tim Echols by a margin of 58 to 41%, while Peter Hubbard triumphed over Fitz Johnson by 61 to 39%. The commission is responsible for utilities and has “exclusive power to decide what are fair and reasonable rates for services under its jurisdiction”.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/07/democrats-state-local-elections

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