It wasn’t even close—and we could not be more thrilled, and proud. Yesterday’s elections send a strong message about 2026, but more importantly, they send a message about women winning. 

Most notably—Rep. Mikie Sherrill cruised to a 13-point victory despite fears the race would be closer than anticipated. She will be the first female Democratic governor and only the second female governor of New Jersey. She is the first Democrat to win a third consecutive race for governor in 60 years. 

In Virginia, Rep. Abigail Spanberger became the first female governor in the Commonwealth’s 249-year history. She won by an astonishing 15 points—the highest margin of victory for a Democratic gubernatorial candidate since 1961. State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi won the lieutenant governor’s race by an 11-point margin; she is the first Muslim-American woman ever elected statewide in the US.

On the down-ballot front, Democrats have officially secured 64 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, increasing their majority by a whopping 13 seats after election night results were finalized. All 10 women on our “Virginia is for Women” Zoom slate won their elections and flipped Republican seats! With these victories, women of color now hold 25 percent of seats in the House of Delegates and women hold 42 seats overall, an increase of 8 percent in the lower chamber. 

New Jersey Democrats also did well, retaining all of the close Assembly seats we were watching: Assemblywomen Heather Simmons, Andrea Katz, Margie Donlon, Luanne Peterpaul, Mitchelle Drulis and Lisa Swain.

In Pennsylvania, Justice Christine Donohue and her two male colleagues were retained, keeping a progressive majority on the crucial Pennsylvania Supreme Court. And finally, Proposition 50 passed with a whopping 64 percent of the vote. 

So what’s next? We’re not done—there are more elections in 2025. 

There are three special elections we’re watching, in Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. 

• Dec. 2, Aftyn Behn, TN-7: This special election in a red district is a reach for Democrats. But Tennessee state Rep. Behn has drawn so much enthusiasm to her campaign that things could be close. This seat, which includes the western portion of Nashville, is vacant due the incumbent Republicans’ resignation. The Republican nominee is Matt Van Epps, former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services.
• TBD, Amanda Edwards, TX-18: Former at-large Houston city councilor Amanda Edwards is running to fill this Democratic seat that became vacant when incumbent US Rep. Sylvester Turner died earlier this year. She came in second with 25 percent in last night’s ‘jungle primary,’ and faces Christian Menefee (32 percent) in the two-person runoff.
• TBD, Debra Gardner, VA-Senate-15: With state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi set to become Virginia’s next lieutenant governor, her state Senate seat will become vacant. Del. Debra Gardner is planning to announce her candidacy soon. Until then, folks can support her through her existing state legislative account and the money will be transferred once she’s able to announce. 

Please give to these three candidates via our Special Elections slate so we can get more women across the finish line in these final 2025 elections.

Take a moment to celebrate the wins, but then it’s back to work.