Democrats flip the economy on Trump to help win 2025 elections: Live updates
WASHINGTON ‒ After their clean sweep of victories in the off-year elections, Democrats declared the results a referendum on President Donald Trump while Republicans tried to make sure it wasn’t a preview of the 2026 midterms.
In the first barometer of voters during Trump’s first year in office, Democrats swept statewide contests in Virginia, New Jersey, California and Pennsylvania and racked up victories in lower profile races in several states.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, called the election a “repudiation of the Trump agenda." Trump blamed the outcome on his name not being on the ballot and a public backlash over the 37-day federal government shutdown.
The president also tried to make New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani his new foil, mocking the 34-year-old democratic socialist as a “communist.” Meanwhile, Trump vigorously defended his economic record even though Democrats tapped into American anxieties to pull off their victories.
“We have the greatest economy right now ‒ a lot of people don't see that,” Trump said during a Wednesday speech at a business forum in Miami.
Democrats flip the economy on Trump
One year ago, Trump capitalized on voters’ concerns over stubborn inflation to win the 2024 election to return to the White House.
But in the off-year elections, Democrats successfully made Trump the new face of Americans’ lingering economic anxieties.
Economic issues were a driving factor in Tuesday's off-year 2025 elections, putting persistently high consumer costs under the Trump administration in the spotlight and sounding alarm bells for the GOP. Democrats believe that same message can carry them in the 2026 midterms.
The economy, often the decisive issue in any election, was the focus for both moderate Democrats running for governor in New Jersey and Virginia – Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger -- and Mamdani in New York. All won convincing victories, as polling indicates voters are uneasy about Trump's economic stewardship amid trade wars, a sluggish job market and ongoing cost-of-living concerns.
“We need to focus on the home front,” Vice President JD Vance wrote in a post on X. “The president has done a lot that has already paid off in lower interest rates and lower inflation, but we inherited a disaster from Joe Biden and Rome wasn't built in a day.”
The vice president added: “We're going to keep on working to make a decent life affordable in this country, and that's the metric by which we'll ultimately be judged in 2026 and beyond."
‒ Zac Anderson and Joey Garrison
Trump says NYC ‘installed a communist’ with Mamdani’s victory
Trump attacked Mamdani aggressively on the first day after the election.
Trump on Wednesday said New York City “installed a communist” with the election of Mamdani as mayor, declaring, “As long as I’m in the White House, the United States is not going communist in any way, shape or form.”
Trump ripped Mamdani during remarks at a business forum in Miami, one day after the self-described democratic socialist won the New York mayor’s race by a sizable margin by focusing on the cost of living and affordability.
“I used to say we will never have socialists elected to any post in our country,” Trump said. “We skipped socialists and we put up a communist instead. That didn’t work out too well.”
Trump said: “After last night's results, the decision facing all Americans could not be more clear, we have a choice between communism and common sense.”
For months ahead of the Tuesday’s election, Trump criticized Mamdani as a “communist” and threatened to withhold federal funds from New York City if he’s elected.
‒ Joey Garrison